DJMar

I believe the wheels in your pic are standard Torque Thrusts with the flat backed spokes, and not the "D" version, which has slightly curved spokes to clear disc brake calipers. The difference is visible, but most people don't notice it. Depending on how picky you are, any of the Revell 1:25 1932 Fords has these wheels in two different offsets. They scale out to roughly 17". AMT had a nice set of standard Torque Thrusts in their '62 Bel Air kit. Pretty close to 15" in 1:25, but without different offsets for front and rear. These will fit a variety of AMT tires. Reliable Resin has a set of racing TTs without the center caps, with different offsets for front and rear. Monogram had a similar set in their Owens-Corning '69 Corvette kit. Fireball has the standard Torque Thrust in 1:25, but in only in 15x7. They have the D in both 15x7 and 15x8. Jay's Resin Wheels has a standard set of TTs in 15 & 17 inch. Single offset. An aside regarding the question of 1:24 or 1:25 - the difference in diameter between the two in a scale 17" wheel is ~.7mm.

This is also my suggestion. A regular #2 pencil will highlight them nicely (especially against that red primer) without too much hassle. If you're feeling adventurous, there are artist pencils that are available in various shades of silver, as well. The great thing about this technique is that it is easy to remove with a cotton swap and some window cleaner if you don't like it.

I already can think of at least 2 versions of the '60 Nomad I want to build. Also, the '04 GTO is a pleasant surprise. Haven't seen that kit on the shelves in ages. I better start saving my pennies.

Well done. That old Monogram kit is still a nice build, even after 40 years.

This. Certain paints are formulated to be applied over a glossy black base coat to give the desired results. High shine Alclad2 paints, as well as SMS Hyperchrome, are two examples of metallic coatings that require a shiny black base to give maximum reflectivity. Gloss black primer is made for these types of finishes.

It looks great! I think the work you did on the taillights is pretty nice. They aren't the easiest parts to detail on this generation of Firebird, but I think you nailed the overall look. Sweet build.

Those are really cool. Very clean builds. The decal work is top shelf and I love the tire & wheel details. I wish I had squirreled away one or two of those Revell kits while they were still available (and cheap).

InQuarters makes good stuff, but it's mostly for 1:64. They have one generic fire sheet in 1:24/25. K4 Decals makes this generic set of fire apparatus markings in multiple scales: https://k4decals.com/collections/other-decals/products/fire-truck-markings-bronze-silver-and-black-decal-fire CMR Products/Netzlof Design has a few sets of generic fire decals, including a sheet of department names, but they're listed as 1:29 scale: https://www.cmrproducts.com/Emergency-Vehicles-c68611014 STS Decals has a generic FD gold set that might be period appropriate: https://stsdecals.com/products/fire-department-scale-model-decal You can also check eBay and the like for older (out of print) Chimneyville Hobbies generic fire decals, which were mainly door badges in different colors. Many fire vehicles in that era (1960s) did not have very complicated markings or a bunch of equipment. Just the department name on the door, and a warning light was pretty common. This was especially true with smaller departments, but even FDNY at that time had red trucks with simple gold lettering for a lot of their equipment.

One of my favorite fat fenders! I dig it, and I love the interior color. Nice work bringing this one out of the box and onto the shelf.

The AMT 1970/72 Corvette is a pretty nice kit with good proportions, but the street machine version is kind of a mixed bag, parts wise. Still, your build looks really good and that color is killer.

How did I miss the news of the '60 Chevy? I must have been sleeping.

He's not asking about a particular airframe or how to build it, he's asking about how to best replicate a shiny metal finish. Auto modelers often deal with shiny metal finishes - chrome, mostly - so it was certainly something that we, as a group, have plenty of experience with. BMF on a car, truck, boat, plane, etc., is still going to be BMF. OTOH, you asked about building a particular kit of a particular aircraft. You didn't like that people pointed you in the direction of other sites that cater to that sort of thing, since center pylons on F18Es are not something we all know about. It's not a good look to be snarky with folks who are tying to help.

To clarify, your "primer" coat was Rustoleum Painter's Touch flat black? Over bare plastic? And it didn't dry on it's own? Or did you topcoat the flat black, and then run into the tacky problem?

How do you want to build it? Stock, street machine, custom? Are you going to build it OOB or use a bunch of aftermarket stuff, adding kit parts to the spares box? None of the kits mentioned above are the "best" overall, since each one has some issues. Personally, I would start with AMT's 1997-up Bel Air (#8315) or their Street Machine (#8319), depending on which direction you want to go. I like the feel of these kits and they build up well. As already mentioned, the Pro Shop version (#8455) has a bunch of extra goodies if that floats your boat. Plus, these kits have an opening trunk and some really nice interior detail, if that's important to you. The Revell glue kits - both the Bel Air and the 150 sedan - are also solid kits and good builds overall.

Yes, that Hasegawa kit is relatively recent (2021 or so). It's much more detailed and better designed, and builds up into a really nice 1st gen RX-7.

Sweet! This is one of those Monogram gems that gets overlooked because the tooling was created in the late 1970s and isn't very detailed, but it's a fun build. I think it represents the real car pretty well in the end.

Yes, there is a space for military models, sci-fi, etc. here, but this is largely an automotive modeler site (it's the forum of a model car magazine). You're not going to find the depth or breadth of expertise on military modeling here that you will on any number of other sites specifically dedicated to those subjects. I've been building military aircraft and armor for decades, and there are plenty of online spaces that have the resources you need to help get you started with the subject. Even though they're all "just" plastic kits, it's a different kind of modeling in a lot of ways.

Oh, I love this. The TR6 is totally overlooked in the modeling world. Following.

Bummer about the Vic, but glad you walked away from that.

Given the 1:144 scale, I'd say that no matter what option you choose, you've got your work cut out for you. As someone who has built this kit (the C140A version) I salute your ambitions.

I had a '76 K5 Cheyenne for the better part of 20 years, and I used the MPC Blazer to build a model of that truck. The main body issue you've got to deal with is the top. The MPC kit represents a '73-'75 with a full top, 3/4 doors and a non-stock sunroof. Filling the sunroof and getting it to match the roof contour is the first step. Rescribing the top to look like the '76-up "half cab" is next. That includes reshaping the upper door area to make it look like full doors. None of this is particularly involved. Some Dymo tape and a decent scriber is really all you need, along with some sanding sticks and patience. The Cheyenne two tone side trim is straightforward enough to make with stretched sprue or appropriately sized Evergreen rod. Mine had the trim removed at some point in it's life, so I didn't bother with it. If you want a stock or near stock ride height, some cutting of the suspension mounts will get it lowered. And Fireball models has the correct, stock GM 6-bolt 4x4 rally wheels if you want to go that route. Of course, copious rust behind the front wheels and under both doors isn't required but it's certainly accurate.

Sweet looking conversion. That's some really nice work there.

She's a looker. That's a great color, and I'm really digging the vinyl top. Makes me miss my '68.

I've got the original Monogram issue of this kit on my bench at the moment. I think it sits a wee bit to high in the front for a stock Mustang, and certainly too high for a proper street machine. The rear seems fine to me for stock, or if you want a bit of forward rake or to fit a taller tire in the back. As Mark said, the front is easily lowered by moving the wheel mounting tab up. Simply cut and glue. With a little extra styrene, you can get almost 4mm of drop this way without touching anything else on the front suspension. It's a pretty big change, so test this first with the wheels/tires you're planning to use to be sure everything clears. The back end is a little more complicated, because of the one piece molded leaf springs and rear axle. There's really not much material to take off the spring shackles. You can try flattening the leafs a little, but you've got very little wiggle room, unless you want the rear mounts to hang off the frame. Maybe you can get a millimeter or two this way, and that might be all you need. Personally, I would remove the rear end from the leafs and drop it by shimming accordingly. The one challenge to this method is keeping everything square, but if you drill some locating holes first and use the chassis as a jig, you can get everything glued back up without too much trouble.

I remember R&R Vacuum Craft having a panel truck (or sedan delivery?) body for the '32 Chevy, and I think Fred's Resin Workshop also did a 5 window coupe. That was 15-20 years ago, give or take a few. I've seen a handful of R&R bodies pop up on eBay now and then, so that's a place to start. I don't know of anyone in recent memory doing bodies for this kit, since the last time AMT reissued the '32 Cabriolet was in the mid-1980s.