Radretireddad

I bought one bottle about a year and a half ago and wasn’t happy about the $12 price and the fact that the proprietor recommended using only his primer which I also bought. The primer went on fine but the color finish was full of all manner of foreign material. Since I was still relatively new at airbrushing I decided to strip the body and try again later after gaining some experience. The second attempt yielded the exact same results on a scrap body so that was enough for me. I managed to get a perfect color match and a beautiful smooth, even coat from my own acrylic blend. It’s rather frustrating that someone has made the effort to manufacture and market a broad line of factory color matched hobby paints that I can’t use.

Try wrapping a narrow strip of cellophane tape once around the axle stub. I’ve also glued a piece of small diameter evergreen tubing on the ends to act like a retaining cap.

My wife of 36 years last month makes no effort to appreciate the value of anything that isn’t absolutely practical, so I do get the predictable eye roll whenever I mention that I’m in need of something hobby related. She does know she can incentivize me to do things for her family by bribing me with a trip to the hobby shop. Before I retired and still had some spending money, my stash grew by two to three kits a month with her okay. These days I’m quite content to build what I have on hand (around 150 or so kits) and have only bought one or two kits since the first of the year. Radretiredmom’s only nonnegotiable is no stinking up the house with paint or chemicals so it’s strictly acrylics for me which I’ve actually come to prefer. She usually has no problem with my occasional requests for paint and supplies.

Excellent job on that Europa. What a gorgeous black finish. That’s my favorite Lotus.

I’ve been using this Flex Shaft accessory on my variable speed Moto Tool for years. It allows much better control for delicate operations and I can keep the powered end hung up out of the way.

Great! I’ve been wondering if there is anything else that works better than Elmers for the mock-up stages so I’m definitely going to try this stuff. Thanks for sharing this.

Sorry, I must have missed the blown spec.

Check out the Revell ‘32 Ford 5-window kit.

The shelving I actually got for free.

You heard right. This is the one that initially came with bad chrome. Trumpeter sent a replacement chrome tree out to their customers. Yep. Like so much of my stash I bought both when they were available and still affordable, knowing at the time it would be years before they would be completed. Not sorry I did.

You’ve reached the point most would like to be at. I had a modest collection of kits that I, like you, bought and immediately built back in the 80’s when I was single and had the time. After getting married, virtually all my spare time for the next three decades was devoted to family life but I still kept buying and storing kits in the hope of being able to return to the hobby in the future. Two years ago I was able to bring the stash out of cold storage and begin building again. Since I retired last year it’s full speed ahead.

Before and after stash storage.

Workbench, workbench inspector, spray booth, stash.

Whose idea was it to have all these kids?

Any worthwhile accomplishment in life involves a willingness to embark on a slow, patient, time consuming journey to get good at whatever one’s chosen goal is. I tried learning to play the guitar a couple of years ago and dropped it because I was frustrated from not enjoying the journey. I wasn’t enjoying the process of daily practice and attempting to learn music theory left me cold. Building up my collection, OTOH is something I enjoy immensely. I’ve enjoyed staying after all the experimenting and practice required to perfect my airbrush technique. I enjoy all the time I spend correcting kit flaws and errors. I enjoy scratch building things like engine mounts and wheel adapters. The kits I’ve completed since I returned to the hobby chronicle this journey of gradual improvement and all the kits I’ve accumulated over time are going to look way better than if I had completed them when I first bought them. The only thing that would make the hobby more enjoyable, is if I could coach youngsters to embark on and enjoy the same journey.

Stash storage before and after.

I’ve found the right thinning ratio is determined by compressor psi setting and airbrush needle position more than anything else. I like to apply fairly heavy yet uniform coats which requires the paint to cover evenly and not run or sag. Even though the Createx paints are noticeably thicker in the bottle than say Tamiya acrylics, a 50/50 ratio seems to work well. As always, experimentation and good quality components are indispensable.

I painted my ‘53 F-100 with Tamiya acrylic and let it sit at room temperature for about 2 months. When I went to finish it, I was able to handle it without leaving any fingerprints at all. I test applied a piece of standard masking tape to the back of the cab overnight and it peeled off with no effect on the finish underneath. It still polished and buffed out perfectly.

😴😴😴

Hey gang! This is a build that I started back in the ‘90’s when I got the ride height and wheel and tire combo set. At the time I cut the frame cross members for the engine and trans out because I knew I didn’t want to use either engine in the kit but had nothing to replace them with. Fast forward to last year when I decided to recycle the 351W and C6 from a Revell pink T-bird pro-street that didn’t survive a move. Some may remember the pics I posted of the in process build last year shortly before painting it. After letting it sit for like 12 weeks waiting for the paint to fully harden, I finally got to work finishing it up. I used two small machine screws to eliminate the kit’s exposed front metal axle. The engine and trans mounts and the entire exhaust system between the headers and stacks were scratch built from various evergreen shapes. The stacks themselves are the optional side pipes from the AMT 1960 F100 with the tips drilled out. The color is a 50/50 mix of Tamiya X-5 green and X-28 park green. I wanted to depict a stout daily driver that retains all of the simple, rugged essence of this classic American icon. Thanks for looking.

Since I’ve never watched the series, I had no way of knowing that. Thanks for clearing that up.

Has this kit been ruled out as the mysterious next ST release from Revell?

5604 also required some polishing and buffing. Once done it looked as good as Tamiya X-22 but was fully hardened when dry. 5604 is cloudy in the bottle and when first applied but dries completely clear. It’s also more economical than X-22.

The 5604 was all my local Hobby Lobby had in stock so I thought I’d try it and it worked great. I plan on using up the bottle I have but I will look for the numbers you’re using in the future. Thanks.

I should have worded my question a bit more specifically. What is the best way to duplicate red oxide primer using acrylic hobby paint?