OldNYJim

Good insight Justin! I’m no expert on these (but I like ‘em…) - any recommendations on what to do to improve the wheels and tires? Is there something specific that’s wrong with them compared to what they’re meant to represent? I figure a set of slicks would be a good starting point at least, given they’re meant to be pavement cars…

That whole engine is awesome…but the weathered finish on the trans is particularly well done. Is that Alclad Steve? Love the realistic finish you got there

Unlike the one piece of advise above, I would NOT recommend getting superglue anywhere near your model car’s clear parts. While there ARE variants that can be used - most regular stuff will leave a white fog or haze on the clear plastic.

Duh! Haha - thank you! I kept rereading the list they posted and couldn’t figure out what I was missing ??

I agree that if the body of a car should be black, regular old black is fine…BUT… There’s a lot to be gained I think by taking a longer look at things your brain might THINK should be black and seeing if they really are. I’m talking interior pieces, frames, rubber hoses, tires…that’s some areas where there’s a whole multitude of different shades and finishes that probably aren’t just a case of painting them black and calling it good. Plus, as noted above, if you paint everything the darkest color to start with it’s hard to add shade and depth with washes or different tones. For example, a fan belt could well be painted a dark black on the inside of the belt and the back, a dark rubber gray on the outside, and an in-between shade in the areas where it wraps around and disappears under a pulley. If the pulleys are black too, pick a gloss paint to add the effect of a different material and finish, pick out any nuts or fasteners in a metal tone and use a black wash there to add another tone. I watched a YouTube video by an artist lately and he said something along the lines of “you’re probably not looking at reference material as much as you should be” and that really stuck with me…less assumptions, more careful study to try and match what’s really THERE and not what you might assume should be there

Because, horses for courses - Future has some properties that other clears don't have (and vice versa)

Yes sir - Future is still my go-to carrier of choice for mixing Createx acrylic candies (which are highly concentrated and need to be mixed to be usable), and it works well for mixing up a tinted dip for clear parts too...provided you're the kind of person who can successfully dip clear parts in Future and manage to not get any dust on the part before it dries. I'm not that kind of person (at least, not one who can do it successfully as consistently as I'd like), but I messed with that technique and it works well. Food coloring works well with Future too. Main thing if you're adding a TINT to the future is to wick off any excess from the edges with a Kleenex or napkin when the part's drying otherwise you'll end up with visible splodges in the tint with darker areas were. As reported by others who have used it, it also helps hide micro-scratches in kit glass, and makes it appear somewhat thinner

Great insight, thank you Tim! I figured there might be mention of it in your Drag Kits book...will pick that one up when I've finished the other two that I'm reading right now! Appreciate you getting back and sharing your thoughts! Sounds like I'll need a couplathreeorfour of these too!

Your technique on that wood worked out GREAT! Nice work!

Wait, where did it say they were doing that one?

I had one of these on my Amazon wishlist for a year or more in case anyone bought me one…which they didn’t. The price on them dropped low enough this week though that I decided I’d wanted one long enough… Amazon smooshed the box by shipping it in a padded envelope rather than a box, but it looks ok, luckily…need to start collecting some other parts packs now to be able to make the whole thing out of only period correct AMT parts

I’ve been a fan of your work since seeing that Corvair wheelstander years back Tim, and you keep turning out model after model that I wish I’d built myself. Thanks for sharing your work!

This is one of your best builds yet Bob…and I was already a fan of your work. Keep going, it’s looking great!!

Oh man, that parachute looks amazing - love the little brass washer and the eyelet poking through. Nice work!!

I would bet there’s still people FROM 2002 waiting for their parts. They had a reputation for taking YEARS to deliver, if they ever delivered at all, and a search of this site will find threads as early as 2008 and as recent as 2019 complaining of the same practices. Definitely ‘buyer-be-cautious’ situation…

Not to encourage dishonesty, but I doubt anyone at Etsy knows which kits are or are not vintage...or does the site require some kind of information (product codes or something) that could tell the difference?

I re-read this thread and mentally voted for number three this time, then realized I already voted ? Glad to see this one back on the bench!

Agreed! I love that color (on that truck anyway…)

Well, that’s awesome! I wanted to build a Tweedy Pie so that’ll be a good opportunity to switch out the wheels and build one!

Question for anyone who knows - the Roth Tweedy Pie ‘car-toon’ kit there…is that the same as the regular kit besides the big oval wheels and the Roth figure? Or did they tool up an entirely new kit?

Super helpful - thanks fellas! Turns out it's worth more than I realized! Of course, that's not to say the insurance company will offer us what it's WORTH, but its good to have done some homework...

Great start! It's cool to see ANY showrod kit get built - especially when they have some added thought put into them! Keep going!

Thanks fellas! Four weeks in, and the local police only just wrote the report on the accident, so not a thing has happened. Turns out the guy who hit us is also with Allstate…they called my wife and offered her a rental car for THREE DAYS. Not sure what use that is - need to follow up on why only three days (my wife somehow didn’t think that was unusual ?) Side note - the local tow company where the car sits now apparently charges $120 a day for storage…they’re going to be the real winners in this whole deal… Anyone here have access to Kelly Blue Book pricing and cad valuations? I’m curious as to what they’ll offer as a payout so I can start finding her something else…

Post lots of builds and enjoy your stay! ??