Bainford

Very interesting. I have not seen that car, or any Honda S600 in this area.

I suppose it depends on the type of plastic, and the material make-up of the particular tires in question. With the right combination of elements, it is certainly possible. The phenomenon is known as 'tire burn'. There is an almost unending variety of recipes that make up the various rubbery/plasticky tires in kits over the years. Some of them, with the added ingredient of time, can have devastating effect on the kit parts they may be in contact with. The plasticisers used make the tires flexible is the suspected culprit. This is a real problem with vintage kits stored for decades, especially on clear parts. This may have a lot to do with the fact that old kits did not bag tires or glass separately, both lying together in the bottom of the box. Some claim that kits stored in hot environments (attics, unventilated garages, etc) are more susceptible to this, though I don't know the degree to which this is true. Heat often increases chemical reactions, so it sounds reasonable. There are a few kits out there of which the tires are known to eat the wheels on which they are mounted (the Revell Jaguar XK-SS being one).

Very cool! I don't wish to be too forward here, but I have long been searching for a full bottle or two of Testors dark green #1123 for the restoration of an old build. This colour hasn't been produced in over 20 years. I'd gladly trade a kit for some of this paint. If you think you can help, send me a PM and we'll work something out.

Thanks for the review. I have been curious about this stuff.

There are a number of transparent glues suitable for windshield installation. I usually use Testors Clear Parts Cement. Some use watch crystal cement or canopy cement such as GS Cement. Epoxy glues are also a good choice. It is also helpful to fit the windshield in place and secure with tape, etc, and then apply the glue to the edges. As for repair, I assume you have already tried to scrape it off. Not likely to work, but worth a try. Aside from that, sand the windshield surface until the damage is erased, then polish it back to clear with Micromesh pads and Tamiya polishes, or similar.

I would also consider shaving off the lower door hinge to make the body work easier, and add it again after the repair.

This is looking cool. The Stude makes for a surprisingly good looking gasser.

Very cool. Nice replica.

Welcome to the forum, Daniel.

I agree with the others; It certainly looks great in photos. Nice work. I'm looking forward to starting mine.

Chad's typical eye for style.

Got to love small-bore screamers.

Welcome to the forum, David. Lots of great people here willing to assist with advice. Cheers.

SAE issue 12, March/April 1981.

That's how I ended up with three Revell Jag XKE kits (when I only wanted one).

How long was the tape in place? I think the blue would have been sufficiently cured for what you were doing. I have had a similar experience twice, once on Tamiya lacquer and once on Color Match lacquer, both times with Tamiya tape. It leaves an alligator skin texture in the paint. Perhaps it has a similar effect on their acrylic, too. Tamiya tape is great stuff, I use it a lot, but I've learned to not keep it on more than a day or so (actually I limit an application to two hours if I can). A real pain for some jobs. For straight two-tones and stripes, etc, it is good to remove any masking tape anyway, as soon as possible after the paint sets up, which for airbrushed lacquers is only a few minutes. And never put it a body in the dehydrator with tape on it. To address the damage, I had decent luck with polishing out the texture with micromesh pads and Tamiya polish (if there is sufficient paint thickness left), but under very close inspection some evidence still remains.

Very cool T-Bolt. These look all-business with steelies. You nailed the proper vibe. Nice work.

Good looking Mustang. Nice paint work.

I'm with you, brother. I don't have any tips that would cure that particularly nasty example, but I feel your pain. The material most flexible tires are made of does not trim well. Even a fresh xacto blade only does a mediocre job on most tires. I have found that some materials trim cleanly with a new razor blade where an xacto blade fails. That doesn't help with the space between the treads, though. Another idea, and probably your best bet, is to sand or file a flat spot across the offending area, removing the tread, and place that part of the tire down when displayed. I do this on all my builds, and it really improves the appearance of the finished build on the shelf. It gives the appearance of the tire bearing weight, and gives the model a 'solid' feel. Be sure to keep the flat spot flat and square.

Strip it down to bare plastic and then have a look at it. Tips on paint stripping here;

Lots of good advice here. Another helpful tool can be made from a small curved knife blade, bent and trimmed as shown below. I took an Excell rounded blade and clamped the pointed end in a vice, heated it with a pen torch, and bent the blade at an angle. Then I ground away the cutting edge to make the blade less bulky and provide clearance, leaving just about 3/32" of cutting edge at the tip. This allows me to get the blade down in between body features, or into low spots of the body contours while keeping the cutting edge level with the surface being trimmed. Be sure to clamp the cutting end of the blade in the vice when heating so the jaws can sink the heat and prevent the blade from losing its temper ( no one wants a blade with a bad temper 😁). This modified blade has been extremely handy around the bench, perfect for many hard to access trimming and scraping jobs, trimming features on the floor of interior tubs, etc.

Great conversion. It's not every day you see a Cosworth Vega, and such a good looking one at that. Love the little twin-cam. Very nice work.

Nice looking Dart.

Welcome to the forum, Daniel. That is one mighty impressive build. Cheers.

Welcome to the forum, Daniel. Mighty impressive builds. Cheers.