Bainford

Another vote for Tamiya clear red and clear orange. You may have to lay on a couple heavy coats to get the colour saturation you want. I have been using these in acrylic, but I am anxious to try Tamiya's lacquer version of these colours.

Thanks for the link. I've emailed through the Testors site, but have not received a reply. I tried the link from my work computer but but alarm bells and warning lights went wild when I clicked on it. Likely due to corporate net nanny. I'll try again from my home computer when I get home.

Not sure how I missed this one. Nice work this curious Lotus. I have a 43 project in my project book as well, waiting its turn. It is my understanding that Lotus modified a 38 to create the 43, so my plan was to start with the old IMC Lotus 38, though it is hard to say how much of the IMC kit would get used. Especially since I want to build in 1/24 and the IMC kit is 1/25. Diligent measuring required. I have one in the stash waiting patiently, but I'll be watching your progress to see what I can pick up. What I really want to do is just scratchbuild the awesome H-16, the car merely being something to put it in. I think I may have to build two engines, so I can display one on a stand next to the model.

Excellent work, Josh. Nice save on the steering wheel. It's a pain to deconstruct an assembly in order to make a repair, but almost always worth the effort in the end. Also impressed with the other interior details, especially the wear & tear on the various components. It looks very realistic. The body painting looks top notch, especially the stripes and roundels. Great work here, worthy of such an auspicious subject. BTW, what paint did you use for Guardsman Blue? The colour looks right on.

How do you know? I would like to get the right answer to this. Unsubstantiated and unverified one-line statements all over the internet say"Testors is gone", but I can't find an official statement saying so. The-sky-is-falling types all over internet forums and facebook are saying so, but I can't find an informed and trustworthy source making this claim. Testors own website is useless, still promoting Model Master products.

Love it! Nice work on the old JoHan classic. I really dig the hod/roof/deck lid graphics. Very cool.

When I say the paint is 'too hot', I'm not referring to temperature of the paint, but of the chemical aggressiveness of the solvents that make up the paint. I can't tell for certain if it is crazing without seeing photos in better lighting. Crazing manifests itself as a rough texture in the finished paint, but it is actually the plastic itself that has developed the rough texture. The 'hot' paint attacks the surface of the plastic and causes the surface to go grainy and pebbly. This can be avoided by proper preparation of the plastic before painting (which involves a learning curve) or by sticking with paints and primers formulated specifically for plastic models. Or, pretty much any acrylic paint will be safe, too.

Nice colour, but it appears the plastic might have experienced crazing. This occurs when a paint is 'too hot' (chemically speaking) and it attacks the plastic. Would need to see photos of the body in better lighting to tell for sure.

Are you certain about that, or just speculating based on internet buzz? There seems to be conflicting information on that topic.

lay it down in strips.

I would say that $5.95 for 1 oz. is cheap.

Very cool! I like the style and the colour is perfect.

Wow! That looks fantastic. Now that's an engine suited for such a stunning build. It's a shame about losing the ARDUN script, but the rocker covers look great. Excellent work! As you say, a Lincoln v-12 with ARDUN heads is a fantasy, but not beyond possible to fabricate from existing v-8 parts if one were very keen, and if someone were to do so, this is how they would look. Very well done!

Man, that thing is looking great!

Beautiful Maserati. You have done a lovely job on this and rendered a great replica of a great car. Excellent work.

Cool modified. The tires & wheels improve the appearance quite a bit. Nicely done. I loved these MPC Modifieds and Super Stocker kits when I was young. They all went together well and made for great looking shelf models.

A fine looking 7. Looks ready for track day. Cool!

Ditto!

Great looking rod. Very clean in both style and execution. Nicely done!

As mentioned, the Model Master Metalizers are excellent (my personal favourite) airbrush paints for replicating bare metal finishes, but the entire Model Master line has recently been discontinued. There are some other options. Alclad has a line of metal paints that look very good, and like the MM Metalizers are intended for airbrush use. Vallejo carries a line of metal paints in acrylic that seem quite popular, though I haven't tried them. Two lines of metal paints is offered by AK Interactive; the True Metal series and the Extreme metal series. The True metal is a thick paint in a tube, and the Extreme Metal is an airbrush ready paint. I haven't used any of the AK paints either, but I'm quite curious about them and will be buying a set soon.

Ditto. I use a lot of guitar string in my scratchbuilding, and it's a bit much for my craft store type wire cutters. The cut-off wheel on the Dremel works a treat. The Bahco cutters mentioned by Geebee look great, and Bahco make great hand tools. I think might need a set of those in the garage.

Agreed! I love the MM Metalizers, and thought there are good alternatives (which I'm beginning to experiment with), I'm not sure how I'm going to live with out the Aluminum Plate Buffing Metalizer. That stuff is magic for bringing plastic parts to life. When I heard the stuff was going away I searched and managed to find three bottles, which I will use sparingly. Fortunately I bought a new gravity feed airbrush last spring which will help with economical use of the Metalizer paint.

Very cool. I had no idea this kit existed. I must look into this. Your build is coming along nicely, though too bad about the paint woes. This model will look so cool on the shelf. I got a chance to check out the 1:1 back in 2000, an impressive machine.

Panteras are cool and race cars are cool, but I must say that is not the prettiest Pantera. Nonetheless, interesting subject and interesting kit. I think it needs to be built.

Nice work so far. Well done getting the engine fit issues sorted. It's looking good.