Bainford

Since this thread started I have been checking the posts for a movie I saw on Lost Drive-In in the 90's but had forgotten the name, and I think it may have been Redline 7000. The scene that sticks with me is one where a guy is driving a Cobra Daytona as a road car, and at one point he is driving down the road and suddenly turns around and goes back where he came from. In doing so he jams the front aluminium body work into a ditch or embankment of some sort, probably crumpling it. At least, this is how I remembered it after many years. Can anyone confirm? I remember thinking at the time, "if they only knew what that old race car would be worth some day". The absurdity scene has stuck with me for years.

Excellent weathering. I love the overall look of this build. Very well done!

Very nice!

Castrol Super Clean is my 'go to' stripper and Easy-Off HD oven cleaner is my back-up for stubborn removals. When nothing else will work, the part takes a bath in brake fluid. It hasn't let me down yet. I have had hobby lacquer and chrome plating undercoating in the past that I could only strip with brake fluid. One particular Tamiya lacquer paint job required a week long soak in brake fluid to loosen the paint. As Ace said above, temperature is important. And remember to dispose of used stripping product properly, which even for biodegradable strippers (Purple Power, Castrol Super Clean, etc) means not down the drain.

I was not aware of this stuff. Thanks for the suggestion, going to order some up right now. Cheers

It is curious the individual tastes for tools of this nature. I purchased a UMM SCR-02 scriber last year on a recommendation from a forum member, but found it to be a waste of money. I tried it several times but it just wasn't the tool for me. I also found the quality of manufacture to be only fair. I used the BMF scriber for many years, and it is a good and effective tool, and holds an edge surprisingly well, but the score lines are a bit too wide for some purposes. I still use it when a wide scribe is needed. I considered grinding it narrower but instead found a couple of dental picks with a very good scribing profile, and much narrower than the BMF scriber. I few minutes with a stone and the dental pick was converted into a great scriber with good control. However, my favourite scriber is one I cut out of a discarded Exacto blade. The blade was ground narrow at the cutting tip and a cutting edge was formed that pulls a wonderful curl and leaves a nice square bottom to the groove. I turns corners well also. The blade has a 1" long piece of heat shrink tuning applied to the tang to act as a handle, keeping it short and light, like a pin-stripers paint brush, for good control. I'd love post a photo to illustrate but don't have that ability at this time.

I have a K&S tube cutter but rarely use it. For aluminium tube I roll it under an Exacto blade as described above, and for brass tube I use the Exacto mitre box and razor saw.

Very impressive work. I have often admired some of the painting skills demonstrated on well build low rider models over the years, but this thread provides some of the best insight yet into how it is done. You definitely have a good eye for a great line. Thanks for posting this WIP.

Nice looking model of one of the most awesome sports cars ever built. The dark blue looks right at home on the old Jag. Nicely done.

That's nice, tidy custom. Love the colours and you've done a fine job on the scallops. All round nice work on a smooth build.

Now that’s proper model building. Great looking Scarab. Very impressive effort.

The Bob Ford T-bolt really looks the business. Very clean build, and the colour and other details make it one of the best looking Thunderbolts of the era. Very tidy. I love it!

I do not know the answer to your question, but just mentioning the Monogram Cherry Bomb also has a type of bubble type, in case you are keeping your options open..

Nicely done. It has just the right look.

I think the brown colour suits it very well. Gives it a cool, period vibe. I never knew a kit of this car was made. Yours looks nice, and the door/window bar repair turned out fine. Thanks for posting this most interesting model.

I have many different sets, but my very favourite is a Swiss made pair of tweezers called Triumph, from Swartchild & Company. They are popular among watchmakers and come in many styles, though mine are straight tweezers with a very fine point. Best feeling tweezers I have ever had, though the summer humidity in my basement (where my model room is) causes them to lightly rust. They show up on ebay frequently.

My old Lotus is running 13" wheels. Good quality performance tires are hard to find, indeed. Even my 69 Mach 1 still rides on its original 14" wheels (and four wheel, unassisted drum brakes!).

I make the gasket by tracing the shape of the valve cover onto the brown paper then carefully cutting to size and shape. I remove any assembly registers (alignment pins, tabs, slots, etc) from the top surface of the head and the mating surface of the valve cover. I glued the 'gasket' to the head with model glue (sparingly) and once set, glues the valve cover to that. For 'in-service' engines be sure to use a little black wash at the gasket joint. It's a great addition to any detailed engine assembly, and on most engines is quite visible. It's a shame the naysayers have made noise about this, but I have theories on those types. I have a hunch I know of the forum to which you refer, as well.

I do a fair bit of scratchbuilding of small components and details and some of my favourite materials are very cheap and readily available; One of my most popular materials is beer can aluminium. I use this stuff for everything, much of which can be bought as a PE part, but that's expensive, and besides, where is the fun in that. The aluminium is easily cut with scissors and straightened out, measures .004" - .006" thick (scale 1/8"), and it's free. Well, free as long as the can is empty, and if it's not empty... Another favourite is the HD aluminium foil oven liners, measuring .003" - .004' thick, and the bargain brand is very cheap. Fine screen is sourced from the reusable coffee filters. Another source for fine, but heavier duty screen is discarded fuel filters (and some air filters) from industrial diesel engines. Not always readily available but are free for the asking at a diesel service shop. It requires a bit of work to cut the filter apart and the screen needs to be washed thoroughly in brake clean, but the reward is a large supply of very useful, quality fine metal screen. Another favourite material is black vinyl electrical tape, often with the stickum removed. I remove the stickum by wiping with lacquer thinner or Goo Gone. It makes great material for gaskets between door mirrors and the car body, window gaskets, thin strips for wiper blades or fan belts, blower belts, etc, for floor mats (often with the stickum intact), and a thousand other uses. Speaking of gaskets, I use brown paper shopping bags for valve cover gaskets. That's just a few off the top of my head.

Cheers Bill. It's a mistake I see often on models with hinged doors, but in this case it is absolutely correct. Apologies to the OP. I'll wind my neck in now.

Thanks for the tutorial. There is a bit of a problem with the door hinges, though. They are assembled backwards, causing the door to swing away from the body when opened. If the vertical element (tube) of the hinge was mounted to the door and the two horizontal tubes were affixed to the car body (the opposite of what is depicted above), the door would open prototypically correct (at least for most cars), with the leading edge of the opened door tipping in towards the car (and tucking in behind the trailing edge of the front fender). Cheers

No fallen electronic items get thrown out of my house without first harvesting the model parts from inside. An old VCR provided a great pile of gears and similar components that only need the rust treatment to make a cool junk load for an old truck. Wires and diodes aplenty, of course. An old CD player had some perfect rubber suspension air bags. On a project a few years ago I needed an orange wire of a specific gauge, but could find nothing useful in my stash, so I started ripping apart electronic items in the house. Several sets of airplane headphones and an old DVD player bit the dust, but an old lap top provided the exact bit I needed.

Very nice Merc. I have been interested in this kit for years so It's good to see one built up. I wasn't aware that this kit was generally deemed to be a poor kit. You have done an excellent job on yours. The black washing brings out the natural details quite well. Well done.

Nice build. It's good to see a 49 Merc that is not full of lead. Black suits it really well. Well done.

Nice work on the Jag. It's hard to find a car with nicer, smoother lines than this one. The colour is period perfect and suits this build very well. I have this kit on the bench, and I must say it is a much nicer kit than I first expected. It started out as a Monogram metal body kit, later issued in plastic under the Revell name. I expected chunky parts and a low parts count, but I was pleasantly surprised when I first opened the box. The only issue I have had so far is the fit of the bonnet.