Bainford

Very cool stuff, Bob. These builds all look great, but together they make a fantastic collection. Real nostalgia. Nice work piecing together these oldies. They are lovely to see, thanks for posting.

It doesn't matter what you are building, Randy, it is always a pleasure and an education to watch. Stellar work going on here.

Brilliant work as usual, Charles. I really like checking out your WIPs. Always a delight.

Cheers Andrew, but I think I am being credited for a comment made by someone else.

Welcome to the forum, Paul.

Despite the issues, it is a nice looking Land Rover.

The '57 is looking good in red, Bob. Nice work.

That fuse box is crazy trick. I am sure this is the first time I've seen scale fuses in a build.

Looking good. Nice work on the gauges.

Great work, and I appreciate the history and Lotus minutia as well.

Welcome aboard, Andy. Enjoy the forum.

Looks good, Steve. Dealing with small individual letters would be super tricky. Good result.

Seriously good looking Ford, Bill. Great detailing looks factory. Everything about this build looks 'right'. Love it! I missed your WIP but will check it out. I have a '73 F-350 project coming up (some day) so I'll be looking for detailing tips.

Welcome to the forum, William. Nice looking T/A.

Very impressive.

Beautiful Lambo, Steve. Nice paint work. It really pops in the sun. Such a good looking car. I have this kit in the stash, but it really deserves to be built and put on the shelf.

Can't give you a hard time about that colour. It looks great. Suits the Futura perfectly. Nice choice David.

Speaking on behalf of the community, we are waiting for you to paint it and show it to us, at which point we shall berate you mercilessly for choosing the wrong colour. ?

NNL North coverage, page 77.

Lots of excellent information there. I would like to add that a successful cut & polish job starts before to paint even goes on. Body prep is very important, but specifically I want to address a couple of issues with panel gaps (doors, deck lids, etc) that sometimes crop up during colour sanding or polishing. On most kits there is a low ridge that forms on either side of a panel gap when the kit is produced (an artifact of the molding process, I presume). These ridges are nearly imperceptible (invisible unless you look for them) but I have had them show themselves by burning through when sanding/polishing the paint. The solution is to knock these high-spots down by block sanding the plastic across all panel gaps using a hard, flat sanding block. Another issue with panel gaps is that sometimes the body surfaces on either side of a panel gap are not on the same plane. That is to say, the surface on one side of a gap may be higher or lower than the rest of the car body, such as a door that is slightly proud of the rest of the body. Again, these areas will show themselves by burning through when colour sanding or polishing. Sometimes these surface discrepancies are significant. Block sanding can deal with the minor instances, but a filling primer or (my favourite) Gunze Sangyo Mr. Surfacer may be needed to build up the lower surface. Yet another consideration. If you scribe your panel lines, be sure to block sand across the panel gaps afterward as the scriber can produce a fine swarf at the edge of the gap. I highly recommend panel scribing for anyone who cuts & polishes paint as this is when a panel gap looks really great. The act of cutting & polishing a model (for me personally, at least) is not about making the paint shiny, it is about tightening up the overall appearance of the body, sharpening the edges of panel gaps and other body edges, and flattening the overall surface for a cohesive and realistic appearance. It is an important step in the pursuit of realism, if that is the goal. Keep in mind that any proud point or area on the body surfaces may be exposed at the most inopportune time, i.e. when putting the finishing touches on that great paint job. I highly recommend giving the complete body a block sanding job with a soft block before paint, during the body prep stage. I like to use one of those white vinyl drafting erasers as a soft block. I usually use 1000 or 1500 grit sandpaper for block sanding, and do it all wet. Don't press hard, just let the grit do the work, to ensure a flat surface, especially over panel gaps.

Thanks for posting this. A very interesting resource.

Another potential source for mirrors are those horrid Ford Courier kits Revell released in the 70s. The mirrors look pretty good.

Yes, any progress on t-shirts available for online purchase?

There are a number of sources for braided hose. One of the most common is Protech carpartscatalog2 (protechmodelparts.com) . They have SS braided hose in several sizes at that link, and machined metal hex fittings, too. Another option is de-soldering braid. It's a fine copper braid. It looks flat, but is really a tubular braid that is flattened. A plastic or metal rod of the appropriate size can be inserted into the braid to make it appear to be a round hose, and to hold what ever shape you want it to be. Being copper, it needs to be painted, but it has a great braided hose look. There was also a discussion on the forum a few weeks ago about using the center braided shield from a communications cable. Apparently this stuff is available in many sizes and is very reasonable priced. Unfortunately I can't find that thread now, but it had some good looking options for SS braided hose. EDIT: I found the thread. It starts out talking about glass beads, but soon turns to a discussion on braided hose.

Good looking Eagle, Gustavo. You have done this very cool race car justice. Nice work. Question; what is the flat plate mounted to the top of the left header?