Bainford

Nice tip Greg. I use similar brushes, and for far more than airbrush cleaning. I keep one chucked in a small cheap pinvise that lives permanently on the beach. It is immensely useful when scratch building small stuff or fettling small assemblies to clear away dust and debris, especially clearing swarf from small drilled holes or from inside small tubing. I am constantly reaching for it. I buy them without handles, and have found them in a couple different sizes. These ones are GUM brand.

It's a matter of personal preference really, and how easy or difficult the skirts are to install without messing up the paint work. I prefer to paint them separately when possible, to give them the distinction of being separate parts. However, in many cases the skirts may need some finessing during install, so installing them before paint is the best advice.

I love everything about this build. A wicked period street prowler, and the shiny black paint makes it look all the more mean. Nice detailing, too. Very cool!

Yes, I hope the aftermarket kicks in. I'd love to build a '57, and I'd love to build a panel.

You could fill the hole with something superficial, pull a mold from it, and make a new one from fibre glass without the hole.

Cool dragster!

Nice build. I really like the greens you used. Nice colours and they work very well together.

Great Daytona. You nailed the look. Nice work.

Simpler times. Everything seems so conspicuously analog. Also, the modern eye almost cringes at the numerous safety violations. Just business as usual back in the day.

That is a lovely model. Excellent craftsmanship on display here, and a very high degree of realism. Absolutely stunning. I doff my hat to you. What tires are used on this build?

Plus, of course, it's just plain rude to walk out of a hobby shop without buying something. And if it's not rude, it is certainly unnatural.

Like a rock

Hahaha... weird.

Thanks for the comprehensive review.

Beautiful work on this old kit. The wheels and added details really wake it up. A very interesting era for grand prix cars, but like you said, very few good kits available.

Stellar builds! All of them. The big Ferrari is a real stunner. Excellent craftsmanship, thanks for posting.

They walk among us. I'm going to remember the harmonica-tied-to-the-grill trick, though. ?

I paint primarily with Lacquers and enamels. I used to thin them both with cheap hardware store lacquer thinner, which worked well, but it has very strong smelling fumes. A couple years ago I switched to Mr Color Levelling Thinner, which is not as strong smelling, and it's a great thinner, though still has a definite industrial solvent smell. And of course, so do the lacquer and enamel paints themselves. I still clean my airbrush with the hardware store lacquer thinner. Proper breathing protection is always used; in my case, a 3M half-mask with filters for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and a pre-filter to catch paint particles, which will extend the life of the primary filter. With the mask on, I can't smell anything at all. I do use alcohol-based acrylics occasionally, mainly Tamiya, but not for painting bodies. I used to thin these with 91% isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), but have now switched to using Tamiya's own acrylic thinner. Though less dangerous to health, I still find the fumes from these paints to be strong. What is the aromatics-free solvent you have discovered?

Oh goody! I've been waiting for this build to bubble back up to the surface. I an really enjoying the work here.

Very cool custom. I really dig the front end treatment. You have been redeemed. I want to take that little boat out for a spin.

Nice, tidy work.

Nice detailing. It's coming along nicely.

Looks good. Was there primer under the paint? I had car painted with Tamiya lacquer over Tamiya white primer. The paint went down bad so I tossed it in the brake fluid overnight. The paint dissolved (probably because it was so fresh) but the primer remained intact. Curiously, the primer had turned brittle, as you describe, and chipped off easily in hard flakes. I sharpened a coffee stirrer and easily scraped it off clean, chips flying everywhere.

Surprisingly nice. I had never seen the contents of any version of this kit before, and the box art of the 70s Monogram issue, with the photo of the gray model, doesn't do it any justice at all. I was pleased to see it is actually quite nice. During that mid 70s - 80s period Monogram had a curious habit of producing box art showing the built kit that always looked lousy, mostly due to poor photography, while it was really a good kit. It was like some kind of reverse misrepresentation, and they seemed to apply it almost universally.

Good looking ASA T-Bird. A proper stock car. Nice work.