gman

We can always count on you for ingenuity, and a realistic looking part that improves the model. Staying tuned in on your current build.

I have used old #11 Exacto blades to hold small parts for painting when they need to be secured from the back and the back doesn't show- 1) take a cardboard box, cut slits slightly larger than the handle portion of the #11 blade on the surface of the box 2) poke the tip of the #11 blade into the part on the back surface 3) slip the handle portion of the blade into the slits to secure the part to your painting surface on the cardboard box 4) airbrush or spray at will If the back of the part will show, you can drill a small hole in your parts, glue a section of styrene rod into the hole to use as a handle. You can poke round holes in a cardboard box and insert the styrene rod into the holes. After painting, you can trim off the styrene handle and touch up the back portion of your part with a dot of paint.

https://www.928oc.org/928-resources/performance-and-cosmetic/wheel-guide?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=fc469cbf63b687e7ffb776cb81620ac40787f543-1576688886-0-AbxIwQAj0LsvSMRdW1P4JABI9qbg9R3UlH05rUHH_jS2qO91mc5YZeFcZKGYw8Ra5hkT_XKWJmTGlmKaUwVHmx8ivf_EWFkiF6gNeUmTgalaZ_BwRhHpE7mBvlpV_OzbgGHiM10oT5_fUfY5SDmauGvb4Vg42OBRWhraBvczobwAOQK5bzDgAMMgeAxZ5aes5n_lsOhFT8HISQsLB0Qn2C6By3e-7A2vQzI1A5IqelaMk286AaDCn3zuEX8sd89ICmxJlX8kS9Nv-MEFEalxVvZRht07ACQkevyJ2sZkL92gQEZu_0F3XyuSiSZfRfmkErHqSYudpfA8za8V-UK5Bss Depending on which exact wheel, I could see a few different ways to go- various shades of Aclad, Molotow, or even matt silvers.

That certainly has a sinister, purposeful look- well done.

^^ bingo After getting them bent correctly and trimmed so there is a little overlap on the clamp, you can glue a thin piece of styrene rod across the hose clamp to serve as the screw portion, and paint silver.

I always look forward to seeing how your builds come together- from incorporating small details, to scratch building, to finishing, to major redesigns of parts that come in the box. Not surprisingly, this one is going to be a winner too.

They were announced a couple of years ago, with the hold up being blamed on labelling for hazards as required by the US. I have come across it in a few hobby shops in Canada, some of which may ship to the US (if you want to get your hands on some now).

I have been to a number of their shows over the years (Yay swap meet!), but have been pretty busy with work for the last few. Cuts into shows, cuts into building time. I'll have to see. Lately, I have to live vicariously through the guys with bench time, and interesting projects like yourself ;).

That kit certainly looks the part. Looking forward to seeing what you'll do with this (and your other projects).

That duece and "Limefire" are two of my favourites

Promising start- I've always had a soft spot for Darts (1:1 and scale), so I will be watching your build come together. I have one in the stash for when some modelling time presents.

Traditional powerplant in a traditional looking rod- the icing on the cake would be a traditional grille insert. The "V" shape isn't hard to achieve on the grille insert, but takes a little finesse to get the same angles into the crank insert and have it fit under the surround.

^^ this If you are using a 2 piece photo etched grille insert (MCG), brushed bars and polished surround would look very classy. Bonus points if you use the 3rd piece, the lower crank hole portion as well.

The parts, custom touches and workmanship are all impressive- I'll be watching this come together.

That is a tough looking truck, and I'd be proud to have the 1:1 in my garage. Well done.

Your new lid will probably fit much better than the kit-supplied one. Out of the box, there are large gaps and fit isn't 100% optimum anyhow. An acceptable fit with the kit's trunk/rumble seat lid requires building up the sides with styrene to close those gaps for a proper scale appearance.

Nice build- I like what you've done. https://expertautoappraisals.com/for-sale/1970-plymouth-aar-cuda/

I was going to say "Wow" with the Tamiya paint job, but would have to retract that statement gracefully once I saw the new/improved one

Just checked my parts box, have a pair of those that I can get at easily- the down side is they have sanded treads. I will look through my stash in a couple of days (if you don't get any local takers) and see if I have some unmolested specimens I can send down from the frozen north.

Could be mold release on the surface- scrubbing with something caustic may help. Westley's Bleche White used to do the trick, but I hear the formulation has been changed. You want something with a good amount of sodium hydroxide to cut and remove the mold release so it doesn't cause fisheyes in your paint.

Great looking trio

That build definitely deserves being finished. The paint work and mods you have done look great. I will be watching. I had that issue of the kit back in the late 80's, did some similar mods. Sadly, many of its suspension pieces made their way to other builds and it was never finished. If I luck upon a reasonably priced kit one day, I'll give it another go. The last time I saw a complete one at a model show/swap meet, the seller wanted some extreme $$$ for it.

That looks great- only needs more pictures

Your Deuce is looking fantastic, BTW

Where I had the reaction using SEM, I was spraying an ABS dash bezel for my old Jeep Cherokee- it lifted and cracked anywhere the OEM paint remained on the dash. I assume the OEM paint was a type of acrylic lacquer, as the only thing that would strip it off was 99% isopropyl alcohol. Over primer, the sheen wasn't the same as over the bare ABS, so as you mention I ended up stripping the dash bezel and shooting the SEM over bare ABS with much more OEM-looking results. I took that to heart when using the rest of the can on various projects. Yes, they are expensive cans of paint. The upside is, they have factory correct colors for a variety of interior surfaces on a number of vehicles, and once you get the hang of what not to spray them over, they give a nice effect. Need a factory correct interior color for a model? SEM usually has your back, with enough paint in that can to do several projects.