Dennis Lacy

Thanks for all the kind words! It feels good to be back and I don't see the next one taking 10 years, haha. With any luck I'll have #2 wrapped up next weekend.

Thanks for all the detailed replies, you've all been very helpful! It's no surprise that the consensus is to upgrade and a camera in the neighborhood of $150 isn't out of the question. I finally ended up posting some pictures in the Under Glass section on Sunday. These I took on the medium quality setting, zoomed in 2x and they were better than any before since I was a good two feet away. I was then able to sharpen them a bit with a photo editor. I'm gonna experiment as per Aaron's suggestion. Maybe try full 3x zoom on the highest quality at 3 feet back since this is about the fixed focal length as Pete pointed out. Thanks again everyone!

Wow, the new front-end treatment really works! I think the best thing you did for it tho was moving the front wheels forward. I've always thought these trucks could use just that, even when the body is left completely stock. Do you have any plans to modify the back end or just leave it as is? Either way, can't wait to see this when finished!

It's refreshing to see a '34 Sedan getting shown some love. While I realize you used a resin body, it's too bad AMT screwed up so bad when they made that kit back in the '80s. Maybe a healthy top chop is all the original needs to look decent... I've seen a picture of that reverse induction car before and like your take on it better since you used those custom manifolds and automotive carbs. I also really like how you made the wood and chicken wire in the roof opening, very convincing!

Very neat. The stance is great and I especially like the way you did the bed. Also dig the colors, they work very well together. It's funny, for many years my father had a nice, stock, dark blue '50 pickup and I always thought it was ugly. But, now that it's been some years since he sold it I really like them! Haha, go figure.

This is simply awesome. Love the shade of red and wood tones you used. I was never aware that this early version existed until I saw this thread. I check Ebay almost every week and have never seen one, just lots of the "Early Iron" version and the recent re-issue.

This is the second fenderless '36 I've seen and they're really starting to grow on me. In fact, I can feel the wheels start to spin as I type this. Nice looking rod. The extreme chop gives it a really agressive look and the front axle rear bumper is really creative.

I'll preface by saying this is my first build in 10 years, finished or otherwise. I decided to re-enter the hobby with a relatively simple kit and build so I could focus on myself and getting comfortable again. I did my best to keep the modifications simple and to a minimum, but you all know how that goes... The car started out as (what I think is) the most recent re-issue of AMT's '32 Ford Roadster. When compared to the technical advances of more modern-tool '32 kits available this kit is quite primitive, but it has a lot of character. Chassis: I took a couple deep breaths and forced myself to use the kits frame with molded in rear axle and stock exhaust system with the justification that when the car's sitting on the shelf and it can't be seen, it won't matter. However, the front crossmember and frame horns were removed and the front crossmember and frame horns from one of Revell's '32 kits grafted in place. Rather than the seperate, plated spreader bar I molded in a bar made from plastic tubing. The entire chrome suspension from Revell's '32 kits was used, save for replacing the disc brakes with period-correct early Ford drum brake plates from the Monogram '32 Roadster. The wheels, hub caps and rear tires from AMT's '40 Coupe were used with the fronts modified to mate-up to the Revell axle. The front tires are from the spare box and are a good match. The frame is painted Testors Model Master gloss black. Engine: The engine is from AMT's '32 Ford Coupe and is an overly simplified early small block Chevy and was a good choice for my "keep it simple" theme and the six-two setup with angled scoops looks period-perfect. I changed things up a bit with some finned Corvette-script valve covers, cut off the molded-on generator and used a chrome one from the spare box and used the Corvette exhaust manifolds from the Monogram '32 Roadster kit and the front tubes that come molded to them. The tubes are long enough to reach about halfway under the car for a simple open lake-pipe look. The engine is painted Testors dark red along with the "mouths" of the carburetor scoops and generator end plate. Details like the oil filter, starter and pulleys were hand painted Testors gloss black. The exhaust system is Testors silver. Body: I chose to use the fenderless, channeled option. A lot of time was spent cleaning up the body by removing mold seams and sharpening the body lines. The cowl vent was "filled" and the working rumbleseat converted to a non-functioning trunk lid. The firewall was made from the optional flat firewall found in Lindberg's '34 Ford Pickup. The radiator shell and insert are heavilly chopped Revell '32 parts and the radiator comes from Monogram's '32 Roadster and was equally cut-down. The windshield frame is out of the box but with new "glass" made from clear acetate. The headlights are the optional smaller pieces from the Revell '32 kits and the taillights are '39 Ford teardrops from the spare box. The body (as well as the shell, wheels, dashboard, steering column and wheel) is painted Testors Colors by Boyd kandy purple pearl over a Testors silver base. Thinned flat black was flowed between the grill bars. Interior: The kit interior, for the sake of cutting to the chase, sucks! To remedy this the side panels and seat from Revell's '32 Roadster were utilized. The bottoms of the side panels were trimmed off to accomodate the channeled body. The seat was cut apart where the upper and lower cushions come together and was minipulated to fit and the head bolster trimmed so that it would fit over the top of the body lip. The dashboard is from AMT's '40 coupe and fit with a lot of massaging. The steering column (with column-shift) and wheel come from AMT's '49 Mercury Coupe. The kit floorboard and pedals were used. The "upholstry" pieces are painted Tamiya matt white and the floor Tamiya semi-gloss black. I'm very pleased with the outcome of this build, especially considering how long I'd been away. Hope you all enjoy! (Sorry about the picture quality, I'm still trying to figure it out.)

My camera is an HP Photosmart 433 3.1mp. It does not have a macro setting or the ability to freeze the focus as you explained. It's pretty much a basic camera with a few adjustment available. I've attempted indoor photos with the same issues, only worse. I see conflicting opinions about wether indoor or outdoor is better and I guess that comes down to personal preference. Regardless, there must be a way for me to take pictures good enough to share on the board.

I need some help from those of you that know more than me about photographing 1:25 models, which is zero! I just finished my first build in ten ten years and I'm eager to share it with the board, but all my photo attempts have failed so far. I was attempting to take the pictures outside and it's overcast here which I figured would be good so I wouldn't get glare or shadows. I'm using a small, round table with the model setting on top of an upside down kit box, which is tan in color and a good contrast to the cars dark purple paint with a wood fence as background. My camera has 3 quality settings and I have tried all three. I have messed with the white balance (set to shade and sunlight), EV compensation (neutral, dark and light) and flash or no flash. No matter what, the end result is the fence and box are in perfect focus and the model is slightly fuzzy with a heavy glare coming off the chrome parts and white interior. Any suggestions? I found a handful of photo tip threads but none of them address the issues I'm having.

Excuse the ignorance of this question, do you brush-on the liquid mask or white glue?

Very cool project. The shortened body and lengthened doors give it a really sporty look, kinda like an early Thunderbird. To my eye, the modern windshield looks a little akward but it's hard to tell without the hood on. Have you considered chopping down the height of the windshield? It seems like a 1/4" would make the whole car look sleeker, especially if you try and imagine a top on it. It would also pull the ends of the windshield posts away from the passengers and (if it were a real car) ease entry and exit. I also think some chrome C5 ZO6 wheels would look cool. If your gonna do the steel wheel and stock caps consider some wider wheels and wide, low profile Z-rated tires for a nice retro look. It would be a shame to put all that great handling modern suspension under the car then have it handle like garbage because of some tall, narrow, bias-ply tires. (If it were a real car.)

Thanks for all the great advice, guys! An update: I wet sanded the primer with 2000 then sprayed the silver base last Thursday and it went very good. I let it dry all weekend and tonight I'm gonna wet sand the silver with 2000 then hopefully spray the purple tomorrow night. I'll give an update on the outcome.

I can honestly say that I have not yet seen a Concept Camaro (artwork, model, real or otherwise) that I have liked, until now! This is absolutely awesome! What great imagination and the perfect blend of old and new. It really, REALLY works.

I sprayed the interior panels and seat with the Tamiya tonight and it turned out just fine. Paint went on perfect and dried to the look I was trying to achieve. It's amazing how much better this paint is than Testors enamels! After I spray this project and the next with the enamel I already bought I'm switching to lacquer.

It's incredible how much better that kit looks with a correctly proportioned windshield, let alone the top you're designing for it. Add some steel disc wheels and bias-ply tires and outwardly you have an accurate looking post-WWII roadster. Very nice!

Thank you guys! The can says "for plastics" but I just wanted to be sure because I remember what happened years ago when I tried using Krylon directly over plastic. Dave, the plan is to put the Matt White onto the interior parts from Revell's '32 Roadster which are already molded in white and have been modified to work in the AMT '32 Roadster since it's interior "tub" is pretty primitive. I am going for a vinyl / leather look and Tamiya is the only brand the store had on-hand that had a Matt version of white, which should be not too shiney but not too dull. I saw the White Pearl but thought it would be better suited to the 60's and 70's plastic era of upholstry.

Title pretty much says it all. I've never used Tamiya before and just bought a can of TS-27 "Matt White" to paint the interior components of my project and didn't realize it was lacquer until after getting home. I searched previous posts and none that I found adressed this.

Thank you for the replies! It's good to know I was thinking along the right lines. I went to my LHS today and looked at my options for silver and there were about three that I liked. Going off the samples on the paint rack I chose plain-old Testors Silver. I'm not so concearned with the final hugh being slightly light or dark, I just want good coverage so the hugh will be what it will be. The spoon test is a great idea and I'll keep that in mind for a future paint job that may be more critical. Thanks also for the tips on spraying! I will definately post the finished model in the "under glass" section when it's finished.

So this is the first model car project / painting I've done in 10 years and after months of off and on work I don't want to screw up! The base kit for my project is the AMT '32 Ford Roadster and I am going to paint the body, wheels and some other components with Testors Colors by Boyd "Kandy Purple Pearl." Just today I have primed everything in Testors flat white on my newly constructed "overkill" paint stand and after sufficient drying time I will wetsand and reaply primer if necessary to fill in any flaws that show up. Now, before applying the purple I am thinking that a silver basecoat should be applied as pearls and metallics are usually fairly transparant and coverage should be better over silver, rather than white especially on panel lines and sharp corners where paint tends to run away from. I'm also thinking that with the silver underneath the final color and shade will show and look better. Is my "thinking" on the right track? Need some opinions please! BTW, these colors are all aerosol cans.