
Art Anderson
Members-
Posts
5,052 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by Art Anderson
-
Tutorial on using a mold made from another car
Art Anderson replied to 59 Impala's topic in Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials
Hmm, now THIS is interesting indeed! -
50,000 + kits from just one mold ?
Art Anderson replied to Greg Myers's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
Someone on Facebook (Dean Milano, perhaps, who worked for Monogram--later Revell Monogram for several years) posted a couple of pics on a model car group that showed the company's "model kit hall of fame" which showed several million-selling model kits. AMT Corporation, in producing the Original Series "USS Enterprise" ship, had it originally tooled in aluminum, figuring it would be just a one-hit wonder. Turns out they were wrong, and within a year or so, they had two complete sets of tooling, cut in steel--and sold MILLIONS of that kit over the years. Art -
50,000 + kits from just one mold ?
Art Anderson replied to Greg Myers's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
It's not uncommon for hardened steel molds to produce a million, even more units when molding polystyrene, as it's not the plastic that causes the wear, but rather the alignment and ejector pins, and their relative holes. Art -
Interior panels of the Ford and Mercury '49-'51 Station Wagon bodies were plain, simple Honduran Mahogany plywood paneling, varnished just like the exterior. Seats were upholstered in a medium-brown leather or vinyl. Art
-
1/25 MPC Jeep CJ-5 WWII/Korean Conflict Staff Car & Trailer
Art Anderson replied to Casey's topic in Truck Kit News & Reviews
The real Daisy's Jeep is an AMC Jeep CJ-5, which has a longer chassis and longer engine bay/hood (to accommodate the AMC inline 6-cylinder engine). MPC's kit (kitted in the late 1960's) is the earlier Kaiser Jeep CJ-5, which was built to accept the Jeep Hurricane 4cyl engine, and by the middle 1960's, could be had with the former Buick V6 engine--shorter frame (very much the same as under the Jeep Universal, the old CJ-2A style bodywork). When AMC bought Jeep from Kaiser about 1969-70, they quickly went about stretching the frame and the engine bay, so as to accept their inline 6. Interestingly, AMC then sold all the tooling and rights for the V6 BACK to Buick, at considerably more $$ than Kaiser had paid for that when they bought the then-discontinued-by-Buick V6--and the rest of that story is history! Art -
And, just where did Accurate Miniatures end up?
-
Believe it or not, I've used a razor saw blade (sans handle) to make panel lines for years now: Makes perfect straight panel lines easy. For making curved corners, I simply have drawn the curve right on the body shell (sanded the surface with 400-grit to start with, then very carefully score the curved corner by eye, but using the back end of the razor saw blade, gently pushing the saw blade BACKWARDS to start the groove, and then simply deepen it to suit my needs. It's always possible to get a scratch or two along the way, but a tiny bit of CA glue (my preference) or a small swipe of body putty takes care of those extraneous scratches perfectly for me, every time it's been tried (and I've used this technique since the 1970's. Art
-
Amnesty build-Monogram 1934 Ford Cabriolet
Art Anderson replied to Eric Macleod's topic in WIP: Model Cars
BTW, I'd love to know just how you painted that "mottled leather" upholstery--that just looks SO fine! Art -
Amnesty build-Monogram 1934 Ford Cabriolet
Art Anderson replied to Eric Macleod's topic in WIP: Model Cars
Eric, just yesterday morning, while looking up reference pics online for my 34 Coupe project, I found a couple of pics of a Cabriolet, with leather upholstery. I believe I'm correct in stating that Ford, from Model A forward, used leather or vinyl (yes, vinyl was around in the 30's--actually invented in the 1990's!) for all open car interiors, cabriolet's and convertible sedans included. Art -
Uh, Both of the Dodge brothers were gone by 1925, Dodge was being managed, for the widows of John & Horace Dodge, in 1925. But, nonetheless, this project is fascinating me to no end!
-
Bill, I second your motion re: Tempered Plate Glass. I was fortunate enough, for the past now-12 yrs, to have worked in the building which housed the Physical Facilities Department at Purdue--the architects and engineers, and construction inspectors: Over the years, I was handed several tempered plate glass Thermopane samples, each about 16" square or such. Those are quite tough, and have their edges taped with heavy vinyl tape, which virtually eliminates chipping. I use the three I still have (gave the rest of them to my fellow model car club members here, for use as perfectly flat "building" surfaces), for not only building surfaces, but also wet-sanding platforms. If there's one problem with Formica, it's warping, no matter what substrate it's glued down to. Any full-service glass shop should be able to supply tempered plate glass in small sizes, and likely in thicker pieces as well--they don't often simply throw out small scraps. Art
-
Hobbico - BANKRUPT!
Art Anderson replied to niteowl7710's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
OK, time for a quick "tutorial"here! In bankruptcy, as in this story, there are two types: Chapter 7, which is "liquidation", meaning that it all shuts down, and ultimately all assets of the company are sold off, to the highest bidder. The other is Chapter 11 (which is what the news story clearly states!) which means "re-organization". In Chapter 11, the petitioning bankrupt seeks protection from collection agency activities, while they are reorganized. That can mean many things, including layoffs, selling off non-performing assets, mitigation of outstanding debts and so on. Chapter 11 is by far the best alternative here--pretty much everyone gets something, very few get nothing. But in the end, either way, bankruptcy will affect all suppliers to such as Hobbico, to some degree or another. I was a creditor, in a minor way, when Lesney went bankrupt back in 1981--I was left holding on to over $3500 in charges for doing trade show and box art models for Lesney-AMT. I received, very quickly, from the bankruptcy court in Detroit MI, a list of all the assets of Lesney AMT, and all their liabilities (monies owed), and then sat there, pretty much writing my $3500+ off. Then, in late August or thereabouts, a certified letter from the bankruptcy court came, informing me that all had been settled, and a couple of weeks afterward, a check came in the amount of what I was owed. It quickly turned out that all the AMT assets had been sold to the Ertl Company--no matter to me at the time, I'd been paid in full. So, in the bottom line, all is not lost, there will be an end, and likely it will be reasonably positive. -
1930's-40's Ford Commercial Wheels
Art Anderson replied to Aaron_F's topic in Truck Aftermarket / Resin / 3D Printed
When I was doing All American Models resin kits, I mastered the 1.5 ton wheels, which BTW were continued by Ford all the way out to 1953. Those were a feature of my Ford Model AA, Model BB and later V8 Ford truck kits and chassis. Art -
Hobbico - BANKRUPT!
Art Anderson replied to niteowl7710's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
But, this does affect outside suppliers, such as Moebius. Only time will tell, so hang on for the "perhaps bumpy ride" for the model car kits we all love to see! -
missing versions in kits
Art Anderson replied to 62rebel's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
Mark, a test shot of any new model kit will have all the parts that are considered for the first, and say, the second release. I see that with all the Moebius test shots I get here. Art -
Hobbico - BANKRUPT!
Art Anderson replied to niteowl7710's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
From my sources, this has been coming for some time. Hobbico started out as "Tower Hobbies", about 1969 or so, as a "garage operation" (LITERALLY) in the small Illinois town of Hoopeston, which is just 35 miles (give or take) west of where I live in Lafayette IN. Tower was a PIA for us in the retail hobby business, taking orders for RC systems, then placing them with the Mfr--such as Kraft RC. They then branched out into model airplane engines, same story. When I started The Modelmaker Hobby Shop here in Lafayette, in 1984, I set up an account with Tower (as they were then known entirely, so as to get the lines of RC car kits they offered (Kyosho), but very soon dropped them, as I learned very quickly that I was but a showroom for them--guys would come in, see what was the latest, then order the kit from Tower. Then, to add insult to injury, they'd come back to me, expecting ME to help them assemble the damned things. That ended my relationship with them, pronto. Today, it's much the same thing: AMAZON. Far too many who populate this, and other hobby boards lament the lack of "brick and mortar" hobby shops, but fail to realize that those mail order outfits are the ones who suck the lifeblood out of the local hobby shop. Not that every local hobby shop owner is the epitome of the rising saviour, but still..... I know this has been said more than a few times before, but here goes again: IF YOU WANT A LOCAL HOBBY SHOP, SUPPORT THEM TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY! YOU WANT THAT BOTTLE OF PAINT, THAT TUBE OR BOTTLE OF GLUE AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE, SUPPORT THEM! GLUE AND PAINTS DON'T KEEP THE DOORS OPEN--IT'S THE LARGER TICKET ITEMS THAT DO. Now, I'm not stupid enough to ascribe divinity to LHS owners, but they will not survive if all you do is "showroom shop" them, and then go online and order the kit. Think about that! Art -
missing versions in kits
Art Anderson replied to 62rebel's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
Luc, it is quite possible that no "2nd Version" was planned back at that time. While Monogram did have a tradition of at least designing a "second edition" of model kits, I don't believe that was an ironclad thing. (Too bad Bill Lastovich is no longer around--he was my guru, my pipeline into what was happening at Monogram, back in the 80's) Art -
Exactly, Eric! Very few truly bright, brilliant colors got used on cars back in the years prior to WW-I, even for years, even decades afterward. Pretty much (from my reading and research), back a century ago, most bright colors (save for say, yellow, red or white) were subject to either quick fading or just "chalking" out (white). It seems that the darker the color, the longer the paint job would last (of course, if one was part of the legendary "400" (those chosen few of New York City Society, with "chapters in places like Boston, Philadelphia or Washington DC, then the issue of an annual repainting was not a problem--but for the more plebian masses, the darker the color, the longer the paint seemed to last.
-
I used an artist's "shading" marker (really wide tip) on my '13 tires, to replicate the buff-color of natural latex rubber. While I found that in the art department of a college bookstore here, they may possibly be available at the likes of Michael's or Hobby Lobby. There is a wide range of shades of greys as well as yellows and tans. Art
-
Eric, grey tires didn't happen until about 1914, when it was discovered that adding carbon black to latex rubber greatly increased not only the strength of the rubber, but also the lifespan, especially in sunlight. As time went on, all the way out to WW-II, and the introduction of petroleum-based synthetic rubber, which which does turn starkly black with carbon black added to it. Art
-
Model making
Art Anderson replied to Howard Cohen's topic in General Automotive Talk (Trucks and Cars)
Actually, the information in that article is quite out-of-date nowadays. The design work has all become digital, not just line drawings, but line drawings that can be rotated in all imaginable angles. Add to this the "3D Scans" which show not only the lines of the proposed models, but all the shapes and contours. Even the process of pattern-making has changed: No longer hand-carved and shaped wooden masters, but rather, 3D printed "tooling mockups" done 1:1 the size of the final model kit, with each part being done in this technology. No longer are rotary cutters used for hollowing out blocks of steel or other metals for creating the molds used for injection molding--since the early 2000's, this has been EDM (Electro-Discharge Milling), in which tiny electric arcs are used to literally "burn" away the steel bit-by-bit, to create the mold cavities, and such cores as need be made as well. Even such surface details as interior upholstery patterns are created in the tooling in this manner, as is all the exterior trim, even scripts and badges. Once test shots have been done, corrections noted and made, the last step, polishing the tooling (to get rid of the somewhat "sandblasted" surfaces that EDM leaves, the tooling is ready for production. Art -
62 Dodge dart questions
Art Anderson replied to RichCostello's topic in Model Building Questions and Answers
By 1962, backup lights were standard on most makes of cars, in their highest trim level--but they were also an available option on lesser versions. -
Hint on thinning lacquers for an H: I thin mine to the consistency of skim milk (by observation as to how it "sheets" down the sides of my color jar), then lower the airpressure (I do this with my old Binks moisture trap, just bleed off the air until the airbrush just sprays) then move in close for spraying. Perfect paint jobs every time, with even minimal paint buidup. Art