Art Anderson

The US formula did for years, but they may have changed it. Art

Self-etch primer is formulated to actually etch into metal, and as such, has no special or added effect on resin. Art

Craig, It's very easy: In real life the '57 Ford Custom 2dr shares the same doors as the Ranchero, and all of Ford's 2dr station wagons. This also translates into the same side windows and vent wings. The windshield glass is the same for the afore-mentioned body styles, or at least so close in height as to be almost unnoticeable on a 1/25 scale model. Art

OK, to background this discussion a bit: I produced resin model car aftermarket kits and parts for 12 years (literally hundreds of thousands of individual cast resin parts!), and I had to find materials that would remove the mold barrier coat residues from those parts, not only for my customer's building my products, but also for cleaning up the thousands of grilles, bumpers, hubcaps, headlight and taillight bezels that had to be sent out for "chrome plating". In my catalogs, which I included in each and every order sent out, I gave the instruction to use Westley's Bleche-White for cleaning off the paraffin based mold barrier material I (and many other resin casters used) from casting surfaces. Westley's active ingredient is TSP, or "Trisodium Phosphate", which is a very strong, water-based detergent, and will not harm polyurethane resin at all. It does, however, leave behind a truly "squeaky clean" surface. Now, TSP is available in another cleaning product well-known to American homeowners: "Spick N Span" is TSP based. TSP can also be bought in paint stores and home improvement stores as just that. In my resin-casting, an early, and MAJOR problem was the adhesion of the clear coat used on the bare parts prior to vacuum metalizing, or the method by which model car parts get plated. I had to find a way to ensure that the chrome plating I was having done would not easily peel or flake off. The answer? In the autobody trade, body shops paint a lot of automotive "soft trim", you know, the soft plastic covers that go over real car bumper systems. Those flexible covers are simply a soft form of polyurethane resin, a soft, flexible version of the hard polyurethane resins used by model car resin casters. And, in order to ensure that the paint won't just fall off that bumper cover, there exist "adhesion" primers which make the automotive paint literally stick tight to that resin cover. Adhesion primers for automotive soft trim can be found in any store catering to the professional automotive trade, in fact, most of the better auto parts stores across the country. The best of these are clear primers, you just clean the resin parts, spray the adhesion primer on them, let that dry, then lay down color coats--the stuff will keep the finish sprayed on the resin body for most, if not all eternity-and that is an experience-based result I have. One other cleaner that can be used to clean urethane resins with impunity is common, ordinary naptha! Naptha, while a petroleum-based solvent, does not attack polyurethane resin in short exposures--I used that to clean all the tens of thousands of small resin parts I sent to platers, such as Chrome + (in Montreal), Chrometech, and Little Motor Kar Company. I had to prove the stuff worked to my satisfaction, so I took 3 or 4 rear bumper castings for my'40 Ford Woodie station wagon transkit, cleaned them with Naptha, sprayed them with SEM's clear adhesion primer, mounted them on plating frames and sent them out to be plated. When they came back, all nice and shiny, I took those bumpers, flexed and twisted them, trying to make the plating flake off--I was surprised to see that not a single bit of plating peeled or flaked off. One bumper broke in that test, but the other three were straightened out, I packaged those, and sent them out with kits--not one of those came back, nor did I ever hear any complaint about them. From then on, I used naptha to clean all chrome parts before plating (just put those parts in a food strainer, dunked them into a tub of naptha, and that took care of it. Naptha also has the characteristic of holding waxy or greasy contaminants in suspension, and does not redeposit those back onto the surface that has been degreased or cleaned. (on a side note, I would just dribble the waste naptha on weeds (not soaking the ground with it) and within hours, the weeds curled up and died!). So there are materials that will clean polyurethane resin castings, without damaging them, and there are specialty primers out there that are readily available which will make paint adhere permanently to polyester resin bodies and parts. Art

Hmmmm! Art

Adding extra details that are above and beyond the parts one finds in a model kit is a matter of personal choice, and as such, just about any conversation about model car building will be full of subjectivity. Yes, many if not most of us started building at an age much younger than we are now, and to look at those few early builds? Well, to many, they don't look like much, unless the builder lets us know the age he/she was when those models were done. In so many ways, this hobby which both unites and divides us is a microcosm of who we are as human beings. After all, no other species on Planet Earth of which I am aware, strives so hard to get ahead, to continue "growing" even after we've reached our adult stature, been launched out from our families of origin into the wild, hard, cruel world that we sometimes see as our surroundings. In just about any endeavor each of us goes into in life, we have an innate desire to improve, to get better-stronger-sharper (any reader of this can plug in their own description here), and if nowhere else in our lives, model car building clearly shows that sort of very human "drive". Now, how does all this attempt at pop-psychology relate to this discussion of "detailing" a model car? Well, having been in this hobby seriously since the 1950's, I would submit that model car builders have striven to add that extra little bit to their builds which just might separate their prized creations from the "rest of the pack". Xacto's set of 20 "numbered" drill bits and pin vises have been available for MORE than 50 years now, but who among us today, as teenagers back in 1962 had ever heard of using them to drill out distributors, make holes for inserting a little peg of plastic or metal to represent spark plugs, and then dug around to find that right gauge of soft copper or brass for the ignition leads? No, most of us raided Mom's sewing basket for some black thread, sorta glued that into place--to our much younger, far less-experienced eyes that worked, sent a message to the World (or at least our teenaged model car buddies!) that we'd taken that latest model car to the mountaintop. It's our competitive nature, plain and simple. The same was true with interiors--how many of us hit on the idea of using white pinwale corduroy cloth to "replicate" those white, rolled and pleated naugahyde custom interiors that SoCal customizers were having done, be that in some shop in Pasadena, or a street vendor in Tijuana? Yup, a lot of us across the USA did that too. How many of us now in our late 60's or early 70's entered car after car after car in those old former "Local Hobby Shop" model car contests, or a model contest at the County Fair, hoping to "best" the rest of the competition, bring home that trophy? A lot of us did, and I suspect that protestations to the contrary, virtually EVERYONE who posts or just reads these forums that Gregg has so graciously provided (for that matter, the other model car message boards on the Web) has been through at least something like I have just described. Most of us probably never played football, basketball, ran track (fill in any sport you want here) at any serious level as team sports, but we should be able to see our competitiveness in the very same vein--virtually all of us are competitors in our hobby, be that competition we profess to face only just ourselves, in our own little "Walter Mitty" world. So now, maybe this comes down to criticism, hmmmmm? Well, I suspect that virtually all of us, certainly those who read and post in these forums, at some time in our formative years, were urged to keep "sportsmanship" in our lives. Some 60 years ago, the late Dale Carnegie wrote in his still strong-selling book on self-improvement/motivation book "How to Win Friends And Influence People" that we really ought to be "...sparing in our approbation, and lavish in our praise", and I think that advice is perhaps one of the most important in any discussion such as this forum topic. The famous poem, "Deseridata" which was set to music and played, sung and spoken by numerous musicians over the years, suggest that we "Go forward into the world placidly" and above all, "never compare ourselves to others, for there will always be those greater or lesser than ourselves"--again I think very strong advice in the world of model car building. OK, so I have pontificated long and and loud here. But here is my one New Years Resolution for 2013: (to paraphrase a pledge that so many fraternal organizations speak) "I resolve that if I cannot speak well of a fellow model car builder, I shall not speak ill of him." Phew, I've rattled on long enough. Art

Trust me, there will be a few announcements of new stuff from Moebius before the New Year ends in 12 months! Art

John, Why do I think I've seen your work before? Art Anderson (from Lafayette IN)

I was at the Nascar test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July of 1993, saw that car run. That whole day was a blast! Art

Futurabat, on 30 Dec 2012 - 19:35, said: Bottom line is, most contests are sponsored by the bigger aftermarket companies and surreptitios points are always awarded to models using the sponsors products. That's just politics.

I guess the question here very well could be: Was the Chevy engine you have in mind an all new from the oil pan up engine, or was it just a newly engineered cylinder head with the integral intake manifold? If the latter (and while not knowledgeable on that engine) is the case, then modifying the engine from the '63 Nova might be a good answer. Again, I don't know the answer, never had the urge to go study that vintage of Chevy 6 to find out. Art

Rob, I don't often smooth out ejector pin marks on the underside of roofs, but when I do, I like using well-worn pieces of Wet Or Dry sandpaper, and my index finger. This is one place where the "risk" of sanding a "dimple" into the plastic surface generally (in my experience anyway) isn't that much of a problem, given the concave shape of the inside of most model car body roofs. By "well-worn" I mean sandpaper that has lost its original stiffness, so that when wet, it's actually quite limp, flexible. I simply place the sandpaper, with water, on the offending ejector pin point, and sand away, in a bit of a circular motion, stopping to check frequently to see if I've removed the raised portions of them, and adding a bit of putty if there is a recessed spot or two (not uncommon, BTW) and simply repeat the process until I have the surface I am looking for. It can be helpful to have a bit of 360-grit here, as that coarser grit removes offending material more quickly, and can easily be "polished" up with some 400-grit. Takes a bit of time generally, but I have gotten the smooth contours that I think you are seeking. Sometimes, no special tools other than those on the ends of your fingers are all that it takes. Art

In styrene, the only Chevy 6's I know of are the first 4 generations: MPC '32 Chevy Cabriolet: The original "Stove Bolt 6" 1929-36 AMT '37 Chevy Coupe/Cabriolet, AMT '51 Chevy Bel Air's and Fleetline, Revell/Monogram '53 Bel Air, and Galaxie LTD '48: 1937-53 Chevy 216cid "Cast Iron Wonder" AMT 1953 Corvette, AMT/Ertl 1960 Chevy pickup: 235cid "Blue Flame"/Thriftmaster/Fleetmaster 6 (Ken Kitchen has the proper underslung aircleaners for this series in resin (1955-57, and 1958-62). This series Chevy 6 was used through 1962 in full-size Chevrolets and also as the base engine for Chevrolet pickups 1954-62. AMT 1962-65 Chevy II station wagon and Nova HT & Convertible, along with the Trumpeter '63 Nova's: 200(?) and 230cid inline 6, which went out to the early 1970's. Ken Kitchen makes at least one of these series engines, not sure which though. Norm Veber repops the AMT Chevy II engine from the 1962-64 kits as well. Art

Snow, and Good are mutually exclusive, considering that snow is a dirty 4-letter word! Art

Richard, Not likely that you will find a "carton price" on model paints, as if one thinks about it, why would Tamiya etc. cut their own throats by undercutting the retailers who sell the vast bulk of their products to modelers? The quick answer is (from 30 some years in the retail hobby business 1962-1992) that no, they likely won't. On the other hand, however, I have ordered model paints directly from the importer, in my case Humbrol, and was amazed at the fast service and reasonable shipping cost--important to me as the closest hobby shop to me that sells Humbrol is 65 miles away, in Indianapolis. Even considering the shipping charge from Humbrol-Hornby, I could not have driven to Indy for that paint for anything near the cost, not as $3 plus for a gallon of gasoline. So, if you need to get Tamiya paints in quantity, give Tamiya America a shout, or for that matter, any of the other distributors of their paints. Another source I might suggest would be Tower Hobbies, as they are the online/mail order/phone order side of Great Planes Distributors in Champaign IL, one of the major wholesale distributors (to retail hobby shops only though under that name). You can also drop me a PM and I can give you some names of retail hobby shops in the Midwest who might be able to help you out as well. Art

The best type of jeweler would be what is called a "manufacturing jeweler", meaning one that actually can create their own rings etc. When I got married nearly 40 yrs ago, my wife's engagement ring was one of those with the diamond "floating" above the ring, the setting being a set of prongs holding the stone above the ring itself. On our honeymoon, we discovered that the stone was getting loose, so we searched, and found a manufacturing jeweler to take care of it. A few minutes with his tiny torch and those prongs were reinforced so that they didn't bend at all easily, without seriously changing the look of the ring. The charge wasn't all that much easier--a very small fraction of what the ring cost. The setting lasted another 19 years, until our divorce in the spring of 1992. But, gluing the stone won't likely do the job, as almost now glues out there will hold a diamond. Art

I know I came in pretty late on this one (nice work, BTW!) but it might have been easier to have snared a JoHan/X-EL '56 Desoto for the rear quarters and the front valance, as Desoto used the same sheet metal in '56 as did Chrysler, with only minor differences in the grille opening, and of course different taillights and rear bumpers. Just a thought. Art

Dave Burkett a/k/a The Model King has been around our hobby for nearly 30 years, as a dealer in OOP model kits, new issues, and more recently, special runs of model car kits from AMT, Revell and Moebius. He's one of those almost "unsung heroes" of this hobby that bring back really cool reissues of long-gone model kits, even digging into his own bank account to rehabilitate old tooling (the SMP 1959 Imperial comes to mind here) even to the point of having long-lost tooling back-engineered so that a particular kit subject can once again see the light of day. Dave's Model King kits are those molded by the iconic companies which feed our addiction to styrene, his stuff is always first rate, basically the products of the companies or brands we all have come to know and love. You will not be disappointed! Art

It is essentially a direct copy of the very nice Monogram '37 Cord Convertible Phaeton, the difference in the body being that the Sankyo kit is for the 2-place Cord Convertible Coupe, a 20-place convertible. Art

You'll likely have a hard time finding the original Floquil paints, as they were discontinued years ago, in favor of water-borne acrylics. Floquil originaly was an alkyd enamel, using a solvent that was nearly as "hot" as any lacquer out there--great paint, dried down in very thin coats, but a bear to use on plastics. Floquil, along with the water-borne acrylic line from Polly S, were acquired by RPM, who also owns Testors along with Krylon and Duplicolor, the Floquil model railroad colors being spun into the Polly S water-born acrylic line over 15yrs ago. Almost all the original Floquil paints were flat finish, and as far as I know, Floquil-Polly S still is as well. Art

Derek, Here is a planview image of the 1932-37 Ford BB truck chassis, which will show you the massive difference between the pickup chassis, and the much larger, and heavier 1.5 ton BB frame: BTW, I can send you a link to the original file I have on Fotki, it's large, the size of a magazine page, just don't want to eat up too much of MCM's bandwidth here--just PM me! In this, you can see the layout of the frame itself (BTW, Ford never cataloged the BB in any capacity other than 1.5 tons--any heavier unit was achieved by the addition of aftermarket parts), and the 1.5 ton BB was more than adequate for a tow truck. From Ford, the BB truck came in two standard wheelbases, 131" wheelbase, and 151" wheelbase--a tow truck would have been mounted on the shorter of these two, with the rear frame rails cut off to allow for a shorter tow truck body. The cab, running boards (shortened to just a length extending to the back of the cab), front fenders, hood and radiator shell are all exactly the same as the pickup, as is the engine. The transmission used would have been the 4-speed unit, which in external appearance is exactly the same as the Model AA transmission, and even that is not markedly different from the 3 speed in external appearance. The forward part of the frame, from the main crossmember (that being formed by the main engine mounts at the sides of the flywheel housing of the engine) is essentially the same in appearance and depth as the '33-'4 Ford passenger car/pickup frame, from my research. For all intents and purposes in a model, the front axle, spring and radius rods are extremely close to that of the pickup as well. The wheels are very much the same as the Model AA trucks, as are the tires, and are available from Ma's Resin. For the look of the frame rails from the side, go to Spotlight Hobbies Message Board, search Evan Hermel, as he showed a drawing of the AA truck chassis in an issue of SAE about 1993 or 1994 or so, chances are he still has that set of drawings. The BB frame rails, from the side, look exactly the same as the AA, except that in real life they are 1" (.040") deeper in their center section, and of course, the AA frame rails were straight rather than "bent" to parallel as seen on the planview of the BB chassis shown above (the AA chassis was tapered wider from the front cross member to the rear of the rails, the rails straight, not bent to parallel aft of the engine flywheel housing. The most difficult thing here would be the full-floating Ford truck rear axle. I machined a resin master for that back in 1997, when I mastered the All American Models '37 and '35 Ford 1.5 ton truck conversion, but that axle is exactly the same for all Ford 1.5 ton and 2 ton truck chassis 1929-52 (the Yatming '38 Ford fire truck diecast model has a near perfect rendition of this rear axle). I'll do some more digging for my book on Ford Commercial chassis 1932-37, as it has an excellent 3/4 view of the BB chassis. The other scratchbuilt part of this chassis would be the rear semi-elliptic leaf springs. I've made those several times over the years, and have an online tutorial in my Fotki Albums, which can show you how I built those. Hopefully, this inspires you to go forward! Art

I got my set a week or so ago, exquisitely done, as anyone ought to expect from Modelhaus. Art

Modelmaster clear lacquer also works just as well, which is good, considering that Tamiya no longer offers their TS-13 clear coat. Art

Actually, you can buy a dimmer control, as used for dimming say, a table lamp, and that will work I'd be pretty sure. It's like an extension cord, with a slide dimmer control in the circuit. Art

Yes, 2drs were far more common than 4drs decades ago. Indiana State Police used 2dr sedans in the more rural parts of IN until the early 1960's. Art