Art Anderson

I'm not stuck on any particular brand, or type of paint. It's the color I am after, and I just learned to adapt my painting to whatever type/brand of paint it takes to get a particular color. Art

Well, considering the very harsh artificial light inside the USAF Museum (I was there with several of my local IPMS friends exactly one year ago this Saturday), that plays tricks with photography. The engine is gray and black, but a darker gray than say, Testors #1138. It's the lighting that makes it come out looking like a "dusty blue" in the pics. Art

If you are talking about the Allison V1710 as built, or as correctly restored, there's no blue on it, rather that is a medium gray color. To better understand the Allison V-12, it is an "assembled" engine, rather than a V-12 with the entire engine block (two 6-cylinder banks) cast "en-bloc" with the crankcase. "Assembled" Vee engines dominated the V8/V12/V16 field through the 1930's, as opposed to say, the Ford flathead V8, which had its block cast just as modern OHV V8's have been since GM introduced the high compression V8's with Oldsmobile (1949) and Cadillac (1948). "Assembled" meant that there were two cylinder blocks, one right, one left, bolted to a separate crankcase. In the case of the Allison in military use, the crankcase, gear reduction casing and supercharger case were painted grey, the blocks were black, as were the cam covers. Here's a link with three color pics of the restored Allison V12 in the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Fairborn OH. I was there just a year ago, saw that very engine, and can confirm that it is gray and black, no light blue. http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=804 Art

Common, ordinary toys based on such things as comic books have always needed to be recognizable if they were to sell. Years ago, I rather doubt that much control was exercised by the various comic book publishers, but anymore, they are rather restrictive. Modern day comic book publishers, along with TV and movie production companies almost always have a "Style Guide" for whatever comic book or TV show or movie, which lays out the basic designs of just about everything in their creative work, including colors. Having worked with Style Guides while at Johnny Lightning, I can say that they are very specific, and any miniature, model kit or other sort of toy had better adhere to that style guide lest the proposed product be rejected for licensing (and you all thought that licensing is all about the money, nothing more, huh?) Art

Abou the same as the differences were in the real cars back in Nascar's early days. NASCAR--National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing pretty much said it all back 60 years ago. Stock meant stock, only a few changes were allowed, such as removing a few accessories inside the car, Until Marshall Teague arranged for Firestone racing tires for his use in Nascar (I believe at Charlotte in 1951?) on his '51 Plymouth 6-cylinder business coupe, street tires were about all that was avaiable. Of course, most of the trim items on those early racers had to be left on the car, interiors were to be kept stock, as equipped from the factory--including back seats. (by 1957, the removal of back seats, even the passenger side folding front seat back was allowed. At best, a rudimentary roll bar became pretty standard. No mechanical parts beyond what was readily available to the car-buying public were allowed in those early days--Twin H-Power dual carbs, the 7X aluminum high compression cylinder head, high compression pistons, high lift camshafts appeared very quickly in dealer parts catalogs at Hudson dealerships all over--some became available on production cars by at least 1953, but those parts had to be factory stock, something that anyone could buy as Hudson parts, at Hudson dealerships. The first trim items to be allowably discarded were hubcaps and wheel covers--both to facilitate tire changes in the pits (no impact air wrenches back then, just 4-way X-wrenches) and in the case of wheel covers, those tended to fly off even on street driven cars, being held in place by little more than spring clips which pressed against the inner circumference of a steel wheel. Doors on those early Grand National cars were generally held shut with simple men's leather belts (the same sort of belts that men used -- and still do use---to keep their trousers up; simply wrapped around the B-post and the rear upper framing of the side windows in the doors. This all sounds rather "bush league" today, but in comparing any type of racing car from 60 years ago to today, they all were. But, yes, those early Nascar Grand National cars were very much the stock item--but then there weren't any superspeedways to speak of--the vast majority of Nascar racing was done on dirt, or in the case of Daytona, a track laid out half on the sand of the beach, the other half on US Highway A1A. Times were different for sure back then. Art

I still remember putting up my Pocher 1932 Alfa-Romeo Targa kit on eBay back in December 2005. I figured, with advice from several modelers that it might bring $400 or so. Imagine my surprise when over 40 bidders jumped on that one, and a real dogfight in the last couple of hours netted me $1475 for a kit I bought at Kmart in 1978 for $26! Hmmm, could that happen again with anything in my stash? (seeing as I hate eBay and PayPal, likely I will never know!) Art

Hmmm! Now I gotta knock apart the Danbury '33 Pierce Silver Arrow I snagged at the HMCA show in Indy back in May, correct its sins, give it the correct "Century Of Progress World's Fair" paintjob> Hmmm, what a concept! Art

AMT Corporation made 4 kits of Indianapolis Pace Cars in the 1960's: '65 Mustang (Pace Car for the '64 500), '67 Camaro RS, '68 Torino GT Convertible, and the '69 Camaro RS. Art

Gosh, and I didn't know Bill was sick! My acquaintance and friendship with Bill Lastovich goes all the way back to about 1970, when I became the plastic model and HO train manager and buyer for Weber's Hobby Shop here in Lafayette (then the largest hobby shop in the midwest outside of a major city). Bill was working in the warehouse of Trost Modelcraft & Hobbies, arguably the oldest hobby wholesaler in the US --started in 1932. In the spring of 1984, as I was preparing my opening buys for my own hobby shop, The Modelmaker, Bill was an invaluable resource, and continued to be until he left Trost for Monogram, about the time I closed The Modelmaker to concentrate on resin casting in 1992. Bill and I enjoyed many a conversation at meetings of the Lake Michigan Model Car Club years ago--fun guy to know, to visit with. Sadly, our "War Baby/Baby Boom" generation is slipping into the twilight. RIP Bill Lastovich, you are missed! Art

Indy pace cars in 1/24-1/25 scale? Here is a listing off the top of my head, for which Fred Cady made decal sheets, and also who made/makes the kit necessary: 1931 Chrysler Imperial Roadster (MPC kit) 1946 Lincoln Continental (Pyro/LifeLike/Lindberg 1948 Chevrolet Convertible (can be made up from the upcoming Galaxie Ltd '48 Chevy Coupe!) 1949 Oldsmobile '88" convertible (believe it or not, this can be worked up from the upcoming Revell '50 Olds business coupe, with bits from an AMT '51 Chevy convertible--Modelhaus has the correct '49 Olds badges etc in chrome plated resin parts) 1953 Ford Crestline Convertible (Lindberg did this exact car, decals and all!) 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible (Revell did this one as their first release of their '55 Chevy convertible) 1957 Mercury convertible--Modelhaus does this one in resin--Fred Cady decals made the markings!) 1958 Pontiac Bonneville Convertible (Modelhaus made, may still make, this one. Fred Cady decals were made) 1959 Buick Invicta (check Modelhaus for this in resin, Fred Cady did make decals for it. 1962 Studebaker Lark Daytona Convertible--the JoHan kit isn't hard to find, might be some $$, Fred Cady made the decals) 1963 Chrysler 300 Convertible (Johan made the kit--windshield a bit incorrect--Fred Cady decals were made) 1969 Camaro SS/RS (Revell made this one, complete with decals) 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T convertible (Lesney AMT made the kit, Fred Cady did the decals) 1972 Hurst Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme convertible (Revell, Cady did decals for the car years ago) 1978 Corvette 25th Anniversary--Revell reissued this kit about 10 years ago, with Pace Car Decals 1979 Mustang GT (MPC and Monogram made this one, but as the sunroof production version, Pace Car was a one-off T-top body, both companies did it with Pace Car replica decals) 1980 Pontiac Firebird Turbo Trans-Am. MPC made the kit, with Pace Car decals 1982 Camaro Z/28 MPC made this kit, complete with Pace Car decals 1984 Pontiac Fiero MPC made an incorrect version, but with decals, Monogram did the correct version (with the air intake stack above the rear of the roof--combine both cars to get the right body and the Pace Car markings) 1986 Corvette Monogram made the car, with Pace Car decals! 1989 Pontiac Firebird Trans/Am AMT/Ertl made the car, with decals 1990 Chevrolet Beretta convertible (All American Models made the car, Shabo Scale made dry transfer markings for it) 1991 Dodge Viper RT/10 AMT/Ertl made the kit, don't know about markings (this car is Engineering Prototype #6, in possession of IMS, actually a pretty rough car but still nice!) 1993 Camaro (Monogram made the car, as did AMT/Ertl, with markings, promo and kit) 1994 Mustang Convertible (Monogram made the car) 1995 Corvette (Revell Monogram made the car, with markings) 1996 Dodge Viper GTS Revell Monogram made the car, with markings) 1997 Oldsmobile Aurora Brookfield Collector's Guild made the car in both plastic and diecast, promo model only. 1998 Corvette C5 Revell-Monogram made this car, with markings That's about as far as I can remember. Art

In my experience, if you want a part from any Modelhaus kit that is not otherwise listed in their catalog separately, contact Don directly, ask for a price quotation. They've been known to sell individual parts from any resin transkit they've made as separate parts. Art

Sliding molds would be required, end of statement!

Harry, those were McDonald's prices circa 1957, remember that well! Art

The Big T came out in the summer of '63, whopping pricetag of like $12, IIRC.

Right on point, Harry! When you see panel lines (only those around OPENING panels, such as doors, hoods or trunks) you are actually seeing the body color, in a dark shadow--NOT black! For panel lines, such as that joint between a front fender and the rocker panel, That could easily be very dark, as it is a "tight" joint most times. Other panel lines that would NOT be correct if "picked out" with any darker shade would include the ends of the tulip panel (that sheet metal piece below the rear window, forward of a trunklid, on a 50's or 60's car, given that those seams were always sealed, either with lead or a plastic compound, but not always smoothed off, just a groove in the body surface. Art

More work than just a top boot, I'm afraid: The rear of the body (rear deck) needs to be flatter, as with the Caprice, along with a revised interior having the narrower rear seat and the "dog legs" in the side walls to accommodate the top irons when the top is folded. A major project, trust me. Art

Harry, I would agree with you, to a point: Vitually all model car kits tooled prior to say, the early 1980's were done with "tub-style" interior units--not all that odd considering that until the "revival" of the hobby and the industry in the 1980's, the expected market for model car kits was who? Answer: Kids. With a "tub" style interior "bucket", it's impossible to engrave high-relief details on the sidewalls, and get the part to come free of the tooling in demolding, and that is fact. That said, as early as 1957, Revell's 1957 Ford Country Squire station wagon kit had a true "platform-style" interior, the floor of which was the floor pan molded en-bloc with the frame, with carpet and floor mat detail on the upper side; separate interior panels AND a separate inner panel for the lower tailgate, with quite nicely done raised details (door handles, window cranks, vent wing cranks, even the latch details for the inner tailgate panel. So, the knowledge of how to do well detailed interiors existed 55-yrs ago, well before the rather young model car builders we were back then were really capable (or desireous!) of handling more complex projects. Of course, also well to consider is that from 1958 (the first AMT 3in1 Annual Series customizing kits), kits of a given year's new cars were based on promotional models made for the auto industry, and as such had to be designed for rather rapid mass-production assembly lines, and that meant a lot of simplification--hence "interior tubs". This carried on with such as the first AMT Trophy Series kits, again made for the expected market, the (approximately) 10-16 yr old kid hooked on model cars. However, with the recognition on the part of the model kit industry (lead in the US by Monogram) in the early 1980's, that a huge demographic shift was well underway, the "10-16 year old kid" suddenly having morphed to men in their 30's and older; it was time to rethink interior detailing in the design process--enter the return of the "platform" interior setup as pioneered way back in '57 with that Country Squire. As for carburetors, if one looks at any real carburetor, there are raised details, and intricate linkages that are a part of every one of them, going all the way back to the beginnings of the automobile. Now, in order to create raised details on all 4 sides of a miniature carburetor, that will necessarily require tooling that will reproduce that, and that means tooling that will slide together, then slide apart, every cycle, in order to produce that carburetor. Think of it this way: Virtually EVERY one-piece model car body shell requires a mold with SIX sides (if you think about it, any cardboard shipping box has SIX sides: Right side, left side, front side, rear side, top side and bottom side. It's that way with a model car body, my friend: Right side, left side, front end, rear end, upper surfaces, and the core mold that makes the inner surfaces. To do a small part such as a carburetor in this fashion, the same would be true, especially if one expects a detailed carburetor throat along with all the proper detailing on each face of that carburetor. Now, what if the model kit has multiple carbs (think Chevy or Pontiac Tri-Power setups here), that's a total of 18 moveable steel sliding mold cores! Now, how much are modelers willing to pay for all that? Hmmmm? And I haven't even addressed the intricacies of assembling such tiny plastic parts (Surely many here remember the carping about the overly intricate Trumpeter '60 Bonnevilles, the equally intricate Accurate Miniatures kits, no? Please note that I've not even addressed the really intricate parts of a carburetor--the linkages! Even if done in PE, those would intimidate a large majority of modelers, on two fronts: Extreme intricacy, and cost--that stuff ain't cheap folks! The bottom line here is simply that some things which limited real surface detailing in the past (interior tubs) were actually pretty correct reads of the model kit consumer marketplace as it existed in decades past, while some of the limitations of what model companies are going to tool up today are those more related to costs VS returns. Art

Matthijs, There have been over 1,500 makes of cars produced in the US since 1895, some 550 or so just in my state of Indiana. Most of those companies were very small, produced perhaps 200 cars or even fewer--one in Indiana, the Meier, saw just 3 or 4 built back in the first decade of the 20th Century. Art

Notice that I mentioned both Minwax (which is sold not only in craft stores, but a number of chain stores sell this product as well), and automotive touchup paints (Duplicolor, Plastikote and the like, which are sold in auto supply stores, and in the auto supplies sections of places such as Walmart). Art

I've used automotive touchup paints for perhaps 45 years on plastic model cars, almost always by airbrush. I use ordinary lacquer thinners with the stuff, has always worked just fine for me. Art

You can use just about any automotive paint on wood; in fact, most furniture restoration shops and cabinetmakers (even custom furniture builders) still use clear acrylic lacquers on wood for a finish. No need to go online, check your closest auto supply store or auto supply department for colors. I've used automotive paints on wooden parts I've made for model cars numerous times. I would suggest a good sealer for the wood, needs to be lacquer-based, of course, as most touchup paints in spray cans are still a lacquer base. If you have a good hobby shop nearby, check and see if they have Aero Gloss Dope (the old fashioned paint for tissue or fabric covered model airplanes). Aero Gloss makes a "sanding sealer" that can be used to seal the wood, harden up the surface so it can be sanded smooth, leaving no fibers of the grain sticking up. MinWax also has this same basic kind of sealer as well. Art

Actually, the "split" happened in 1979, NOT 1996. Art

OK, a simple answer here: What you are experiencing is overspray that is drying in mid air then being blown onto surfaces around the edges of the panel you are painting. I found, probably 35 years ago, when I was airbrushing automotive lacquer on stock passenger car bodies. The overspray was curling around the back of an old '59 Chevy (SMP) body, looking for all the world like dust buildup from driving the car on a gravel road! Not good. Here's how I solved the problem. You say you are thinning fingernail polish only 1:1 with lacquer thinner? Fingernail polish, often called "nail enamel" is in reality lacquer, not enamel in the sense of say, Testors or Modelmaster, which are true enamels, but lacquers thinned only enough for hand brushing, so you are dealing with very thick consistency, which takes a lot more air pressure to spray through an airbrush. In attacking this problem in the middle 1970's, I came up with the idea (prolly not my idea alone, but I did it on my own back then, there being no model car magazines to publish articles on painting at the time) of thinning the lacquer to approximately the consistency of 2% milk--this is an "eyeball" thing, there really can be no set formula, given that the consistency of automotive lacquers and even nail polish is very inconsistent, no two bottles of FNP seem to be the same consistency. Thinned as I describe, when you shake the mix up in a glass jar, you should see the thinned lacquer sheet down the inside of the bottle, looking very much like the way 2% milk "sheets" in a very semi-transparent way down the inside of the glass as you drink it. Now, thinned this much, you don't need anywhere near 30psi to airbrush the stuff: So, cut back the airpressure to the airbrush to the point that it will not spray, then gradually open the pressure regulator until the lacquer just begins to spray, then adjust the material control (paint mixture) at the front of the airbrush to get a spray pattern about 3/8 inch or so, with the surface to be painted no more than say, an inch from the surface. The final psi you come up with may well be only 10-12psi, but by moving the airbrush in close as I point out, what you will have is in effect, a miniature spray gun with a miniature spray pattern. Of course, at such a low pressure, there will still be overspray, but it will be minimal, and a quality airbrush will still atomize the lacquer very finely indeed. And you will not see the dusty overspray you describe. With a little bit of practice, you should be able to get a very nice finish using this technique, I have done all my model cars for the past 35+ years in this manner, and the real side benefit is that you can get maximum color coverage with minimal paint thickness, meaning that surface details tend to really "pop out" at you, rather than just being "softened up" by a heavy coat of paint. Also, use the same technique when you apply primer--rattle canning primer will simply negate what you might achieve with color coats sprayed on as I describe; then polish the primer to a satin sheen before applying color coats. As a general rule, I seldom have to use any of the abrasive "polishing" cloths from a MicroMesh Polishing Kit for anything more than just touching up a small area of fine "orange peel" in areas I can't really reach with the airbrush spray pattern (under the lip of a "59 Chevy is a very good example of what I'm talking about here!), mostly going directly to the flannel cloth and fine polishing compounds. Give this some thought, then try it on a test body, even plastic spoons, and see if it doesn't do a much better job for you. Regards, Art Anderson

Actually, the car is very practically designed (I've seen one up close and personal), and it's only about the size of a modern minivan too. As for entrance and egress, that side door opening is more than adequate. Not sure why no right side front door, but then, bear in mind, Model T Center Door sedans had NO front doors at all, just a single, somewhat narrow door giving access to the foot well area of the rear seat compartment, driver and front seat passenger had to pass between the two single front seats. Art

Trust me, there is a large difference between engraving wipers as raised detail on a body shell, and making them as separate parts. Making any separate part means two halves (or more as in the case of a body shell), coupled with all the work to make those two mold halves align properly, and the molten plastic flow as it needs to for a complete part. The other issue, already alluded to, is that making such a part as a windshield wiper anywhere near scale dimensions means a very thin section part. If the real wiper blade is, for example, a quarter inch wide, and perhaps 3/" tall (approximately the maximum height and width of most wiper blades, one is talking about a part that is .010" wide, and .015" tall from the glass. The same thing happens with radio antenna's--real ones are what, down to 1/8" at their last section (conventional collapsibile antenna), that translates to .005", or .25mm in 1/25 scale. For parts such as door handles and windshield wipers, the arguments both for and against are probably about equal in the marketplace, but are weighted against their being separate parts much of the time in the model kit industry, from my experience and conversations with kit designers and manufacturers over the years. Art