Brett Barrow

Ah-ha!!! I finally got one!!!!

Looking good!! I was not aware that the Ardun set-up had been corrected in the '50 Pickup, I'll have to "pickup" one soon!!! Sorry for the bad pun!

No, I've never made any large parts with this technique. I have seen a product at Michael's that you could make larger resin molds from, it was a two-part silicone putty, I forget what section it was in, might have even been in the cake decorating section as they use it for making candy molds. You can see a similar product in the YouTube video* I posted about a while back, though the modeler uses molten solder to mold the parts, the technique would be the same with resin. I'm not sure resin would release from my epoxy putty molds, as there's no way to flex them, they're completely rigid. You can use another batch of epoxy putty to make the parts, it'll usually pop free. You can get a type of plumber's repair epoxy putty at Home Depot or Lowe's if you can't find the hobby-oriented brands I mentioned. * link http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33454&st=0&p=337142&fromsearch=1&#entry337142

It makes a good donor for doing other Tri-Five gassers, as it has one of the few straight axle/leaf spring assemblies that's wide enough. The parts from Willys gasser kits are usually too narrow. If you want a stock '55 Bel Air Hardtop, the newer Revell kit is the way to go, but this kit is one of those classic ex-Monogram kits, it's a simple build, even though the fit isn't the best.

Chi-Town Hustler should be out in October, Hawaiian should be soon after. The Mongoose Duster should be out this month, BTW

Sorry had Hilborns on the brain, been busy plannin' a Tri-Five gasser of my own!

I picked up some FIMO (similar stuff to Sculpey) today, I'm gonna try out some alternatives to the epoxy putty/styrene method, I'll post the results. I think it may be better for the larger parts when I can't get the hot styrene to fill the mold completely.

Took this from Drew Hierwarter's "Working With Styrene" article from the Oct '05 issue of That Other Magazine - hope it might be of some help

Here's a real one. Doesn't really show the hinge very clearly. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160466174185&viewitem=#v4-37 Might be easier to make it a flopper - http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=421513 Hope these help

Looks pretty cool, like the color a lot. One point, FWIW, is that the "S" in A/GS stands for "Supercharged". With just the SBC & FI, it would probably have ran in B/G at best. If it's just a nostalgia racer, I don't think anybody will mind!

Not at all, I've always thought the 59 Caddy was the pinnacle of Revellogram tooling. It might very well be the best 24/25th scale American model kit ever made, I certainly thought so when it came out. I think the potential is there in current tooling, but there's still a little bit of a learning curve with the Chinese die-makers. I think you can also include the Pro-Modeler line in there as well, though the Charger and Torino had some shape issues in the first-run kits. I would include the recent '49 Mercury as well, first issues were even in the "donut box", and the Caddy engine comes from the 59s' tooling.

Thanks for digging that up, Mark. The point that I was trying to make is that sharp, in-focus, close-up digital photography will show you things on a model that you (or even a GSL judge) would never be able to see in real life. Mr. Carsner even alluded to that in his response. I understand that phenomenon and was less critical in my assessment of Bill and Len's work, knowing that those flaws wouldn't come across as bad either in print or in person.

Where? I don't see anything that's that bad. Some are on 440 parts that won't be used on the finished models and I appreciate Bill and Len for even including them in the build. Gotta remember too, when this thing goes to print those pics will be like 2" square, not full-screen blow-ups that are 4 or 5 times larger than the actual parts. I see things in my digital pics that I can't see with my naked eyes or even my magnifying visor.

What are we talking about here? Post-merger Revellogram new tooling?

All it needs is a layer of salt on the tires!

I can out-type all of the speech to text programs I've tried. I was lucky that my school district growing up saw that computers were coming on the scene and that it would be a good idea to teach the girls and boys typing class.

Here's a little how-to on what I call "smush casting". All you need to do it is some epoxy putty (any brand will do, I used Magic Sculpt just because it was the first one I grabbed, Miliput, Apoxie Sculpt, Green Stuff/Duro, etc... will all work just as well), a candle, and some sprue. Here's what I'll be copying - the window cranks and door handles on this interior panel. I'm converting Revell's 1957 Chevy Bel Air sedan to a lower-model 210. 210's had a different interior trim pattern than the Bel Air, so I'll need to sand the panel flat and re-do it. I will want to replace the window cranks, door handles and armrests down the line and I'm not sure I'll be able to save them when I remove them from the panel, so I'll make copies of them so I'll have some spares. I mix up a good blob of the epoxy putty and "smush" it over the detail I want to copy. I use a little saliva as a mold release EEEEEWWWWWWW! I let the putty set up fully before removing it from the panel. And here's the result - A perfect negative mold!! Well, that's the idea anyway, one crank didn't come out quite right, I think there was a hardened chunk in the putty that prevented it from surrounding the detail completely. Next, I take a long piece of sprue and heat it over a candle flame until it forms a blob, or "mushroom" on the end. Then, working quickly, I "smush" it straight down into the mold into whichever detail I want to copy. If I did it right, and I'm lucky, I'll get a perfect copy of the detail. This one wasn't perfect, but it was the best I got tonight because I couldn't get the candle flame to stay still because the A/C was blowing it all around. I'll try again when the A/C is off and I should get some better copies. I just wanted to throw this little how-to together tonight because I had mentioned it in a couple different posts and wanted to show how it's done. I'll trim the crank off the blob of sprue with a very sharp blade, like a scalpel or razor blade, X-actos won't usually cut it, if you'll pardon the pun, you need something sharper. Well, there you go, feel free to use it if you need it, it can come in handy not only for interior details like this, but for exterior items like scripts and badges, and it really shines for making small bolts and rivets to add detail to plain parts or to replace detail that was lost when sanding seams or mold lines. I can't remember where or from whom I learned how do do this, it's been in my repertoire for years, but I didn't invent it, that's for sure.

Do you mean this is your first model, or first model to be posted on this board?!?!?? Either way, you're doing great, no need for any apologies, the pics are clear and focused, and your posts are well written and easy to understand, and the model looks great.

If you don't want an "other models" section, don't click on it, simple as that. Sometimes I think people think there's a finite number of posts this board can hold, and every off-topic post magically erases some important car-modeling related post from somewhere else on the board. Would an "other models" section be so irresistibly tempting that members could not help clicking on it, much like the shiny red candy-like History Eraser button from Ren & Stimpy? As long as religion and politics are kept off the board, anything's fine with me.

Safest clear in a can is Gunze's B-501 "Top Coat". Start with light coats, accept no substitutes, and as always, test first!

I can't wait to get this kit just to smush-cast those tasty '68-only porthole marker lights for my one-of-these-days '68 Charger. I might even make some extras and make them available to MCM members I really regret never having picked up any of the previous issues of the Dart.

Kosutte Gin-San is a powder you rub into a painted surface, correct? I've seen spoons painted with it that were mind-blowing - http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/Porsnatic/DSC_03352.jpg - but have never seen real-world results that impressed me as much. My next batch of "Alclad"ed parts I'm going to try a gloss grey base and the Spaz-Stix product. Been thinking of the grey base for a while, just haven't gotten around to trying it. Is there a gloss cote between the T235 primer and Alclad?

You know, all these years I never noticed the Dodges were sedans, never really gave them a second look. I built the Belvedere way back when it came out. Sweet, it's even better news, styrene all the way!!

Anybody make a '64 Plymouth Savoy 2-door sedan body or full conversion? I'm guessing I could start with MCW's Belvedere A990, but would prefer something a little closer to the mark to start with.

Show AND Go!!!! Outstanding job, especially the paint.