Dave Ambrose

This brings lots of adjectives to mind, but if I used them, I'd have to ban myself. Let's just say it's an epic build and leave it at that.

To me, a clean build is one with no obvious flaws. It goes back to the archaic term "sanitary" to describe a clean, well-executed mechanical assembly that will function well in its intended purpose.

More time between coats shouldn't be a problem. The solvents in lacquer will bond it to the coat underneath no matter how dry it is. unlike enamels, lacquer doesn't "skin over". It uniformly dries.

I get good results from my General, even with the tiniest bits. The top of any pin vise should swivel. Otherwise you're gonna need a lot of mole skin.

No motor mods to ours, but I like the idea of adding the 323 turbo. IIRC, they both use the same basic motor, so shouldn't be a problem, except in California. Someone in my town has a Miats with the Ford 5 litre conversion. It's wicked fast, but you need some fat rubber to get that power to the ground.

Great work! It really looks nice.

Welcome back. I understand about hotel living. After way too many years, I finally figured out that I can bring a model with me. Fitting and brush painting is not problem, but spray painting is problematic at best. Building makes the evenings much more pleasant.

Sounds like it's time for a "bake box." Take a low wattage work light. The fluorescent types work well. put it in a cardboard box with the model and turn it on. Close the box and wait. I find that the paint hardens within a few days. Hopefully, you'll get the same results I do.

We have a similar problem in San Diego, but not as bad. It's the good weather. People don't particularly want to build models when it's warm and sunny outside. I visited a couple of hobby shops in Toronto, Ontario that would kill and eat any shop we have in San Diego, Then again, we don't have 6 months of winter either. I get by with the occasional trip to Orange County or LA, online, and the fortunate fact that my local hobby shops carry a lot of paint. I buy from them when it makes sense, but there are a lot of things I want to buy that I can't get from them, even on special order. So, I go online.

If you go by the one in my driveway, they look really sweet (and handle awesomely) if you lower them a few inches.

Tech Savvy? Me? Yup. Guilty as charged. I've been a software engineer long enough that the machines I learned to program on would make a great acquisition for a museum. I've designed several computers of my own. I was lucky to be attending Cal at just the right time. It was the second stop for a lot of great professors. Now, I have a nice computer, iPhone, iPod and I just got an e-reader for Christmas. I'm not generally a leading edge buyer. But I do like my music. And yes, there's a rather large disk drive full of music. Technology is great when it serves a good purpose. I think the great part of "Web 2.0" is the way it's brought people together. In some ways, we're getting back to the old Usenet environment -- a rich exchange of ideas, but this time, the fonts are better, and we get pictures. I'm not a slave to my machines, though I do use them frequently. Quite frankly the most valuable pieces of technology in my house are a telescope, a wet suit, and a surfboard. My house is full of books; real paper books. And a fair number of models. Our beloved model cars are quite a feat of technology themselves. We'd never have a Hudson Hornet without a bunch of CAD programs and CNC milling machines. So yeah, tech is good, but not everything. I can have a great time with a model car and a cigar box of tools; just like when I was a kid.

Box stock? How about box rock! Very very nice. I'll be very happy if mine comes out half that good.

We need a like button, just for you. Nice clean build. All the little carburetters look very cool too.

I've used them several times, all with good results. They shipped within a couple of days. they're located in upstate New York, so shouldn't be a long trip to New Joisey.

I got back into modeling to tide myself over after knee surgery. But I just really enjoy building. I'm a software engineer and I just need the contrast from my day job.

I've done that. Broke some chrome parts too. It happens, and you just gotta pick up the pieces and get it back together. (a bit more literally than usual)

Sweet. Can I come over and play at your house?

This is so awesome. I'm just blown away. Can I second the request for an Alclad tutorial?

I have a Paasche VL and an Iwata Eclipse. The VL is my go-to airbrush for just about everything. The kit comes with three cones and needles, a cup, small bottle, and a large bottle. You can't beat the versatility. You can find them for $60 on Amazon. Compressor-wise, get one with a tank. A diaphragm pump with no tank will pulsate when you're trying to put down a heavy coat with the large nozzle. Be sure your compressor has both a filter and a regulator.

Through some trial and error, I discovered that the forum software doesn't like special characters in file names. You need to stick with letters and numbers. No spaces allowed either. If you have any illegal characters in the file name, it will give you the "You are not allowed to use that extension in this community" message.

What type of airbrush are you using? I use this procedure with my Paasche VL: Flush it with a 50-50 mix of denatured alcohol and Windex. Remove the color cup or bottle, and use a Q-tip to clean the inside of hole there the bottle or cup seats. After removing the cone and needle, I take a pipe cleaner, dip it in solvent, and run it into the front of the airbrush. Take the same mix, wipe down all the external surfaces with the same mixture. Wipe off the needle too. The cone and nozzle go into a jar with clean solvent. I've never been able to adequately clean the airbrush simply by flushing it with solvent; hence my more elaborate procedure.

Welcome back, bro! It's good to see you again.

When I got back into building model cars, I was hyperactively buying kits; not such a good idea. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to find the kits when I was ready to build them. That fear was unfounded. Go to a model car show, and you can find several of just about anything. If you cant, then those kits are the ones to put in your stash. I went back through my collection last year with the notion of weeding out models that I didn't want to build. I came up with a couple, but aside from the model railroad stuff, I still want to build what I have. The model railroad stuff? My wife wants to keep that. Go figure.

That dragster looks great. I'm getting to appreciate these vintage kits more as my skills improve.

Rapidographs haven't changed in years. They still need manual filling. You might need to go to an art supply store to get the right ink.