Dave Ambrose

I have no interest in diecasts. For me, the pleasure in having a model comes from the fun in building it. Just buying a model car and putting it on the shelf, doesn't create any sense of attachment.

A couple of things that haven't been mentioned 1) The market is now worldwide. We might not balance the trade deficit with model cars, but the do get sold in Europe. We buy Japanese and European models here. 2) Licensing fees. Manufacturers are charging to use their designs in models these days. I don't know how much it adds to the cost, but it's significant. I know there was a lot of consternation when Boeing started enforcing their trademark rights with kit manufacturers. 3) The cost for designing a kit is a fraction of what it was 20 or 30 years ago. We can thank cheap yet powerful PCs for that. CAD software is much more affordable than it used to be. There were also advances in mold making technology, combined with offshoring that supply chain. brought costs down further. Chinese companies can produce kits cheaply. Improved development methods have kept us alive. If we were stuck with the old methods, we wouldn't be producing any kits at all. A production run for a popular kit is 10% of what it was in the late 60's and early 70s. There's just no place to amortize the development and tooling costs. Taking inflation into account, kit costs are twice what they were in the 60's. Given the shrunken market, I think we're doing well. I don't know whether the same market shrinkage has happened in Europe and Japan. Maybe someone who knows can comment. We also have a better distribution system. There are fewer levels, and online sales reaches the markets where there's no suitable hobby shop. Again more volume keeps the cost reasonable. I can sympathize with the younger people. I think it's safe to say that we all build cars in scale that we'd be thrilled to have in real life. I'm interested in Salt Flats and land speed record cars. Those are pretty tough to find in any era. Still, I feel thankful. We have good products. We have a good community. We're all having fun. What's not to like?

This is going to be awesome. I'm looking forward to more. (or is that "moar"?)

My easiest build was the Revell '60 Impala. It was for an automotive themed urban legends museum display. Built it as a curbside; glued the hood and trunk shut. It was there to be light colored and shiny. The kit fit together extremely well, and looked great when done. Wrapped it up in 6 hours, not counting paint drying.

We were talking along similar lines at our model car club meeting. Lots of good kits available, and we have a rich selection of aftermarket parts.We also have a great selection of paints. That counts for a lot too. I figure that you can build a nice model for $35-40 if you already have a basic paint inventory. That's a reasonable cost for 10 hours of recreation. It makes economic sense in tight times. As we get more people back, we're get some percentage who stay for a long time. In that sense, Tight times work in the model industry's favor. At least in the US, we're collectively retiring credit card debt at an astonishing rate. Once that gets down to a reasonable level again, people will start spending some , but not extravagant amounts of money. That will be good for the industry too. Sorry kids, you're just too fickle. Me, I'll be a marginal participant. I have enough models to last me for a few years, so I'm acquiring selectively.

First, I would still use liquid cement. Something like Tenax. Just lightly paint it over the stressed areas, or areas where you've shaved off things like door handles. If you don't fill the depressions, you'll see them in the paint. You have a couple of choices. One is to thin the putty with lacquer thinner and brush it on. It will settle into the shallow depressions, adhere, and not be too painful to sand off. Or, you can build up some primer in the depressions. Brush the primer into the depressions, and sand it back smooth. I've been using Squadron white putty. It's working well enough. You have to be careful to make sure it has enough solvent in it to adhere properly. If it starts to dry out, discard the old, and dispense some fresh putty. I hear Tamiya putty is top notch stuff, but I've never used it. I always prime after puttying or filling. One question - are you using some kind of sanding block? I usually use either a rubber eraser, or a "tadpole" on curved surfaces. Do not use fingers. They give too much and you don;t actually level out the surface like you want to. You should be fine sanding the primer with 600 or 800 sandpaper. This whole body prep process is somewhat tedious, but totally worthwhile. Keep your prime coats thin so you don't obscure all the detail, then fill, sand, and prime until you get it right. It makes all the difference.

I use Model Master primer, sand with 600 grit paper, and I haven't had problems with scratches showing through the paint. But, I've found that the Testor's lacquer isn't really one-coat. It usually takes a mist coat, and a couple of heavier coats to get good color. One other thing you need to do is make sure the model is degreased. I usually wipe it down with an alcohol dampened cloth. It takes off any oils without affecting the underlying paint. I suspect that you're seeing ghosting where the plastic is stressed, and the solvents are softening it enough to show through the paint. If you brush liquid plastic cement on the affected area, it should relieve the stress. Then you can prime, fill, and sand out the area until it's really level. Posting pictures will help us understand what's happening.

That's one pretty kitty. I love Jags, but have never gotten the wherewithal to buy one of my own.

We haven't been pulling the plug to just to yank people's chains. We've been having intermittent server crashes for months. We had no way to isolate the cause without taking the chat room down. We've changed servers three times trying to make this site work well. Once we figured out what was going on, Gregg went to the expense of upgrading yet again to a larger server. I'm still trying to work out some better alternatives. Look, I know this hasn't been fun for anyone. Look at all my posts in On the Workbench and you'll see what I mean. We've got the problem solved now, and I'd appreciate it if you all would get back to the usual level of banter on chat. I was semi-regular there, and was thoroughly enjoying it.

My Achilles heel? PAINt. Glossy finishes are a lot harder to get right, than flat finishes. I'm getting better with practice tho. Today, I've decided to ditch the rattle cans and stick with my airbrush. The airbrush makes it much easier to put down a light, smooth coat of paint. Prepping the body so it looks good seems to take me too many fill-sand-prime iterations. My worst vice is just giving up on a project when something goes seriously wrong, or I just get to a spot that seems too hard to finish.

That's a beautiful locomotive, but my favorite is the Southern Pacific Daylight engines. The 4449 is nearly sacred to die-hard railfans.

I use an eraser as a sanding block. The drafting types are softer and do a good job on curved items.

The error message is wrong. There are apostrophes in the file name and the BBS doesn't like that. Please don't make me elaborate further. The requisite technical language isn't allowed here.

Nice build. I especially like the bit of pinstriping on the cowl. It's the perfect little vintage touch.

I need to actually read these forums more often. This is a fun build. I like color and the graphics already.

I keep an electronic notebook of build ideas in Evernote. It also lives in my phone which helps when I go shopping.

Those are lovely ships. I'd be very proud to have either one on my mantle. There must be something special about knee surgery. I got started building cars again when I had my knee fixed. Truth be told, I probably could have gotten through the week-long recuperation without a model car, but then I wouldn't have gotten back into this fantastic hobby again. I also used models as physical therapy when I broke my arm. I had to learn how to do a lot of things right handed as my left hand was only good for holding things. That ability came in handy because I could use either hand in tight spaces often found in British sports cars. There's got to be some kind of opportunity here for sick kids and adults. Model building is so therapeutic it seems a shame not to share it more.

I bought a Heller Canadair CL 415 firefighting plane in 1/72nd scale. I felt like I needed a memento for my stay in Toronto. I also have a thing for seaplanes.

This is turning into a neat build. I may have to build one myself, if I ever get done with all the 1:1 British car projects in the carport. How did you do the carpet? It looks really nice.

Try wiping it down with cloth dampened with vinegar. The vinegar should dissolve the minerals, but not affect the paint. That said, keep it away from any bare metal foil or chrome parts.

Sadly, my Dad's no longer with us. He and my grandfather encouraged my model building efforts. Hard not to miss them on a day like today.

Don't get me started about Canada Post. My paychecks get mailed out of Edmonton for the exotic destination of San Diego, CA. The first one never arrived and was returned 4 weeks later. The second one is now MIA for two weeks. Express mail comes through within a few days and they don't get lost, presumably due ti the tracking number. But, this is ridiculous. Contrastingly, the US postal service is the consumate "theory X" organization. They monitor their employees to an extent that would make a hawk look like a slacker. But the mail does get through and quickly. Unfortunately, the USPS is going bankrupt; victims of email and online payments. They're left delivering mostly no-profit junk mail.

AMT sold an Ernie Irvan hauler that sound like just what you need. I saw several at the Lower Left Coast NNL, so they have to be reasonably available. I have one that I swear I'm going to build some day. Cheers, Dave Ambrose

I'm not thrilled with the look of the stock wheels. Chariot wheels were either solid or more akin to a 19th century wagon wheel. I think I'd go solid, but tint the chrome with something contrasting. Whatever you decide, I'm sure it will look awesome. It's a good thing that building even a mediocre model is fun. Otherwise I've hung up my files and tweezers years ago.

I'm not living in Canada, but I'm working in Toronto. Spending about half time here until Feb of next year. Great hobby shops compared with San Diego. Harry, they still have to old fashioned streetcars. Cheers, Dave Ambrose