Dave Ambrose

I think the key point is to realize that we're all on a journey. I wouldn't call any of my builds great. They aren't. I know that and can point to any number of flaws. Is it my best build to date? Probably. I try to push my envelope on every build. There are so many ways to evaluate a model car. Craftsmanship is one dimension, design and artistic vision are another. Detailing is perhaps yet a third. Each of us will pick up on some aspect of a build that's good, and fixate on others that need improvement. So, I'll be honest, I come around looking for someone to appreciate my work, because most of the people around me just don't seem to care as much as I do. I daresay that most of us know where the flaws in our build are hiding. They're on the side we didn't post. If I comment at all, it's to commend a model's strengths. A few kind words will go a long way towards keeping people building. I think that matters a more than the imperfections in a build.

That's really cool; like skeleton for skateboarders. Any idea where they did it? In the meantime, I think I'll stick to skeleton.

Thank you for posting those. I'll have to muster the gas money for next year's show.

That's an excellent set of builds. Wish I was doing that well, but no matter. I'm having fun; both on my own, and with my daughter.

That's a really cool car. One of my favorite T-Birds. (It was my first car model). I especially like the exhaust system.

If it's the 4-cylinder from the Rover car, it would be a gasoline engine. IIRC, the distributor on the early engines was located at the end of the camshaft. If it's one of the later engines, it wouldn't have a distributor as it used something akin to a crankfire ignition system.

Wow. a lot of good advice here, no matter what your age. Given the state of the economy, I won't be retiring soon, but saving money is always in style. I'll second the suggestion to buy kits at a swapmeet or model car show. At the lower left coast NNL, I found a handful of kits that I wanted, and paid about $10/ea. That's a good price compared to new. Buying tools you'll use makes a lot of sense. When you do buy tools, buy good ones. There are few things more frustrating than a poor quality tool. Also, look at the used market. I still use tools I inherited from my grandfather, and I can tell you that their quality is often miles ahead of modern examples. I've taken to planning my purchases around projects rather than "oh, that's a cool kit" impulse buying. I keep a notebook (in my case, it's stored in Evernote) of projects that I want to build. When I get to the end of my current project, I go look in my notebook. I've managed not to accumulate a monster stash of kits, and I want to build almost everything I have. That leaves me more inspired than depressed when looking at my backlog. There's no point in accumulating kits. Let's face it. Most of the kits bought today will never get built by their original owners. As time goes on, there will be a healthy secondary market. Actually, a first glance indicates the secondary market is already pretty good. So, why saddle yourself with a pile of depreciating assets? There will be exceptions. But these principles seem to be working for me.

But it beats the he..heck out of the alternative. Remember, it's better to be over the hill than under the hill.

I'm using a 26 gal Sears compressor. It was quite a good deal when you figure in the air tools they throw in. But, it's really loud. On the plus side, it scares most of the cats out of the garage within 30 seconds and I really only need to run it once every couple of days.

I'm assuming you mean the abrasive cut-off wheel. Do you have any problems with the wheel loading up with plastic?

Welcome. I think you'll like it here. Everyone's been really good to me.

Sounds like you need a razor saw. These are back saws with very fine teeth (24-32 teeth per inch). Mine are from Xacto, but Zona makes them too.

For what it's worth, I've gotten nice results with Testors spray cans; especially the "One Coat Lacquers." Are you putting on a "mist coat" as your first color coat? This is a very light coat of paint. It looks terrible and makes you feel like you've ruined the whole thing, but it forms the transition from the primer to color coats. After that coat dries, you can start laying down color coats. Here's the paint sequence that works best for me when I'm painting with enamel. I'm using an airbrush, but you should be able to do something similar with spray cans. Prime with model master primer. Last coat is sanded out with 800 grit.Mist coat of color. Let dry well.Color coat. Still light, but heavier than the mist coat. The paint should look wet and smooth as it goes on.Wait 20 minutes or so. Paint should be skinned over (surface dry)Repeat color coat / dry cycle until you get the color you want. It usually takes me three coats to get the color coverage I need. I get aa almost mirror smooth surface, but that will be hard to do with the cans. The distance between the can and the subject, and the speed you move the spray interact. Orange peel happens when the paint drys too much before it hits the surface, so you need to move a little bit closer, and move the spray faster. This is all much easier with an airbrush, but, you should be able to do well with a spray can if you're careful.

If you're looking for quiet, the best solution is a medium sized CO2 tank and a regulator. No noise, the gas is always dry, and it lasts a long time. If you give up on this model car thing, you can always use it to carbonate homebrewed beer or soft drinks.

One thing I like about model cars; there's a LOT more leeway compared with things like aircraft and railroading. In an aircraft, if something's not according to the prototype, you get dinged. With most model cars, your results just have to be plausible and believable. If you're doing show cars, even those criteria don't necessarily apply. I find it a more interesting experience since I can pick my own design elements. If you still want to get your prototype jag goin' you can model specific cars and be as prototypically correct as you want. Choices - what's not to like?

This truck looks like it's a WW 3 veteran. In other words, perfect.

I like it. Now I have to think up something that uses a Texas flag theme just because I was born in Waco.

That is beautiful. I love the way the design comes together.

Those are all very good thoughts. I find myself concentrating on #4 -- a lot. It's important to enjoy both the building process and the finished product. Expanding one's skill envelope more deliberately helps keep the problem solving frustrations at a manageable level. One also has to accept that things are not always going to proceed as we would like. I seem to specialize in painting disasters. I'm discovering that my personal key to having a pleasing model is a good body. For me, that means good prep, priming, and paint. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm closing in on a set of practices that work for me. I'm hoping that gets to be routine by the end of 2011. I can't recall a better time to be building model cars. We have better glues, paints, and fillers than we did as kids. Plus, I'm much better at not cutting myself these days. We also have much better access to tools. Our primary goal is to have fun building it, and have something we enjoy looking at afterward. With regard to your last point about subjects, I've decided to do something I've never done. I'm mostly building to the theme nights for our model car club. My first foray into that little world was fun. I'm still building things I like, but now I get to share the results with friends. Which leads to my last point; see if there's a nice model car club in your area. All clubs seem a bit cliquish at first, but the one here in San Diego is as nice a group of people as you could ever hope to meet.

We decided to celebrate National Primer Week by having my daughter prime her Stutz Racer, and me priming my Rat Fink. Next stop, some serious cleanup.

I've had my best results with Model Master primer, and paints. I hear Tamiya is good too, but I haven't been able to get really good results from it. I suggest getting some 600 or 800 sand paper and use it to wet sand the primer. If you're shooting from a can, it will look a lot better with a light wet sanding between coats.

I'll preface these remarks by saying that it's been 45 years since my last judged model car contest. We create illusions. Our little creations will never be real cars, but they will create that image in the mind of the viewer. I don't think there's any point in detailing something you can't see. That goes for location and size. If something is so tiny you need a 10X magnifying glass to see it, it's not needed. In creating a believable illusion, things like proportions, colors, appropriate sheen, and a believable design are far more important than minute details in the engine compartment. Once you have those lined up, it makes sense to add more visible details. I think that if you're detailing parts that are barely visible, you've gone a little too far. Concentrate your efforts on things we'll see. That said, I have no idea how contests get judged these days. Maybe they wander around with stereo microscopes?

Thank you for your kind words. This one's turned out better than I expected. I really like the way this paint came out. It's Boyd's Grape Pearl over grey Model Master primer. There's no clear coat. It's somewhat transparent. If I'd known this sooner, I'd've used a gold undercoat instead of grey primer. That said, I think it has enough paint so that all you really see underneath is the pearl.

I've used DOT 3 and 4 brake fluids and they work well. Be sure to clean off the model with soap and water, followed by denatured alcohol. You don't want any brake fluid residue on the model. Scale Coat stripper works very well too, but it's expensive.