Dave Ambrose

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.

More progress. It's almost done. It's just lacking some front suspension parts, fenders, and headlights. Looks like I have some more touch-up to do on that tail light. Next time, I think I'll glue the photo-etch to some rubylith film, then stick it down to the bare metal foil instedd of filling in the tail lights with transparent red paint.

Cat whiskers (the four footed variety) are also good for antennas.Wire wrap wire for ignitionsDipping windshields and anything else clear in Future to make them look very real.Using a #12 blade for trimming bare metal foil. It gives much better control than the popular #11 blade.

Very cool. Thank you for a very useful tutorial.

Yeah, right. There's probably someone gullible enough to buy it. But, the all caps description should be a great big clue.

Sorry for the hiatus. Been having paint drama. But, the paint is on, the body looks good, and I can put a better mockup together. I'm reasonably pleased. This is my first effort with bare metal foil, and the first time I've done an engine swap in ages. Had to remove the existing crossmember and make a new one from styrene. Looking forward to getting the engine wired, installed, and the organ pipe exhaust mounted.

I'll nominate John Teressi, and Aftashox.(Romell Robinson). Their work is amazing. As to defining master modeler, that's way hard. I think one needs to be well versed in all aspects of our modeling art, and able to scratchbuild just about anything with a couple sheets of plastic, some sprue, and a big candle.

My local hobby shop sells it in 2 Oz. bottles.

Interesting technique. But, it doesn't seem to be very friendly to compound curves. That severely limits you for automotive styling. I also wonder if they use the same foam for surfboards? If so, it's pretty heavy. You can't use a lightweight foam like expanded polystyrene (EPS) with polyester resin. The resin will eat it for breakfast. These days, I'd be more inclined to use fiberglass or carbon fiber with epoxy resin and EPS foam. Better flexibility, durability, and handling.

The Kid Roth car seems like a first iteration. They worked on the body, and kinda punted on the running gear, and maybe the paint budget. I wonder if they weren't a little short on funds? I find it interesting that they used Roth's fabrication methods. I'm actually surprised that it's not used more often because it's a good way to get one-offs built without a lot of tooling costs I'm glad somebody's doing it again. Maybe we can get creativity back into hot rodding?

Thanks. this is my first hot rod in multiple decades. A tragedy to be sure, but a correctable one. I should have more progress soon. I'm going to assemble the front and rear suspensions enough to get the engine fitted and the floor board modified for the Dragula transmission. The body got another coat of primer. This time I used the model master primer and my airbrush. That's much better than Duplicolor from a spray can. Got the cycle fenders glued and primed today. Some filling and filing required. The price isn't too bad when you consider that it's got two complete cars in it. Don't know if I'll build the stock one, but if not, I have several destinations for the parts.

Go easy on me. This is my first posting in WIP. Starting a new model for the next SDMCC theme night. This is going to be the competition coupe from the AMT 3-in-1 kit with the engine and exhaust system from the Dragula. Mocking this thing up has been a fiddly nightmare of masking tape and intermittent structural malfunctions. I really like the slicks that came with the 3-in-1. Rear wheels are from the Dragula. Don't know what I'll do on the front end yet. The notion of stealing the Munster Coach wheels has crossed my mind, but I have nothing in my parts box that looks right. The kit wheels aren't bad, but I feel like some mags would be better. I'm probably going to use the cycle front fenders from the kit. Body color will be Boyd grape Pearl, with yellow frame and running gear. Not sure about tail lights, etc.; probably not the kit parts. More pics as I progress.

I'm using a Paasche VL and I like it a lot. It's a double action airbrush that lets you control the paint flow while spraying. Unlike many double action brushes, it has an adjustment for minimum paint flow, which lets you use it like a single action brush. With the minimum adjustment, you can start single action and work into double action when you want to. The Paasche VL set goes for $69 at Dixie Art, and its capabilities will last a lifetime. If you don't have one already, you will need a filter and regulator for your air compressor.

Very nice work. How did you do the paint?

And here I was thinking Green Bay Packers. Thanks for setting me straight.