charlie8575

If you have an airbrush, I'd suggest buying the enamels in bottle form, and then thinning them with lacquer thinner. The lacquer thinner will accelerate the drying time exponentially. If you're using spray, dry the body with a hair dryer. That will also help the paint dry faster. With regard to clear-coat: the hardware store Krylon will cause trouble. At craft and art stores, you can find Krylon Crystal Clear, which is an all-acrylic clear. This is safe for use over any paint. A lot of people also use Future floor wax and seem to like it quite a bit. Charlie Larkin

There are a few Tim Horton's in Southeastern Mass. and Rhode Island. Can't say as though I blame you....great coffee. Just wish they were open late. Charlie Larkin

Mike, I think that's the Ferrari engine. No, they don't look too much alike! Matt- very nice job on both of them. I like Jags and I'm enjoying watching this. Charlie Larkin

Nice work, and a very inventive way to power the lights on your Mercury. Welcome. Charlie Larkin

Brilliant idea to use veneer like that, Romell. I was just thinking that would look good on a woody wagon. This is an amazing piece of work you'd done. Charlie Larkin

Very nice work, Bruce. Charlie Larkin

Nice job making that a shortbed. Looking forward to more. Charlie Larkin

Well....things are progressing again, finally. Due to a bit of a crunch, I decided to do a two-tone of India Ivory, courtesy of MCW, and Model Master lacquer Tropical Turquoise. Tropical Turquoise was a mid-year introduction, and the white/turquoise interior was discontinued; however, who's to say that one or two didn't sneak out in this scheme, which is entirely plausible. The assembly is progressing okay otherwise aside from one of the front suspension coil springs now having gone missing. I think next time I build one of these Tri-5s, I'm going to assemble most of the chassis first and then paint, as I've found Revell's chassis parts to be rather fiddly. This is the first two-tone I've done in at least twenty years, and that one wasn't very good. This came out okay, but I'll have to do a little touch-up in all likelihood, unless I can get the little bit of overspray to buff out. The pictures were MUCH sharper through the lens, so I was bit surprised when I came back from getting my film processed. I'll take some better ones sooner, rather than later, I hope. Enjoy. Charlie Larkin

The car I had always hoped Ford would build, but now we'll never know. Very credible job on that, David. Charlie Larkin

Nice build, Bruno. The gray/red stripes are a very nice combination. Charlie Larkin

Very nicely-done build. The 1962 Fury/Sport Fury convertibles are indeed quite rare. Less than 100 are known extant today, maybe a few more counting both Fury/Sport Fury variants. The '62 Plymouth was a major dud sales-wise because of the odd styling and that it was fifteen years ahead of its time in regards to "downsizing." Some good references can be found here: http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Plymouth/1962_Plymouth/1962_Plymouth_Full_Size_Brochure/dirindex.html And here. http://www.tcpglobal.com/autocolorlibrary/aclchip.aspx?image=1962-plymouth-pg01.jpg An Internet search may yield additional materials. Give it a shot. Charlie Larkin

Between the history and the execution, all I can say is this is really cool. Good luck with the rennos and take some pictures when you're done. Charlie Larkin

Cool. I want one of those kits myself. Nice job on it, Roger. Charlie Larkin

Thing is, model cars don't leak much of that stuff. Very nice job on this. Charlie Larkin

I use a drafting board and templates. Less frustrating than a computer. A small laptop drafting board is easy to find; and a good set of square, round and odd-ball shaped templates, along with a French curve, right and 30/60/90 triangles will cost you less and give you an opportunity to pick up a new skill. A roll of drafting tape and 11x17 drawing paper will finish off the set. Use a 2-H pencil and white vinyl eraser; that'll give you good results under most circumstances. Lastly, pick up a drafting book, which is useful for drawn or computer drawing. You can get one at a used bookstore for around $10-15. The other major advantage is that you can draw things out to actual size, with a scale ruler. Once on the paper, you can cover over the drawing with wax paper, and, using straight pins pinning the papers to a piece of cork, you can use it as a pattern to custom-construct your frames or other objects. Charlie Larkin

I absolutely agree with this, as well, and meant to put this in. Actually, Skip's idea of buying good quantities of the clear cases (I like Pioneer Plastics' cases- very nicely-made and seal tightly,) perhaps with some type of skeletal "shelving" to help prevent tip-overs, might work well for your needs, too. Casey's idea of a curio isn't a bad one, either. Minimal expense and Ikea's better-quality furniture is actually reasonably nice; no, you won't mistake it for Vaughn-Basset or Vermont Tubbs, but it's pretty good. Charlie Larkin

At the absolute minimum, I'd put the decals into Zip-Lock type sandwich bags. Make sure you get all the air out of the bags first. Charlie Larkin

Most lumberyards will give you one or two cuts for free, after that, it's 50-75 center per cut. It might be worth your while to run over to Ace or True Value and get a 15" handsaw and mitre box (about $20) The wood, when bought in eight-foot lengths and simply cut to length, becomes remarkably inexpensive if you cut it yourself. Most lumberyards will also have some bags of dowels that you can use to turn into extra supports for the shelves. They're about $6-10/bag. Just be sure to measure the diameter of the holes, first. If you don't want the pre-cut ones, or can't find your size, two or three-foot lengths, depending on diameter, run from about 50 cents to a couple of dollars, generally. They can trimmed with your saw/mitre box, and you can reasonably expect 8-12 short dowels out of each length. Charlie Larkin

Nice work on this, Jared. What color did you use? Charlie Larkin

The front end, at least to me, is the only unfortunate feature stylistically, and I don't even find that that offesnive. Chuck- great job on this. The red/white looks great on this one. Charlie Larkin

I love brass cars and have most of the Pyro/Life-Like kits. You did a great job with that. Very nice detailing. Charlie Larkin

Nice, clean build, nice colors, too. Well done. Charlie Larkin

I can't speak for the characteristics of this stuff because I've never used it, but I would think that the smart thing would be to use the white putty under white primer, and possibly the other colors, as the gray may cause an uneveness in the color of the primer, which could affect your final color. Charlie Larkin

Happy anniversary, Terry. Hope you and your wife enjoy your trip. Charlie Larkin

I might grab one of these to put one of Jerry's '46-'48 Tudors on (fastback) As it looks like it might come with a stock(ish) suspension, or can be done with little/no trouble. That Olds grille.....I seriously need to grab another Galaxie Chevy Aerosedan and make an Olds 66 with it. Charlie Larkin