Dr. Cranky

Those are fantastic although I imagine working with metal has to be slightly more difficult than plastic. Beautiful work.

And here's the other one done in copper with lots of Pearl Ex powders . . .this one has House of Kolor Rainbow mini flakes in the clear: When I begin assembly, I hope to take better pictures to share with everyone . . . Thanks for staying tuned in . . . The bottom line is that the Testors Clear DOES give you that miles-deep shine, but the lacquer thinner keeps everything tight to the body, which is great.

Here are my two new 41 Willyses with the same style graphics (this time aluminum) and laundry bag mesh as a template: This time I put a bit of Aztec Gold Pearl Ex into the clear . . .

All right folks, here are some paint jobs coming out of the dry room . . . I am convinced that if you are patient and let the paint gas out (approximately 3 days or 12 hours in the dehydrator) you get some very shiny results. The two 41 Willyses have been buffed and polished, the 69 Nova is just cleared. Let me explain some of what I did . . . I believe that some of the most fun you can have painting is mixing your own color, so this Nova is a combination of Bright Green Pearl, Lime Green Pearl, Pearl Ex green pearls and House of Kolor rainbow mini flakes. I followed Donn's method to the letter with the application of the first round of paint, allowed for it to dry, then I sanded and buffed the paint smooth, took my star template and Testors Brass paint and fogged in the stars. The metalizer paints work like a charm and they dry instantly. Remember this is all airbrush work. I fogged the stars in a random pattern on the vehicle, then I applied the Pearl Ex powders mixed in with Testors clears thinned a few drops more than 2:1. As you can see the results are really really amazing. Again, just having fun experimenting. I think if the excitement continues I would like to try thinning the new Ed "Big Daddy" Roth Lettering and Striping Enamels (available through Coastairbrush.com) with lacquer thinner and giving it a try to see what happens. Let me know what you think, and stay tuned in for some pics of the 41 Willyses.

WOWOWOWOWOWOW! That is such a classy, beautiful model. Wonderful job. Keep feeding us more eye candy like this and we'll gorge on sweet styrene!

You make a good point, Skip. I remember when I started that I would paint the fender wells and then when I'd put the chassis in I could see the places without paint and it would drive me crazy, so these days I just paint the inside and outside. Of course, I don't cut and buff and polish the inside! That would be too much, right? LOL! :lol:

Love the bling in the paint. Nice models.

Both points are correct, but I agree it just bugs me to know it's there and I didn't paint it.

I am waiting for the AARP membership card to arrive any minute now, then it's the early bird special for me! LOL!

Thanks for the great info. Terry, and Roger nice model and photograph. Thanks for sharing.

Matt, you've done a wonderful job. Yes, I think it's really 1/25th, but it always builds nice. I'm in the process of painting and building one myself. Thanks for sharing the eye candy with us.

Nice job on both, I like the El Camino with those wheels and tires. Keep sharing your work with us.

I do! LOL!

Cool beans, the more kids that discover model building as a hobby, the better for every body. It's a wonderful thing for developing the imagination!

That body is really smooth, this one is going to be a great model and if you can slam it into the weeds, it's going to look awesome. Keep it going, please.

Tim, House of Kolor makes a Rainbow Mini Flakes that I mix in with the clear and it works. They have them in order colors in particular silver and gold, which really are helping me get closer to that 70s all-out flakes/bling. When using the House of Kolor paint system, these things are a bit easier to do because they have intercoat clear and a flakes carrier, but I think it's a bit trickier with the enamel paint, but as Donn says, you can let the paint set for a couple of days and move on to the next stage. What I'm enjoying about all of this is the experimentation, including some new things I want to try on bare styrene using alcohol inks, and some pearl mist flakes from the Crafts world. Just to see what kind of effects I can get.

Michael, thanks for both of these wonderful how-to links. Great stuff.

Chuck, the basic reason why I remove the parts off the trees is that I like to go over them with a fine tooth comb to remove all the imperfections, mold lines, etc . . . but I also confess I don't do it as carefully when I build a beater, junker or rat rot. But I like have the loose parts early on so that I can also mock up stuff, etc . . . I think also psychologically the cut off parts and thrown away sprues represents one step closer to getting the thing done.

I think Model Round Up still has them, and I seen them on Ebay. That's a good sign, and I hope they will continue to make more different kits and subject matter.

Yes, in praise of vehicles with rear engines! Nice.

Frank, your model, this blue "Air Lift" Camaro has just freed my imagination completely. THANK YOU, now I know what direction I must go in!

I think Harry's been eating too many primer ribs at McCormic's (spell) in his fair city!

Obviously, if I am working on build like this one, then I don't bother, but I do paint the inside flat black so that NOTHING could be seen through the holes and mesh:

I've notice that a few people paint their parts on the sprues . . . and I've always wondered how they have to touch up the part when they cut them off . . . I know everyone has their own style of building and painting, but I'm always looking for the repetition in everything. Again, I am OCD which comes from a life of ADHD, etc . . . Oh, Harry, you are cracking me up!

LOL, of course not the parts that get glued together. But there are parts like hubcaps and wheel backs that I worry about so I paint them as well.