Dr. Cranky

DOCTOR CRANKY likes it, and EYEGORE suddenly got nervous and ran over to his fire hydrant! Goes to show you that you can turn any vehicle into a unique, one of a kind model in your collection. Nice job.

Here is my real name: VIRGIL SUAREZ, and here are the names of the CREW I work with at the Lab-RAT-ory: Doctor Cranky = Mad Styrenist & Chief CRANKYHEAD EYEGORE = Faithful, bug-eyed, curved-back assistant to the Good Doctor OTTO = Frau Blucher's husband and regular shop keepter, idiot savant Mrs. CRANKY = Out shopping for Scrapple LADY ARWEN & LADY PRADA = Secretaries and General Researchers loaned by Prince Charles to the Lab-RAT-ory. AND a few others, like BLIND OLD VIOLIN player who soothes and calms the spirit of most Lab-RAT-ory CREATIONS.

Marshall, you have reminded me of another factor (and perhaps another one of Doctor Cranky's confessions). Sometimes I pick up a kit and it says over 150 parts, and it turns me off. I say to myself (or to EYEGORE, if he's not out chasing another fire hydrant!): Do I really want to get this involved with a kit?

Are we addicted to styrene? I know I am . . . and if I'm not careful I ended up opining all the kits I get just to get a strong whiff of youth, fantasy, and CRANKY start the imagination. I really like this thread . . . it makes me feel young again! Thank you.

I know it says fall, but he anticipation is killing me? As if I didn't already have bunch of other projects in the works.

Thanks, my friends . . . I don't know, Ed, lately I've been in a BLING kind of mood. I think 60s and 70 big-boat vehicles look nice with big tires and chromed wheels . . . But you know, like everything else in the car world, it's a matter of what you like.

Beautiul, I tell you it builds into a nice model, curbside or not . . . I love curbsides because you can practice your painting skills in a short time and produce some very good looking models for your shelves and collection. Thank you for sharing your work and ideas with EYEGORE, you know he loves to make his eyes pop out!

Thank you, as I've said many times before to all who build shiny, taking a break from the gloss and the buffing and doing a rat rod or a junker or a daily driver will help keep your skills sharper than a scalpel.

Lyle, you are always staying one step ahead by coming up with these great builds. Love the way the body is coming along. Any particular colors in mind for this one? If I closed my eyes, I can see scallops.

Don, welcome back to this great hobby. Get ready to feel like a kid again! LOL. My advice is to start with a simple rattle can paint system that's going to bring you good results. Got with Tamiya rattle cans. They have a good variety of colors, etc . . .stay within the same paint system until you get the rhythm of the spraying again, and then you'll be ready to move on from there. Stick around, this is a fun and inspirational place to hang out in . . . and don't be afraid to ask more questions and also show us your work in progress. You'll be back looking like a teenager in not time. Best wishes and happy styrene journeys.

And you know sometimes that's enough. I don't know if this happens to you folks but sometimes I just want to build something simple and with less parts.

You are right, but that's still better than nothing. Thanks for sharing that information.

Interesting effect on that paint . . . it looks like marbelyzer? Can you talk a little bit more about the paint job, please. I like the colors on this model.

This is why I love this forum, you can always find more than one way to get great results. EXCELLENT!

Well, maybe we can run it by the Big Kahuna and see what he thinks. But yeah, a thread where those of us hang out to discuss gunk, rust, and junkers--yeah, sure beaters and almost-gone daily drivers are welcome too! And if it were up to me, I'd call the new section, can you guess? LONG LIVE RUST! ;)

OH WOW, I did NOT know there was an "engine" version of the Aluma Rod. Thanks, now I gotta track one of those down too.

Chuck, bless your great memory, you helped improve mine. Yes, indeed, I think this vehicle did come with these wheels thrown in the mix. I particularly didn't like the wheels at first, but then tried them and liked them. Thanks for the kind words, everyone. And, Harry, I like Duplicolor paints still, and use them every once in a while . . .

Chuck are you saying LONG LIVE BOXSTOCKERS? I love the sentiment!

You've posed an interesting question. Here's Doctor Cranky's take on it. I started using rattle cans of all brands and soon got frustrated with the color limitations, specially with Duplicolor, so one day I tried my hand at airbrushing nail polish (the colors are endless) and that led me straight into the two paint systems I use for my shiney builds . . . House of Kolor and AUTO AIR COLORS, both lines are excellent, but they will do a number on your wallet at the beginning, but then it becomes perfectly reasonable once you stock up on some of the basic things you need like the basic basecoats, a quart of the SG-100, and then some clear . . . I still used rattle cans for all types of situations like Dullcoat is still my favorite flat clear, and Plastikote is still my favorite primer, etc . . . You have to have lots of different weapons in your bench arsenal . . . it will give you choices and it will allow you greater freedom. Thank you for the great, thought-provoking thread.

Noel, there's a program called PLATE MAKER you can find on Google.

Here's a reference picture of what the pen welder can do. The idea is to practice on a scrap body or piece of styrene and you'll get the hang of it in two minutes . . .

Yes, he's kaput, but the question remains how long we'll be over there . . .

Here you go, it's the Weller welding pen in the top center of this picture:

I make mine directly onto the plastic with one of those pen welders . . . let me see if I can dig up a couple of pictures for reference . . .

Thanks, Dan.