Dr. Cranky

Oh, and I forgot to mention that whatever modifications to the body you want to make in terms of how junky and beat-up you want your build to look, then you do that before everything else, including using a blade to cut some dings and dents, and the Dremel tool to do rust-throughs on individual panels . . . I went for a mild worn look . . . But you can see I removed some of the trim and added some holes here and there . . .

The whole process of painting is your usual, or my usual in this case . . . I built all the sub-assemblies and glued everything, then masked, and then sprayed the primer and the rust coat of paint . . . Once that dried, I used dullcoat to seal in the basecoat of rust, and then applied the hairspray. Again, it is very important to allow everything to dry well . . . preferably over night . . . The objective is to apply a smooth coat of primer, paint, dullcoat, and hairspray . . .

So the basic hairspray technique works using the following steps: 1. apply primer, allow to dry 2. apply rust-color basecoat, allow to dry 3. apply a dusting of dullcoat to seal and protect the rust coat, allow to dry 4. airbrush a dusting (light coat) of hairspray, allow to dry 5. apply an acrylic color (and this is important for it to work) of paint, allow it to dry 6. With a soft brush moisten the acrylic top coat, allow the water to be absorbed by the paint 7. with a toothpick cut into a chisel point begin to scratch slowly until the chipping begins 8. GO SLOW, TAKE YOUR TIME, and use more water to keep the area you are chipping clean. 9. Do not handle the body too much. 10. Do the chipping to your taste . . . I started with the wheels to get my practice in before moving on to other parts of the model . . . 11. Do not panic if you cut down to the bare plastic . . . these little accidents can be fixed later.

Greetings my fellow Model Car Magazine Forum-ites! Old D. Cranky here with some new experiments . . . The bug to build another beather bit me once again, and this time I thought I'd try a new technique that's been the rage in the military vehicle forums . . . and which can easily be adapted to our needs as model car builders . . . that is if you are as crazy as Cranky about building beaters, junkers, and rats. Also this time, I had gotten my hands on a set of Vallejo Acrylic Primers which I had been meaning to try (those of you who know me know that I am crazy about Plastikote primers) but these acrylic primers clean up with water. My first reservation was that they would not stick to the raw plastic, but it does. The trick is to let it dry well for a day or so . . . The hairspray I used is cheap, uncented hairspray you can pick up at the grocery store. Not spray, but pump mister, so you can pour it into your airbrush. You will need a tooth pick, a stiff brush and plain water. Oh, and the model, of course . . . and my subject this time is a 37/38 Ford built box stock, nothing fancy.

I like it. I hope you can show us better pics. These are a bit blurry. Thanks.

Perfect. Bat Man can ride around in style now. Great build.

LOL, Harry, when they started making billions of dollars, off teenagers alone they make a bundle!

Now we are having fun and not building models!

Great body work, I can't wait to see more.

Numerology appeals to the insane, and I am speaking strictly for myself here.

Quick, Gregg, run and play the lotto. These are great numbers. Congrats to this forum for rounding up such a diverse and talented bunch!!! I couldn't help it, I had to say something about all those sixes lining up. I'll chime in again when we reach 66,666.

Love it, you did a great job on it. Congrats. Cool plate too!

Beautiful work, buddy, as always. You are a master craftsman! Cheers.

Wow, I can't wait for more. Keep it going.

May you spend years in there building your heart out. What a gorgeous set up . . . and believe me, it will bring you much joy. Congratulations.

WOW, that looks great, Chuck, and clearly an original addition to your collection. I haven't seen too many vehicles like it on the tables. Congrats.

Sweet! I love it. Keep it going.

I like it already. Can't wait to see it dressed and ready for the dance!

I have to say I miss the following: VEGA GREMLIN VW BETTLE YUGO

It's gone, done for . . . kaput. No more Pontiac forever and ever . . . The trademark is done after 84 years and some pretty fabulous cars . . .

Wow, this is turning out fantastic. Can't wait to see more.

This one should be very interesting. Keep it going.

Looking good, J. I can't wait to see some paint on this one.

Wow, Tom, this one is gorgeous and it's not even finished yet. Can't wait to see more.

I like the way it turned out. I think you are only tempting yourself with this one. I think you want to build an all-out junker with rusted panels, grime, gunk, and dirt . . . I can feel it coming on . . .