Dr. Cranky

I think quite a few of you are sufering from styrene cabin fever!!!!

Hey, Ken, unfortunately I am up in North Florida right now and won't be back down South until the Holidays. Thanks for the kind words. And please keep me posted to shows and club meetings (I'm assuming there is a club down there) over the summer months. I think over the years many builders had built some great stuff off Jairu's ideas . . . and he is generous when it comes to helping out during the building process.

Folks, for those of you who are interested in building all sorts of models, be it military, civilian transporation, sci-fi, you should check out the newly remodelled MIG PRODUCTIONS FORUM here: http://www.migproductionsforums.com/phpBB3/ Eye candy is eye candy, that's my motto!!!

Hey, Dave--if you gonna blame anyone for "strange" on this one, you gotta blame Jairus Watson. He's the one who came up with is. I just took one look at his truckster illustrations and hit the floor with a few Curlys. The only word that always comes to mind with I think about the true essence of rat rods is GUNK. It ain't a rat rod without the GUNK!

What Jairus said!!! Sorr J, I could not help myself . . .

Great stuff, Ryan, it's always a pleasure to go over this technique and try it for all kinds of awe-inspiring results. Thanks!!!

Neat idea, I gotta get one!!!

Three gorgeous rides in the works, Tom! Great work. Can't wait to see them finished!

Thanks for asking . . . I still have to work on the base . . . and then set this sucker on it and see how it will look. I hope to still make the Holloween deadline.

My thoughts are with his family. The man's legacy is his family, his friends, and the work he leaves behind.

Thanks, folks, I really appreciate the comments . . . the progress on RATOUTOFHELL has stalled a little bit since I am in the process of building something that will strongly suggest this sucker can breathe fire . . .I'm still working out the details of how this thing is going to work . . . . Do stay tuned in though . . . cause you know Oct. 31st is just around the corner! BOO!!!

I still have to weather the engine a bit and add a few more details . . . and of course set it up on the base . . . I think I've got plenty of time to finish it before the Oct. 31st Holloween deadline! Here are a couple of more mock up pics . . . Once I get this bad boy up on the base and fix the angle of the swoop, I will take more pictures of the whole thing . . . so that the whole thing fits in the frame, wings and tail and everything else!

All right, chaps, here's some more progress and mock ups . . . I think this one is going to fly once I get it up on the base . . . where it will be permanently displayed. I still want to set up some sort of fire-producing mechanist on the front (I mean something static, not that would really work, just to clarify) so that it gets the viewer salivatin' about the possibility of this dragon rat really spitting out fire!!! Enjoy . . . You can really see the way the paint turned out and the different textures . . . I hope it looks good to you on your own screens . . .

Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate it . . . I'm looking for a couple of new elements to put on this beast, so I hope to post some progress mocks up by tomrrow, mayber later tonight.

Wow, man, that's looking great. I love the hood, the color, the engine. Lots of great details . . . of course, I can also see an old fashioned wood casket in the back! Superb job!

Any brand of flow medium will work, though I use Jo Sonya's acrylic flow medium, but you can also find Golden or Windsor & Newton. Flow medium keeps the paint from drying on your airbrush tip. It makes the paint FLOW much easier . . . a couple of drops will do it, so one bottle of flow medium will last you a long time.

Thanks, Wolfer . . . and to answer your question. No, I am not painting this with Games Workshop/Citadel paints. I am using Floquil which is an acrylic that is very easy to use. I thin it with distilled water, put in a couple of drops of flow medium and I am ready to go . . . I spray it at about 20-25 PSI, using my Iwata Eclipse . . . if I wanted to isolate more parts of the model to zero in then I would use my Iwata Micron . . . which is a fabulous airbrush for detail painting. Good luck with your work.

Ah, a little bit of progress on Sunday . . . I am actually getting ready to do some full-body/chassis/engine mock ups ASAP, so stay tuned in for more . . . The engine is not glued down yet, but I am pondering adding something to the front of it, a pipe perhaps that will come out throught the teeth on the grill and mabye I can set up a big plume of fire that I can do with painted cotton to signify this is one fire-breathing rat!!! But it will probably look too fake! Too fake? Says the man who is buildng a 32 Ford Coupe with dragon wings . . . hum, okay! Here are some of the last chassis pictures . . . Here's a closeup of the half zoomies . . . I still have to weather this sucker up a bit . . . it's looking way too clean for this ratty dragon beast . . . I decided to raise the rear by putting some Dodge L-700 tires and rims on the back . . . . Once I mount this sucker on the base and aluminum tubing I will probably have to put some weight on the back to stabilize the weight up front . . . the wings and tail are not heavy enough to hold up the weight of the Allison . . . but we'll cross that bridge when we get there . . .

He is definitely cracking a smile!!!

Thanks, Harry. It's been fun so far, and I keep this one close by just to make sure nothing happens to it, I mean a snake might sneak into the garage and mistake this one for a juicy rat!!!

Thanks, C.H., I hope to have some more progress done by tomorrow . . . it's been a slow day today. But please do stay tuned in!

This is an evil pet, that's for sure. It will eat you out of house and home . . . And look, it's got attitude now! Grandma Dragon what big teeth you have!!!

Happy another Oct. Saturday, maties . . . hope you are all well and thriving . . . it is still ultra hot and muggy in Florida, perfect contions for painting, which I continue on RATOUTOFHELL! I've been putting in some heightlights around part os the skin with a lighter green just to bring out more of the reptilian texutes, and I have also been applying very thin dark washes to bring out more of the details on the skin of the wings and the tail. You see it much better on this next picture . . .

Thanks, all . . . Raul, yeah order them on line, you should be able to get them just fine. Or see if Walther's has them . . . they are a great train supplies place on line too. I am sure you will find them.

Thanks, John, I will keep that in mind.