beefheart22

Winter where I'm at can suck with frigid temperatures. I keep my cans and model inside between sprays to keep everything room temperature. While things are drying I store them in a closet to keep dust off and fumes away.

Agree with the above -- nice save.

I am a bit naive on this topic, but isn't Olympic Figure skating for keeps, model cars for fun?

Round2/AMT release of the Munster Koach + Dragula kit: anybody got any information whether or not it will be released before Christmas?

*shudder* Haven't they burned the last remaining copies of those movies yet!? Move it! Move it! Move it!

Somebody should make Matsui pee in a bottle.

After re-reading my last post, it is pretty negative! What Ken was saying did resonate with the mentioned experience, but I did forget that it is unfair to paint all those events and the good people who attend them with the same brush. Pretty sure my experience was isolated. It just discouraged me at a young age. You know how teenagers are -- one thing is lame, all the rest has to be lame. A poster recently PMed me on this subject too and maybe next year I should give the Toronto show a try now that I know there's probably more good folks than bad!

That kind of rings a bell. I remember as a teen there was a model car show at the local flea market and I went because it was a budding interest at the time. I tried a couple booths just to ask advise because I wanted to know how their models look so good. Most wouldn't look at me sideways and those who did were unhelpful and right down rude and belittling. Even the guy who sold kits and supplies ripped me a new one because I asked for some advise on how to do a decent paint job. His answer was, "If you don't know how to build the kit, then maybe you shouldn't waste your time." Wow. Lost interest right then and there. Not so much because I took what he said to heart, but because I felt that model cars were for cranky old farts with nothing better to do. Rekindled the interest in building because I remembered how much fun it was before some cranky geezers dumped on me. Helps to know there is a particular message board full of great advise in a supportive atmosphere is out there. There was a model show here in Toronto about a month ago. Passed it up.

Thanks for the comments everybody. Not much of an update, but just finishing off the body work. First polished using some Tamiya compound to make it smooth n' shiny for the decals to suck right on there good. Too good... had some issues with one stripe that didn't want to budge. More water on the surface next time. Then I misted and wet one more coat of TS-13 Clear to seal it all off the decals and give the paint job a bit more depth. I think it sets it off nicely. Decals before final clear coat. Decals after final clear coat. Final clear coat went on smooth, but has some peel that needs to be rubbed out. Should be dry enough today. I'm just going to try the Fine - Finish Tamiya compounds. Don't want to burn through the single coat of clear with the course. After I finish the final polishing, gonna get to work on the actual building and let the body gas out completely. Some front suspension and the engine next. Nathan

eep!

James, Greg, if you aren't into photography, no need to spend too much money. Go to Future Shop, buy something between $100-$200 that tickles your fancy. The trick is that it has to have a MACRO function. Usually indicated by an icon the shape of a flower. MACRO is a type of focus that lets you get in really close to your subject in crisp detail. Also make sure your camera can take clean crisp pictures in normal indoor lighting. Good idea as always to test drive it because some cameras require a PHD in rocket science to figure out or take grainy photos in indoor lighting. Try a Nikon Coolpix. Slim and compact, easy to use and takes good pictures, even in indoor lighting. Even tells you if somebody blinked. A good quality easy-to-use camera.

Keeping my eye on your build. That engine is looking good.

Gotto go with everybody else: Targa.

Looks like you have some work cut out for ya. That generation Trans-Am looked bada##. Keep us us up-to-date.

Sweet! Knight Rider was one of my favorite shows. Too bad the Turbo Boost was only good for one use per episode. Good job! Have you ever watched Boy Meets World? There's a common tie between the two shows.

Looks good Nick. The opening toolbox is a nice touch.

Solid build!

That paint job looks like glass.

Holy schnikes that's a wild build! That is a terrific paint job.

Insane

Looks like a twisted love child Can't wait to see the fished product.

That looks amazing!

Fuji, how well do you know your old Z's history? You never know, some other teenager could have delivered many pizzas with it before it was painted it in your 'Dominos' scheme (looked cool BTW). It does resemble that cliche pizza delivery car from the movies. I'm in your boat: no air brush using rattle cans. When I do NASCARs, I just mask and spray for one color at a time, starting with the lightest, let it gas out over a few days, and then mask off and start the next one... etc. I wish I had advice for super clean making lines as I never had a 100% crisp line, but I came close by making sure the tape edge was taped down as hard as possible. A rally package would work well!

1/72 fits nicely on a 9-year-old's dresser. Here's a reference pic if you need one!

I'm a Mustang person my self, but this is a nice kit of a classic muscle car that rivaled my favorite BOSS 302 Mustang. So far, I just had time to work on painting the body. Light coat of grey TS primer just to fill in the body work which was minimal. Very clean kit. Then a healthy even coat of TS white primer. Two coats of TS-54 Light Metallic Blue. Then I gave it a single coat of TS-13 clear. I was going for the Le Mans Blue look, but I'm not sure how close it is. Still have yet to look at it in daylight. I am pretty happy how it turned out non-the-less. Before I laid my base coat, I wet sanded the primer coat from 3600 - 12000 to make it nice and shiny and the metallic TS went over it nice and smooth. There is some minor orange peel under the clear, but I plan to rub it out, lay my decals (the white racing stripes of course!) and then give it another coat of clear. Suggestions and constructive criticism always welcomed. Nathan