Chillyb1

I don't know whether this has ever come up before in your modeling lives, but I found a need to mask the center of a wheel painted one color while painting the rest of the wheel another color. This is what I came up with: Using a drafting template, I first select a suitably sized circle: Next, I use a small ball of Silly Putty® to fill in the circle equal to the thickness of the template: Finally, apply that circle of Silly Putty® to the wheel, taking some care not to distort it too much in the process: This is how they turned out last time I tried this:

A very useful video that is full of good advice for those yet to try Alclad II chrome and those who haven't yet got it right. I'd add a couple of things. Look at the results in several different kinds of light because sometimes it looks great until you see it in bright sunlight, or you can end up spraying too much on and it turns to silver. Also, I've found that the Alclad black base gives the best results by a long mile but it won't stick to an unprimed surface; I've also found that I get the best results when the Alclad black base has only been sprayed an hour or so before shooting the chrome. And the same process with Alclad's polished aluminum yields equally excellent and realistic results. An important point that Andy makes, and I'd like to reinforce, is that the Alclad my initially look splotchy and awful, but give it a couple minutes and it will turn to chrome.

I built those and had a blast doing so. I'm glad they made it into the caravan. Later I built this one: I'll be jumping in here with another Volkswagen Beetle. Not sure what direction to take it, but I'll post some photos when I make some headway.

That's all well and good, Erik, but where's the Heller DS?

Why does this topic show up so persistently? It is as regular as clockwork. I don't get why anyone is surprised by eBay auction results.

It is good to know that method works for the true look of bare metal. Did you clear over the Rub-n-Buff? Or does it polish away and leave no residue? Whenever I use the stuff I end of getting it all over my fingers and then fingerprints all over other things. That is a really great looking Cobra.

Awww, c'mon, Six Fo, you're just showing off!! But he's right. I suggest going for dual-action, also; they aren't any more difficult to use and they are adaptable to a much wider range of uses than single-action airbrushes. For your $200 you should be able to get a good airbrush and compressor. As others have already recommended, a Paasche VL and a little 2 or 3-gallon compressor and you are good to go. Good luck with your search and here's welcoming you, in advance, to the wonderful world of airbrushing.

My best piece of advice is this: Use TAMIYA spray paint.

That is a really fine example of quality modeling. Very nice, indeed.

This is the best place I've found: http://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/browse.php?s=3&t=1&u=0&micr=215&pg=1&ppp=24&sb=stocknumber&so=a&kw=tamiya,ts

I always love seeing more rally cars here. Yours is indeed nice looking. I hear that. I recently started back in on a Peugeot 205 project on which I used Studio 27 decals. I remember how they went on like in some sort of beautiful dream. Those 405 kits are fantastic; I just pulled one out to get underway. And weathering rally cars is a really fun thing to do.

Then why do you go to all the trouble to scratchbuild the crankshaft, pistons, and valves?

I've found that the metalizers will stick to anything. You're right about how well they work over bare plastic and I like to use the aluminum as a primer.

The Revell 2CV is new tooling and not related to that piece of ###### from Heller, reboxed by Gunze-Sangyo. I threw mine in the trash after I got my first Tamiya 2CV. I'd like to see more of this kit; I'm reasonably certain that Tamiya will still be the better one. I also got one of those not too long ago and I really like it. I recently gave it a thorough test with a decal-intensive build and it annoyed me a couple of times, but I found it to be a great improvement over the more commonly used found-around-the-house tubs.

I love the USPS. I've never, ever had any problem either shipping or receiving.

I use it a love it. But I've never had a problem with its consistency.

That's very neat. How difficult was it to paint the figures? I've bought several Tamiya military kits and they really are beautifully engineered and molded.

I really like that place and I stop by every time I'm in the St. Louis area.

I'm glad to see the many responses and to see that so many of my modeling confreres have such maturity and reserves of self-control. When I built as a teenager, I never got so frustrated or discouraged that I destroyed any models I worked on. And as an adult builder I quickly learned what to expect from different kit manufacturers. I'm not a modeler who likes a "challenging" kit when challenging means dealing with poorly molded, ill fitting parts requiring dozens of hours of sanding and other prep work. Fortunately for me, Tamiya makes a vast array of kits of subjects I really want to build; and even among their excellent offerings, I've learned to aim for kits from, say, the last fifteen years or so. Once upon a time I got the Gunze-Sangyo rebox of Heller's Citroen 2CV and was excited about it. Later, after attempting to build it and being thwarted at every step, I acquired my first of several of Tamiya's version. Straight into the trash went the Gunze/Heller 2CV, and good riddance to bad rubbish. I happen to think that the Citroen DS is the coolest production car ever made across all of automotive history. Therefore, the only game in town is Heller and they don't even offer one in 1/24! I may have to revise my earlier equation to include some way of accounting for the difference between high expectations for and very low realization of some kits.

Tonight I snapped and destroyed a model that was in the final stages of completion. Over two years ago I got the thing painted beautifully (see photo). I know these Heller 1/16 Citroens are challenging, but this one pushed me over the edge. I've been slowly working my way toward finishing it, painting this, trimming that, foil, detail paint, et cetera. During the last week or so everything was coming together. However, the closer I got, the greater the obstacles to completion. Seemed like every little thing decided to find a way to cause grief and consternation. I'm no mathematician or engineer, but I think there is an equation to describe the process: N (T x C)2 = A. Where N is the number of parts used, T is the quantity of time put in, C is the degree of completion, which yields the coefficient of aggravation. In any event, has this ever happened to you? I feel better and I'll never look at those parts in the trash again. Goodbye, DS! By the way, I have two more of these Heller kits (one sedan and one cabriolet) if anyone wishes to put themselves through the torment I'll let them go cheaply.

This isn't a case of "better than" but one of "different from." Both Alclad and Model Master Metalizer paints offer superb finishes is a wide variety of shades. However, only Alclad offers chrome and polished aluminum, both of which are nearly magical in application. I have the full range of metalizers and have adapted a lid so I can attach them directly to my airbrush. Pick the ones you like and try them out. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either brand.

Some of those Hellers aren't so bad. I'm currently wrestling with my second Citroen DS build. They'll make you work harder than you want or should need to, but.... I did end up throwing their Citroen 2CV in the trash because I just got fed up with its overall merde-iness.

These things are hideously ugly to my eye. I can't appreciate it from any angle or view.