shucky

Steve, yep I agree cluttering up unrelated posts may not be the best method to communicate the problems or issues but I guess if your the one who was "done wrong" by a company you'd be pretty upset(?) But a dedicated post on the experience is a much better idea IMO, whether good or bad. Each method will to some degree have the same result, and that is, folks questioning future purchases with said company. I just imagine how some of these folks feel when they had a bad experience or received bad products, yet said company is peddling *new* products to unsuspecting potential new customers. Like "hey buddy, how about you fix my problem before selling more stuff!" Anyways, lol ... sorry for the poor example. Everyone hold hands now and sing a song yeah?

Same thing here, I use Devcon 5 minute epoxy.

Um, I have a question though... do we as consumers not have the right to know which company (resin or otherwise) is shady and has questionable business practices? How about SUPER SLOW shipping or not shipping at all? While some of these "complaint" type threads can/do get out of hand, if they took place all OFF THE AIR with emails/phone/PM we (us modelers) wouldn't know about it. And that leaves more consumers/customers getting the screws put to them by some shady company with poor/no customer service. It's okay to post in the forums "praise" for a particular vendor/company/resin caster but not when someone is unhappy with the product or service from them? That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. While I agree more "tact" can be shown when dealing with these type of situations on the forums, it doesn't excuse the fact that something is indeed wrong with a product or service they may have provided. This is a public forum and whether a product or service is bad or good we are allowed to "voice" our opinions, and I personally appreciate the feedback given on other companies especially of the "negative" nature. It allows me/you (consumers) to make educated decisions on where we spend our hard earned $$. When I see the same company come up on VARIOUS forums year after year after year with people complaining ...well, the red flag gets raised and my money gets spent elsewhere. Sorry but thats the truth. Perhaps you'd like to spend your money and get taken for a ride? I dont think so. This is in no way against Reliable Resin, it's a general statement about posting comments whether positive or negative about our experiences.

I've never heard of Mr. Wann, so how much does this thing cost, where can one buy it, and does your friend cast anything else? Nice project by the way, your doing a great job so far.

Jeff thanks for posting this so far. I do feel though that even with high tech equipment and deep pockets, one can build a low quality model. Yep I said it. You need to know what to do with those detailing parts whether you scratch build them or buy them. For me, doing research and using reference photos is of the utmost importance for any build I take on. Using reference photos for scratch building parts is key and arming yourself with a little knowledge of how those parts work or where they're installed will help you build a more accurate and believable model. You can have the most beautiful parts (made yourself or paid for), but install those parts backwards on a model and now what do you have? Further, while every bit of information helps, scratch building takes much time and dedication. You have to "want" to improve and have to accept you'll make many many mistakes along the way. Most importantly, you have to "want" to build like that for yourself and have fun doing it. If you have no desire to scratch build parts for yourself but only to impress a modeling forum, then you'll have a miserable time doing so. Its been said many times before, but this is a hobby, and your hobby should be fun. If it ain't fun, well ... it ain't a hobby then. Look forward to seeing some of Jeff's tips. He is someone who sure has put in the time and effort to get to the point where he is today. Hopefully no fights break out in his thread Just kidding!

Hey guys, a little more progress! Added the patch panel to the passenger side inner fender, so I'm ready now to re-skin the inner fenders and get the engine compartment finished up. I think I'll continue working on the body next with filling in some body seems, marker lights, shaving all the trim, etc. The frame needs quite a bit of surgery also, so that will be getting some attention at the same time. LOTS of sanding to do on the underside for it to sit as low as I want it. Also, master for the front wheel insert is ready to be put in rubber and resin cast. So I'll be doing that shortly as well. For now just a couple more mock up's. Do I smell primer coming soon?

Impcon, if I may make a suggestion? I'd take that body you want to cast the side molding/trim from and build a mold box around the trim directly onto the body sealed with clay. The mold box should be kept simple. You can use very thin strips of cardboard, similar to usps priority mail envelopes (not the paper ones, they are very thin cardboard). Take the strips and make a "box" around the trim. The strips should only be 3/4 of an inch in width or so. If you need to extend the strips to form an entire square'ish box, use some clear tape at the seams. Be sure to wrap the tape around the full seam to seal it. Place "box" around your trim and then run a length of clay around the base sealing the box to the actual body. Find a way to support your body on its side for pouring the RTV into the box. If your concerned about the fine detail of your trim, mix up some RTV and use an old paintbrush and "paint" the RTV onto the side trim entirely. This will ensure there are zero bubbles and exact detail of your part. After you do this, simply pour in your RTV performing a "high pour" so the RTV drizzles into the mold box. The "drizzling" causes most any air bubbles you mixed in to break on their way down as the RTV is stretched/poured so thinly into the mold box. Let the RTV cure, pull mold box off, clean up your mold, dust it with baby powder, heat it to about 160F and pour your favorite resin in. If the mold's top is extremely flat you can place a piece of glass over the resin after you pour it to ensure your newly cast side trim has a flat surface on its back side which will require minimal clean up. If its not that flat you can simply use any flat material (styrene, stir stick, old credit card?) and while the resin is still liquid, run your flat piece across the top of the mold removing most of the extra resin you may have poured. This makes your cast piece semi flat on the backside and reduces the amount of clean up you'll have to do to finish up the piece. It will be delicate but if you work carefully I think this is entirely doable. Good luck!

Hey welcome to the boards! Everything is looking really nice so far! Paint is awesome and engine is coming along nicely. Keep up the good work and keep posting updates.

Alumilite has an excellent DVD also. Kinda like "old man" said ... it may not exactly be the products fault that your results aren't what you expected. There is a learning curve with all these products to achieve the best possible results. Reading the directions carefully would help also, thats no joke by the way. Impcon, is your side molding on a flat section of the body?

Eshaver, what RTV were you using that turned to junk after 2 pours? I've gotten as much as 80 pulls from various molds so far (1 and 2 piece).

Manuel, I use the Alumilite "white" which has 2.5 mins of open time. Alumilite "regular" only has 90 seconds, which in my opinion is way too quick. The "white" works perfectly and allows plenty of time for mixing, pouring, and working out any bubbles (if any). Its water thin as well which allows it to pick up the most intricate of detail. All of this stuff has some learning curve so use whatever works best for your application. Good luck fella's.

Len, I may have to give the oomoo a try. Since its 1:1 mix ratio you actually get double the material than buying HS2. As in, their 1 gallon kit weighs 20 lbs (10 lbs each bucket) = 20lbs of rubber for $145.00. Thats twice as much material for less $$ than 10 lbs of HS2 from Alumilite. Hmmm ... I may have to order a sample of the oomoo and give it a whirl.

Only reason I would not buy the super casting kit from Alumilite is because of the "quick set" RTV. If you want to cast highly detailed parts with ease buy the Dow Corning HS2 from Alumilite. It is the "Cadillac" of RTV's IMO. Then you'll need some Alumilite "regular" or Alumilite "white" casting resin. The "white" is thinner and pics up the most intricate of details. If you want to cast a body, you will definitely need a few lbs. of rubber. I'd suggest going with the 10lb bucket of HS2. While resin casting is very interesting and rewarding, the cost can be quite substantial when you start adding up all the little things that you need. Here's a breakdown off the top of my head - HS2 RTV, 28 oz Alumilite casting resin, blue clay from Alumilite, extra measuring cups (Alumilite), tools for working with clay, materials for making mold boxes, flat safety cut glass for your work surface and extra pieces for placing on top of your 1 piece molds for casting flat backed items, UMR mold release (Alumilite), 8 oz paper cups for mixing rubber/resin, 2-3 oz paper cups for pouring smaller resin items, mixing sticks (Hobby Lobby), a method of pre heating your molds prior to pouring resin, baby powder for dusting your molds prior to pouring resin ...etc If you start making the investment in the RTV and resin the cost of all of your other supplies start to increase quite a bit. It just depends on what you want to cast and how much of it you want to make. IM me if you need more details.

Don, nice job everything looks awesome.

Amazing Willys! Probably the cleanest and meanest I've ever seen. Thanks for sharing the pics.

Couple quick mock up's

Well as promised, I was able to cast the rear wheel centers tonight. I cast a couple in white and also a couple in matte silver. They scale out to right about 21 inches w/out sleeves. Once I do a gang mold this week the rears will be available. Fronts also being worked this week. More to come. Fresh out of the mold A quick clean up with a new #11 Xacto

Looks awesome so far, nice job! The engine and pin striping look fantastic. Keep up the good work.

Lyle, awesome car and awesome kits. I have a bunch of the '60 Ford reissues in my stash.

Thanks man! The wheel centers should be available in about a week in resin. The sleeves are not ready yet but you probably could use other aluminum sleeves just as well. I'll keep everyone posted on the wheels. I'll probably post some pics of the resin rears tomorrow and the fronts during the week.

Well as promised an update, but not a very interesting one I guess The firewall is back in, although it needs a little trimming on the bottom end and the patch panel on the drivers side inner fender has been also placed. Passenger side inner fender patch panel already cut and is awaiting shaping and trimming. Once that is done I'll re-skin both inner fender wells (top and sides) with very thin styrene and rebuild the shock towers from the inside a bit. Hopefully more interesting updates coming this weekend

The sleeves will be my own in various sizes. TorqueWrench, we're all here to share! If something I did gave you an idea or helped in any way feel free buddy. I seem to be on a Mustang kick myself lately lol. I finished the firewall last night, pics coming later tonight.

What did I miss? I'm here everyday and missed a post! While I dont know what Romell said about NNL's ... my take on them is that they are popularity contests. Please correct me if I'm wrong but aren't NNL's all peoples choice? As in no official judging of the entries takes place? I just imagine a few cocky builders bringing as many "friends" with them as possible to cast votes in "his/her" favor. While that may win you the prize, your model may still be a turd I truly mean no disrespect by this post and do not wish to offend anyone, but its just my opinion on what happens at these events. Not winning at an NNL means nothing IMO. They do serve a purpose for the hobby though with getting modelers together and showing off their builds and meeting new model buddies. As far as contests go, they're kinda silly.

Thanks for the early replies fella's. I forgot to mention in my tired state of mind last night that some of the items created for this build will be cast in resin and made available. The wheel centers for the rear are already in rubber ready to pour and the fronts are about a week off. The aluminum sleeves along with various center sections will be available in the not so distant future. I'll keep you guys informed through here and my fotki. Thanks for the compliments so far!

Early mock up's and resin Cosworth valve covers. Hope to have the wheels finished in about a week & the engine compartment back together this weekend. More to come soon!