Jairus

Cleaned house but added to my inbox.... That's funny! (Hey, why complain? Just delete...)

How about awards for the LARGEST signature blocks!

Well, your airbrush looks a little like my Badger 150 and a little like a Pasche. A. Is a Pasche VL B. Is an Iwatta clone *** C. Is a Badger 150. All are double action. Your airbrush is most likely a clone of one of these or simular in construction with regards to the mixing process. Hopefully, with the following, you can figure it out yourself. Do not mistake the fact that just because the Iwatta clone is a gravity feed... that yours is the same as that one! The Badger has a teflon ring that seals between the air flow and the paint flow. If the seal is worn, air pressure pushes past the seal into the paint "draw tube" or paint hopper as on your gravity feed. The seal is cheap but hard to find for me so I order a bunch by Internet so that I have a few onhand. With the Pasche... the seal is a brass taper piece that hopefully has no grooves, notches or otherwise which will allow the air to pass. You want a good seal between the paint and air until the tip where the air flowing past the tip and needle SUCKS the paint in a fine stream. If air is getting into the paint flow before the sucking part... then the difference between sucking and flowing is compromised and thus the spitting. This is the Pasche broken down.... This is the Badger broken down... What ever your airbrush is... the problem is between the collar and the seal not sealing the pressurized air and the paint. Remove the tip and then the collar. You should see either the brass taper fit or a rubber (might be teflon like the badger) seal. That is the thing you need to replace. ***(I have never had this problem with the Iwatta clone because the design is very good, so I did not show that airbrush broken down.)

Are you getting air bubbles in the paint hopper? If so, replace the teflon ring.

The paint tube is clogged or clogging most likely. What type of brush do you have, internal mix or external mix? (Which is a misnomer since all airbrushes mix the air and paint in the same location... but that is what they call them.) Also, is it a double or single action? My suggestion is to take it apart and let everything but the rubber parts soak in Lacquer thinner for a time. Then try it again. Also, something to look for is to put some thinner in the paint draw tube while the brush is upside down and hooked to the air, then slowly pull back on the trigger. If you are seeing bubbles coming back along the paint draw tube then you have a worn seal somewhere that needs replacing. That too can cause spitting and poor paint flow.

I have never found a way to loosen the adhesive holding decals. Sandpaper is my only suggestion... or paint stripper and buy another decal sheet! However, that said. Try some experimenting as you have nothing to lose. I would try soaking them in a pan of water the size of the body. Add compounds to the water and let it sit. Water soluble elements such as glass cleaner, alcohol and even decal set would be my first tests. Have some patience with this process as you want the solution to work slowly. Keep the solution weak at first and slowly bring up the concentration day by day. Do one element at a time! Do not mix the elements unless you KNOW what goes together. Wouldn't be good to hear that the process boiled over, melted the body or exploded in your face! If you ruin the decals... then ask around. Someone on this board must have another set of unused decals. What is the car? Oh yes... if you indeed manage to pull the decals from the body... storage will be a problem. I would find some wax paper and lay each on a small square of wax paper and allow it to dry. Then, re-adhear it to the new paint with "future" floor wax. Good luck and let us know what worked.

Nicely done! Love the flames and choice of wheels.

Wow, that is a lot of parts!

No Kevin, most likely they did not. The reason is that the 55 Cameo was actually a step side truck bed with fiberglass panels. The truck was rushed into production after Chevrolet officials saw Dodge's new "swept-side" trucks and believed that they needed one too. It was not until '57 that retooling provided Chevrolet with an all metal smooth side pickup bed. '55 and '56 trucks remain upper-scale and therefore too expensive as a basis for a small Ice-cream truck builder to purchase and install the refrigeration box, bells and paint. Any company doing the retrofitting would have chosen as inexpensive a base as possible.

Issy, No! But, the inboard springs are controlled by a push rod...right? Use a piece of steel wire in place of the push rod and you have doubled the strength of the suspension.

George, This software is weird. If you changed certain info in your personal "My Controls" section, it might just click you off. Happened before to a few members when I was a mod. Can't help you right now... just have to wait until Gregg (Traveling to iHobby) gets back on-line. He can click one check box and you are back on-line with your old logon. Send him an email. Jairus

All very true! Welcome to MCM forums Dave. Like most of us who are members of SABA, many current members were invited to join by Bob's easy smile and friendly way of relating to all on a one to one basis. I was asked by the Bob to join the club back in 1983 or so and will miss him very much. The meetings will not be the same.... Speaking of meetings, is there one scheduled this Sunday still? (Next time you see Terri, please tell her Hi from Jairus....)

Gregg and I have traveled to many shows over the years as some of you already know. But what most of you don't know is that I have maybe traveled over 50,000 miles with Gregg both driving and flying. I have shared many a hotel/motel room with the man. (Nope, he don't snore) Many were cheap and seedy like the ones you end up sleeping in your clothes. But then there were more than a few which cocooned us in such wonderful splendor that we didn't want to leave! We have consumed way too many to count stale donuts at truck stops right around 1am on the way to a show and Got so drunk on a 1st class flight that finding baggage claim became a REAL challenge! Coffee cups, gummy bears and chip wrappers have usually littered the floor of all our travel vehicles from Hawaii to Kansas City to Peutra Rico to Houston to Denver to L.A. and everything inbetween. I have spent many hundreds of hours watching and helping Gregg shoot models at these shows. The one constant is that he really likes to talk to ALL the wonderful people who make up this hobby. Sure his back becomes a problem now and then but that is slight compared to the time he spends visiting with friends, remembering peoples names and treating everyone he meets like they are the only one. So I have to agree with you. He has an undeniable passion for the hobby that is in my opinion rivaled only by his love for the fairer of our species. If this hobby were populated by more females... I think that is the only way he could like it any greater. And that is no fable!

HOK Kustom Kolors have been discontinued. Unless you plan to use the automotive colors.... then full speed ahead. But, if you want to stay with model paints, I suggest you do as you yourself eluded to and mix it on your own. Of course this requires you to use an airbrush... which I assume you plan to do since you brought it up. Shooting magenta over black is a good choice but will really require a lot of paint to see the color. Shoot lots of thin coats and build up the color. Then shoot a nice couple of clear coats of Tamiya after the enamel is dry. Should be beautiful! As for the pearl... automotive paint stores sell bottles of pearl. It might seem expensive at the time but one bottle/jar will last you a life time of model building and well worth the cost. I have two jars here, one I got back in 82 and the other was a raffle win in mid 90's. Both jars are more than 3/4's full and I paint a LOT!!!!

Yes, but use the best automotive Lacquer thinner you can afford. Cheap crappy Parks stuff is only good for cleaning the airbrush. I use only Duracryl acrylic lacquer thinner for thinning HOK paint. It is available at automotive paint stores and will stay in suspension for long periods of time. Cheap lacquer thinner separates too quickly. Good luck painting.

FYI, This post is not a project I am currently working on. I was working on some pen & ink illustrations and cartoons for a customer. Needed a Ferrari 308 to look at for sketching purposes and instead of Googling or digging through my old issues of Road & Track, I pulled this Magnum P.I. kit off the shelf. It’s been sitting on my shelf for a few years… 26 years to be exact. Opened the box and started taping the hood and engine cover on. It was then that I noticed the modifications done to the kit. Whoe… forgot about that! Yes, that is 4 wheel independent suspension and steering. AND it works! I had completely forgotten about this project and will most-likely never finish it. Just don’t have the time anymore for building models, but thought you guys might be interested. Some there think I don’t post enough of my builds. Some of you don’t even know who I am. Most of the time it is because I work 12/7 just trying to make house payments and keep the utilities on! For me a hobbie is something you do in your spare time. Spare time is on short supply for me of late. At any rate, I am guessing that since this kit has a 1982 date on the box, I probably purchased and did the modifications during 1983. Since the suspension worked but nothing else completed, I must have put it back into the box and moved on to the next project. Added some paint to the little 3 litre V-8 too… More of my work is available on my web site if you take the time to click on the link in the signature box. My Fotki account also has a lot of work in it including some things never before posted on this forum. I add stuff onto Fotki daily, although most of it are customer projects... At any rate, enjoy!

.... and Gregg and Luis and Miguel .... (But no Ariel?)

IZZY!

Yup... gotta fill those exhaust outlets! I did that on my '55 with putty and it cracked later after the chrome was applied. Suggest you use hot sprue and superglue to fill the holes.

There are many ways to install windows. The best is to apply the glue away from the edge so as to not smear it. Personally I tape the window in place and apply clear epoxy around the edges away from the exterior view. All you really need is attachment at the four corners to keep the piece in place. Hopefully the interior pieces will hold the glass solid so it will not move. Hope this helps some.

Now I am really curious what Gustavson will say about this... Nice work V, way to push the envelope!

Well done!

Liberals are pushing bicycles.... do bikes come with ABS? Do bikes have airbags, seat belts, bumpers? Actually, a guy can die on a bike much easier than he can in a 1965 Valiant on todays city streets.

The MPC kit was called the "Street Spyder" and is most likely what you have because the box art only shows a small air dam up front. I have the box but it was purchased in the early 90's with a Revell '55 Nomad (Still there) in it from a swap-meet. But I don't have the parts you need. Sorry. That IMSA thing was real popular back in the 70's. I can remember a lot of guys making their own fenders from evergreen sheet plastic. Auto World even had someone's Capri featured inside. That car really inspired me.... Anyone remember that?

And yet everyone of us today lived through that era riding in those "rattletrap" cars, drinking from the hose, enjoying dirt clod fights, skateboarding without helmets and pads, riding in the very back of the family station-wagon.... etc, etc, etc. I could go on for hours given enough time. Todays cars are safer with regards to survivability. But stronger? That is debatable due to federal legislation requiring crazy high emissions and fuel economy standards. A 1959 Thunderbird, one of the first unibody cars Ford built, can have it's floor and doors completely removed without collapsing. This test was actually done back in the day. A 1959 Thunderbird had thin "A" pillars but was never crushed in a roll over. That was because it was built with good quality steel of a decent thickness. Todays cars are built with half that thickness for light weight. This requires thicker shaped posts using very thin material with which to provide the same safety cage for the passengers. Weigh savings = economy but the tradeoff is poor visibility and awful styling. Frankly I would rather drive an older vintage car with a pleasing shape and good visibility. The safety factor is actually more a factor of what is between your ears than it is surviving a collision just because the airhead driver was too distracted fooling around with the new plasma screen controlled radio and/or talking on the cell phone while texting the BF/GF that "I GT A NW CAR U GOT TO CK IT OUT"!