Agent G

Here are the paints I used for the body. Yes that is hairspray. No I'm not kidding. It works well as we will soon see. After primer comes the first color. Rustoleum's "Oil Rubbed Bronze". I painted the body and radiator shell this base coat. This is a really cool color that I want to use on another model as a finish coat. One thing I found that this is a VERY thick paint from the can. To build up enough coats to get the metalflake to look right adds a bunch of paint layers. I'm going to experiment with this decanted and airbrushed. When this dried sufficiently in the good old southern Nevada sunshine I gave it a good coat of hairspray. Yes boys and girls hairspray. I let this dry for an hour or so. Next are the tricks of the finish. I mixed Tamiya OD and Dk Yellow to give a slightly faded olive color. I airbrushed this ACRYLIC paint over the ENAMEL base and hairspray. Now here's where the magic happens.......................... I used an old brush and plain old Las Vegas tap water. Of course some will claim the Vegas water did the trick as it is nearly undrinkable from the tap. The water loosens the hairspray thus disolving and stripping the acrylic paint from the enamel base. A wet brush, some delicate scrubbing and you get this. One of the most important things to remember is when to STOP! Again remember this is a scale model, everything is 1/24 the actual size. Also think about where a real car would exhibit wear and tear if it sat in a desert barn for a few decades. I keep a paper towel just moistened with Windex close to occasionally wipe the body. This takes the paint haze away leaving a good balance between the base coat and the top color. I have to cut this short right now however I'll be back. G

Thank you all for the comments. Jarius I will post revised photos later today. You might just see some of the car then. I am posting a three part tutorial on the techniques used for the weld beads, paint, and the seat blanket. These seem to be the three most asked questions about the build. I appreciate the opportunity to share, no secrets here G

Many have asked about the paint and other details on my ’32 5 window I just completed. I’d like to post a three part tutorial on my techniques if I may. First the weld beads. I performed the typical top chop, taking three scale inches from the height. After getting it all back together and smooth I used some stretched sprue to make the beads. I deliberately used plastic of another color to help see what I was doing. I think white plastic is a real bear to work with because you can't see details clearly. You can see I left the rear window in its stock size. I don’t like mail slot windows and wouldn’t drive a car that had them. I glued the weld beads on where the cuts were after I smoothed out all the body work. Primer, sand, primer, and sanded until my old eyes said it should be all right. I wanted a scale appearance and was worried about how they would look with paint. Good thing I did as we shall see. Final primer coat. That's part one. G

The build is amazing. The attention to detail is superb. I could easily see how photos of this build could be confused as the real deal. Trouble is I think the real car is butt ugly! Marvelous, simply marvelous. G

I've done a few. I own one: This is the last one I drove before I retired. G

Here's my completed 32, or so I thought! Looking at the pics I realized I forgot the door handles. Anyway here she is. Comments, critique, and threats are all welcome. G

Beautiful color, I'm looking forward to this. I'm with Aftashox, buy it now, you'll be kickin' yer own keister if ya don't G

All done. Naturally I see some things in the photos I want to change. G

Long ago I scored a great resin '62 Olds 4dr body. I have no idea who made it but I have an interior, dash, and seats. There is no steering wheel, glass and no under pinnings. I need to know what kit should I use for a chassis. Any suggestions?

There was an organization called Police Car Owners of America. For a while they had their HQ in Eureka Springs Arkansas. It's a quaint town just south of the Missouri border an hour or so from Branson. They folded shop years ago and I have no idea where they went. Sadly there is no dedicated museum to the classics that served so well. But there are many who buy and restore the cars I love so much. G

Exactly! Thanks Mark, I suffer from Anheuser's disease, it was brought on from too much beer. I am from St Louis originally.............. G

I second that and would like to add the entire 70's thru the mid 80's. I want to build one of every police car I drove in my career. G

Thanks for looking guys. Mark, dude, you get it! I have been posting this as a WIP on another site. I said that I build a model car like it's something that would be,could be, driven in the real world. Here's an up date of sorts. Works been crazy so I haven't had much time. Looking I realized I had no accelerator. Soooooooo I had previously shaved the kit pedal from the floor and saved it. A piece of wire, some CA glue and presto! The windows are some clear plastic from a package my printer ink came in. Trunks done. Here's the thinned firewall mounted on the body. I think it looks much better. So far so good. I work one more day this week. Then ship the misses to Chicago next week, so bench time here I come! G

One of my co workers drives a metallic black Challenger. I do not know what Chrysler calls that color but that car looks great. G

The seat blanket is a plain old piece of white copy paper. I cut it to fit, then drew the pattern with highlighters, markers and pens I had lying around. I soaked it with a white glue/water mix and set it in place with an old flat brush. The inks sorta ran but I feel it added to the effect. G

Gorgeous! Can you give us some more on how you did the roof? Pant Pant Knickers Pant Pant......................... G

Went to work today, my week starts on Wednesday, so I didn't get the chance to take any pics. I got the windows cut and fit but it took a heck of a lot longer than I thought. I used Future floor polish to give the glass some sparkle. I'm gonna let it sit for a day or so to cure properly. I really don't want to &^#$ mess it up at this stage. How do all of you make new windows when you customize/chop/alter a kit? I use clear plastic from packaging and it seems to work well. Any other ideas? G

Sinister, I love it. G

I like it, she done good! One tip if I may. Go to Wally World, Targette, etc. etc. and purchase one of those snap on spray can handle/trigger adapters. I use them all the time even though I bought it for the daughter to use when she first got into the hobby. Lil' fingers will thank you. G

I'm lovin' this! Can you show more of how you did the Z? G

Thank you all. I have mounted the gas tank in the trunk, detailed the battery, and am working on new windows as we speak. I didn't like the way the firewall looked so I took my Dremel and thinned the walls. It looks more to scale now. Oh and while on the topic of hairspray, I have also successfully used hair gel! Same thing, base coat in enamel or laquer, dab hair gel where you want chips, paint an acrylic top coat. A little bit of water and you have chips! Here's an example of hair gel chipping. I painted the whole tank with a Tamiya spray can, dabbed hair gel in high traffic areas, then airbrushed the sand color. I wiped the finish with water. Buncha honey do's pending so pics tonight. G

Thanks Guys! Gregg I did the usual top chop and then added stretched sprue for the welds. I have a whole series of photos of the job if anyones interested. G

Thank you Jon. The secret is to use dissimilar paint. I base coated with enamel, sprayed the hairspray, then finished with an acrylic. Simple water and an old brush does the work. G

I mocked up the body today. I'm real pleased with the stance and I think it has the "look". G

Got a little more done this weekend. Interior's finished. I base coated the body with a Rustoleum color called "Oil Rubbed Bronze". After this dried for a week I gave it a coat of hairspray. When that dried I airbrushed a coat of Tamiya Olive Drab mixed with a bit of Tamiya Buff. I let that dry all afternoon then took an old brush and some water. A little scrubbing and I achieved the final finish. Chassis is just about done as is the engine. More tomorrow. G