wgflatliner

some other things i like to do for realism: we all know that if a car is driven, the engine is going to get dirty from the dirt on the roads, slush from snow, etc.. i have been entertained the idea of going with a light dirt colored substance like.. well.. dirt and water.. and getting a toothbrush to flick the stuff in spots pretty lightly. not so light that you can't see the dirt, but also not so heavy that all you see is dirt. it would typically be dirtier on the bottom as that side sees most of the road on the real deal. if you don't wanna go that route, i have used tamiya weathering kits (kit D has oil in it) and dry brushed some of the oil stuff in spots that oil would normally accumulate on a real engine. Also spraying a light coat of dull coat from Testors will also give a little bit of realism. my suggestion would be to go to the local hobby place and ask to look at all the car model detailing accessories. Just by doing that alone you will find tons of stuff to give you an idea on what you can detail. Stuff you can make yourself if you're a "true model builder" or stuff you can buy for the ease of installation, despite what the "true modelers" might or might not say, that is if they indeed say what it is they intend to say. know what i'm saying? with model building, the only limit is your imagination, and sometimes your wallet.

paint drying on the body - it's all at a friend's house and i'll get to it Friday night for a couple more coats, then a gloss coat - then wait another week for it to cure. he doesn't have a dehydrator i'll likely be starting the engine detailing and building this friday while the body is drying. i need to find some detailed engine pictures so i can figure out the wiring and plumbing of it.

i could totally fall asleep in one of the seats of those models. me, personally, i'm not too fond of the bumpiness of the leather. i prefer smooth textured leather with no grain textures. do you know if they have such a thing? i will probably do some googling to see what i can find around here. keep up the good work! i'm assuming you can get the same results with some sort of real vinyl, right?

looks good so far. i believe the tranny and the rear tub come from the 55 chevy pro sportsman, if i recall.. of course, correct me if i'm wrong. hehe

the second link explains exactly how it's put together. astroracer - for the record, i actually do work on cars for fun - mostly imports though. but sometimes when you look at a sheet of PE parts and you have no idea what something is, and it doesn't tell you what it is, you would be better off asking somebody who may have built a model with those exact parts. i did look online - albeit obviously not enough - and didn't find a result, thus the reason i asked. my reference material is the internet - there HAS to be images of everything you can think of on a car.. right? heh anyways, thanks.

I know how to install the regular wire looms for ignition wires.. i would like to know how to install the other flat pieces, if anybody has done it... or i would like to see a pic of the end result. thanks! part number MCG-2010

here you go. old: (look at the bumps in the paint) new: (first time EVER attempting wet sanding) no more bumps! i did get a little too far in parts of the top coat, but i'll fix it. personally i feel that i went from average to above average simply with the wet sanding session.

cool build so far. as far as doing 2-tone, i would recommend using bare metal foil as your masking tape because it's so thin. well that and tamiya. also - do lighter colors first (i'm sure you already knew that though) heres some pics to illustrate: 1. basic tape (you'd do this along the whole part you want masked) notice how i left the body line above it exposed, and also notice how on the door panel line, the tape isn't touching the body - if i used this tape alone, new paint would seep down into the line, thus causing bleeding: 2. bare metal foil overlaps the tamiya tape (don't mind the cotton hehe) as you can tell i left the right side of the foil lifted up so i can have slack to burnish into the door panel: 3. simple burnishing of the bare metal foil and using the toothpick to fill in the door panel line. afterwards, finish burnishing the foil the rest of the way (the slack you gave it earlier prevents the foil from breaking/ripping in the panel line) 4. with a NEW #11 xacto blade, using the weight of the blade itself - in other words, don't push down or you'll gouge the paint - cut along the body line 5. spray the new paint! wait until it's semi-tacky then remove all the masking tape, and let dry. the cool thing about this, is you can also cut out a pattern for your paint if you want. go with a wacky wavy two tone, or make pin stripes, etc. the only limit is your imagination at this point hope this helps

Alright my mustang is done. being the model wasn't the best, the hood wouldn't fit the right way. i might take off the "hinges" so it fits. tried to get factory color "pastel blue"

alright then, let me pose this question: which kits are good, and which are bad? i KNOW the 49 merc is good.. any other input?

Alright, so my club Centennial IPMS is doing a group build with a 50's diner diorama to include all cars from 1959 and older. This will be my online diary/build for this club build. We will be showing it at the national model show later on this year. On my table: 49 mercury chop top 57 chevy 56 pontiac club de mer 58 impala 59 impala convertible I have been watching the donn yost dvd's and am learning some reeeeeeeally nice tricks. First thing on the table is the 49 merc. I chose Testor's One Coat Lime Ice (green with gold flake) with enamel ultra high gloss coat. After the clear coat dried for a week in a case, i noticed there were some small little imperfections in the paint. I didn't know how to fix it until i watched the DVD. So I got the roof and hood completed with wet sanding and the complete novus set (1, 2, and 3) along with some turtle wax buffing compound. MIRROR FINISH!!!!! I still need to finish the trunk and sides, and the polishing will be done. Once i get done with the polishing, i will then move on to taking pictures of the work. Interior plans consist of a white and light green two-tone with a mint green carpet and headliner, and rear window landing. i'm not exactly sure how it is going to turn out. Once i get done with the Merc, i'll be moving to the pontiac club de mer. It's a rare car that i know nobody else in my club will have done. It's going to be black (in fact it's drying right now) with the chrome trim pieces. It's not much of a model to look at as far as detail is concerned, but it is a neat looking car. With the other cars, i am not exactly sure how i am going to do them - other than the paint for the 57 chevy. That's going to be candy apple red with racing white in 2-tone flavor. pics coming soon! p.s. does anybody know of any other really nice kits from 1959 and older? i want to make sure i get a kit that has good quality and would be a fun build. thanks!

i am almost done with my mustang - once i get done with some small trim paint, i will get some pics up. the model was probably one of my least favorite due to the fact that the quality of the molds left much to desire. i will be doing a 57 chevy "pepper shaker" after i get this one done.

i haven't done much else to the mazda, but i did snag up an integra type R that was released in 04. it has a TON of parts to choose from! i'm not sure i'll make it a drag car yet, but i miiiiiiiiiiight. gotta take out the diamond stars (not that my mazda can't do it though, hehe)

i got both donn yost dvd's also picked up the revell acura integra type R that has like.. a ton of options. also got the 56 pontiac club de mer, a tamiya skyline R32 gr.a (includes motor), and the Revell BMW gr.5 race car.

here's my update. interior mock-up here's what i've done: i used K&S aluminum tube and rod to bend the intake tube at the correct angle so it would be under the hood but near two of the air inlets from the front bumper. To make the filter, i grabbed a spare inner wheel piece, trimmed the "wheel" away and kept the center part that you'd put the axle in. I then hollowed out the inner part of the center part so it would slide over the end of the aluminum tube. i also found that one of the parts trees had a large knob thing on it that's simply used for ejecting the mold. I trimmed that down, then used my #11 blade and scored in some lines around the outer part of the filter to simulate the ridges of a K&N cone filter. I then painted it red and glued on some black mesh from a Tamiya kit to simulate the screen for the filter. The end result of the filter is it looks like a cone filter that simply slides over the intake tube. As far as the intake tube, in most cases performance builders use aluminum pipe for weight savings as opposed to steel. it was starting to look a little dull, and i thought that it was in need of polishing, so i used the back edge of the #11 blade and lightly scratched it along the length of the tube and got it evenly. it gives a nice shine! I did have to alter the front frame assembly a little to get everything to fit without clearance issues. Although the build is going slowly, it is getting done. does anybody have any detailed pictures on a complete nitrous setup? edit: i just cleaned up the glue on the filter screen - used tamiya smoke and a toothpick, then followed up with a quick dusting of dullcoat to give it the "used" look

i will likely jump in on this. was at the LHS and saw that Jager BMW 320 Gr. 5 kit on the shelf - thought to myself the car is beautiful looking, and what the hey. there's a gr. 5 build going on!

some people say that the rear tanks remind them of the 5 hour energy bottles. i thought that was pretty funny

i'm sure i take the award for the dirtiest work bench. for now. the computer is for music, and research on cars, etc. now.. i REALLY need to find a place with a large room so i can have a dedicated work space lol btw although there may be stuff that looks like trash.. there probably is and now that i've posted up pics of it i need to clean.

I just ordered both dvd's from Donn Yost's site. I can't wait to get them! Also just got word that my skyline with the motor was shipped. woohoo!

Here's my rendition of the strange but attractive looking aqua rod. i did chrome yellow fading to fluorescent red tamiya spray on the frame, fins on the headlights, and the rear tanks. metallic black body and pontoons. i only did minor work to the motor - plug wires/boots. here ya go!

well once i get the mazda, mustang, and depth charger done, then i'll be going gung ho on this build. not to worry though, the depth charger will be done by the end of this week, and the mustang will be getting finished soon thereafter. The mazda might take the longest, but i can build this car while there might be parts drying on the mazda. i'm going to be taking some hands on rusting classes to work over the body of the car and give it some added depth. i do have some ideas and hopefully execute them well enough to be a show stopper. i'm starting to get anxious now that i'm thinking about it.

i know it's not my choice, nor my build, but i do have an opinion lol 1. it looks like a ford. 2. it under-performs like a ford (no offense, ford fans lol) 3. i'm an import tuner kinda crowd and it doesn't appeal to me. personally i think an import drag build should consist of an import car and engine to be truly an import drag car. if the car has the blue oval on it, it's domestic, no matter how cheesy they made it. anyways, my mazda vs the ferrari. who.. will.. win...?

i've been a little quiet lately in this build, but i have definitely been working on it. here's some progress: stance: engine bay: rear suspension: chassis overview: there's a lot of stuff i need to touch up still, but it will be getting more attention as time progresses, you can count on that.

sounds good, chris. i had already ordered the gr.a skyline from tamiya that i know for a fact comes with the engine, so my plans are to do the full kit as it is, with goodies added of course - and i would likely put the spare engine either in another model or on an engine stand, completely detailed. as far as the issue of getting that bogus kit (in my opinion), i returned it and got a dodge rammunition monster truck. when i went back to the store the other day, they re-packaged the model and put it back on the shelf, for $40. i just have a feeling this model is going to be leaving and coming and leaving and coming into peoples hands and back into their store.

that's pretty sweet! i'd be more than happy to take you up on that offer. what do you want for it? anything else salvageable?