Erik Smith

Looks great. Engine is very nice. Is the body painted win testors enamel too? Enamel and lacquer don't play well together. Enamel over lacquer is fine, not the other way around though.

Jim - I wouldn't throw the towel in yet! Most of the drama takes place in a few spots on a few posts. They are usuallly easy to spot and avoid. You will not find a place where all members get along, are curteous, don't jump to conclusions - those are all human personality traits (and some are human nature). I find he actual build posts (on the bench and under glass) are free of the debacles that have popped up over the past two weeks. We all lose something when we lose members here - the more variety of ideas we have the better.

Great idea. Also check out your local library. Haynes and Chilton manuals are usually available for a wide range of cars.

Looks very nice. It does help to punch something out. I like to build "tortoise and hare" style - I have one (or two, three) slow, detailed projects and a few quick OOB builds. Helps keep a balance. Welcome back and nice job!

Oh, corrected the topic spelling. Harry - the kit is from Arii - 1/32 "Owners Club"

What do you do when you just have to paint something? Why, break out that Toyopet model you have! This is a quick little curbside kit. The body looks like a little Buick to me, so I masked off and started painting. Duplicolor Pure White and Light Champagne (left over from 62 Chevy build) Wheels from 64 Prince Super 6 Kimono interior! Trying to get this built - started on Monday, so I am racing along....

Look! Most of the engine is put together! Distributor is being painted, wires are being cut, air cleaner is being figured out. I had planned on this thing sitting below an unmodified hood - but it's too big and I doubt that will happen. Now all that is left is everything else! The front end will need to be reworked to fit around the engine. Interior is in construction - red.

Great to see this kit in a WIP thread Mike. The colored plastic thing with Tamiya is a mystery to me also - not too many people are going to pick this kit up for a first, no-paint build. I'll keep an eye on this build.

No. Not crazy. But here is something that may be. I have 6 Or 7 Tamiya Fiat 500s and have never built a single one. I plan to, and I think the kit is very cool, and I like mini cars, I just haven't built one yet. I also have 2 Gunze Fiats - unbuilt. Anybody else have that going?

Unique and cool build! I don't think I've ever considered brown for paint - fits this builld great. The tires are looking too new, though - a little time on a sanding stick will give them a realistic appearance. I like it!

Truly one of the most beautiful cars and your build does great justice to the design. Excellent job.

Sometimes the old Testors paint can last, seemingly, forever. However, the reason it would still be "good" is that it takes an eternity (in modeling years) to dry. So, if you have paint that is still fluid after 26 years, you will probably be waiting for the paint to dry on your model a long time - enamel is slow to begin with and some of it is genetically slower than others. Your best bet for detailing and small touch up paints - if your interested in staying in the hobby - are Tamiya acrylics. The glue - tube? Probably not worth saving anyhow. Testors liquid and superglue are much better, user friendly alternatives. Putty - not so good to begin with. Add 26 years and it's worthless.

AMT 49 Ford has deep steel wheels, 5 lug - but yours look a little different.

I have noticed magazines don't include pictures of award winning models also. They list the winners and when looking for the photos, they're not pictured. Seems like the "best" models should be fairly prominent.

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I am not sure how much, if any, you would save. It depends on what you are currently spending for cans of paint, what your painting, etc... I use an airbrush and cans. Cans are really so easy and with quality paint it is possible to get a very nice finish. The best paint I have found in cans is Duplicolor (the Color Match brand) - I get an 8 oz. can for $6.99. It is more than enough to due a couple models and applies great. HOK, MCW, and Scalefinishes paints are not cheap - $4.00 to $6.50 per ounce. How much per project...some simple math...and, no I don't have an answer, but I don't see a savings here. Plus, you are adding in cleaning and maintenance with an airbrush. The real advantage to an airbrush (besides quality of finish) is the range of products and colors available. Alclad II and all the OEM colors are not available (or not as easily available) in spray cans.

Alan - I just use regular tools - mostly a fine 6" flat file, rifler files, and needle files along with a trusty #11 x-acto blade. I purchased some wax carving tools but they really haven't been helpful.

Rick - sorry for a delyed response - I use a compass to get a circle drawn out on the wax, cut out the cylinder, then I just set a file on my workbench at the angle I need and start filing. Takes patience and steady hand, but not much else!

The manifold received the fuel rails... and adding the fuel injectors - six down, two to go... You can see the Missile pump attached too Better shots of the pump and completed oil pan with fittings:

I am constantly fighting the "start another project" demons - difficult as ideas are coming along quite regularly. ...but...I have been working on the Indy engine I need an oil pan, so starting with some styrene strips, glued together along with a small sheet and after the glue dries and the file gets to work: closer... The Missile dry sump pump was scratch built too - one piece of styrene rod, one piece of angle styrene, some hex shaped rod and half round...

Gunze Sangyo - same with the Isetta I would love a Triumph TR-4 in 1/24. Have to make do with Airfix 1/32 for now. A TR-6 would also be very cool. Oh, and a Volvo 303 - or one of those similar kooky looking go anywhere rigs.

Car makers, and other complicated, multi-part items, used to be constructed entirely by a single operation - or close to it. The manufacturers used to be integrated vertically from the extraction of raw materials to the finished product. Ford even tried to get rubber plantations established in the Amazon. But slowly, the corporations figured it was cheaper to "thin" their responsibilities and find people who could make steel or processors or whatever cheaper and have the parts assembled someplace else. So, somebody who could produce something cheap would get that contract. Some place that could assemble something cheap got those contracts. It's good for some, not so for others, and we'll not know for years what it means to all of us.

Yes, the picture will show in the preview - test... When you are on Photobucket, hover your arrow over your picture. A menu should come up. There should be four choices: Email/IM, Direct Link, HTML code, and IMG code. Click in the box next to image code, it should say copied. Then paste that directly to your post. The correct code will start with thishttp://i966 and so on. If you are on a page with just the photo, the menu choices are on the right - same four, just click on the IMG box and paste to post. You might want to check THIS too. Just so we all know who you are! Hope that works!

You wouldn't think this system would work, but it obviously holds some advantages or they wouldn't do it. I thought the same thing when I was looking at a box of Revell's "Big John" '41 Willys Gasser. Plastic parts molded in China, photo etch part made in Czech Republic, and printed and packed in the USA. The newest Revell kits only say "made in China" - no USA involvement beyond putting it on the shelves once the plans are done. Just a couple parts sourced is not a big surprise. Computers, cell phones, etc have hundreds of parts sourced around the world and assembled else where. It will be interesting to see where globalization gets us in the long run...

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