mrmike

I got back to the bench, finally! I clear coated the body, hood, and other parts with Tamiya TS-13 Gloss Clear. More to come...

Thanks Dr. Cranky! I got my Cranky brand vitamins and took a bunch! I'm feeling better already! Finally back to the bench! I painted the scripts with Testors Gold enamel. Then I got the body into the paint booth for two coats of clear. Not shown is the hood which also got two coats of clear. More to come...

This whole thing with the firewall has left me feeling a bit unsettled. I did a mock up with the body and I cannot see the holes in the firewall. So, any attempt at filling or covering them may result in some type of damage to the interior and I don't want to risk that. I tried my best at an explanation. Sorry if you don't understand.

What a great looking '60 Starliner! I like it a lot! I am not worried about the "holes" in the floorboard/firewall area. I figured that when it ia all assembled, it wouldn't show anyway especially since I haven't read or heard anything about it being an issue. BTW, did I say what a great looking Starliner? Oh, I did!

I really like this! I have both the green AAR and the purple Hemi 'Cudas sitting side-by-side on the shelf and I have never thought about kit bashing them together. Now I am saying to myself, "Why didn't I think of that?" Excellent job!

I have wanted to get this kit, but i have heard horror stories about building it. Your build may change that opinion. Keep up the good work!

Jim, that is the one thing that I have been screaming at Detroit about for some time. Bring back the stylists and designers...engineers can't design a car that the public really wants. That is the firewall. The hole is also on the drivers side. On the engine compartment side, that "hole" or outreach is over a frame mount for the body. Roger and Jim, I have had some luck clearing over foil. Right now, it seems to be working for me just as long as I go very easy on the clear. I really like using Tamiya gloss clear as it goes on smooth and seems to be self-leveling. My luck with Testors clear has not been good and I prefer not to use it.

Thanks Jim and Ian! The link and picture are a big help. Right now, I am leaning towards just a chrome star, but I'll think on it for a bit. Thanks again!

Thanks Jim! The one thing that is bothering me is the color of the stars. You say that they are gold plated and every picture and resource I have looked at shows them to be silver or chroem plated with a light blue center. I am unable to find a good picture of the C-pillar with the stars. Can you supply me with one? If not, then I'll just go with chrome and the blue center. Thanks.

Thanks guys! It is amazing how much of a change is made when foil is applied. I'll buff the foil to a brilliant shine and then it is off to the paint booth for clearcoat.

Here is my 351 Cleveland from the Revell '70 Mustang.

It has been about 1 1/2 weeks since I did anything on this WIP. Today, I tackled a big hurdle on this kit...foiling! There is a lot of chrome trim on this one and it took me about 1 1/2 hours to do it. I have a couple of small spots to take care of and it'll be 100% foiled. More to come...

I had one of those no-name airbrushes at one time that came with a no-name compressor that I bought off eBay and I was more than happy to get rid of it. I'll stick with my Badger Universal 360, thank you! If you are looking to get started with an inexpensive airbrush, get one from a name brand (Badger, Iwata, Paasche) and in a few years, upgrade to a better airbrush.

Thanks Bruce!

I got the front and rear suspensions installed along with the brake rotors and calipers. I installed the engine plate and inner fenders. I'll start detailing the air intake and engine cover. More to come...

I started on the chassis with paint and some assembly. The body and other panels were painted Gloss Aluminium to cover the swirls in the plastic. More to come...

I have to presume that you are going by the kit painting instructions that call for Chrysler Engine Red and I have to tell you that the instructions are wrong. If you want to stick to hobby paints, use Model Master International Orange for street Hemis as it is very close. I use actual Mopar engine enamel for my Mopar model engines and those paints are available from Summit Racing. A full can should cost you about $9.00 without shipping. Don't bother going to a Dodge dealership as they do not carry the paint and are very relunctant to order it for you.

Part of my problem is that I need to better organize my parts box. I also belong to the Classic Plastic Model Club and any spare parts that I don't want or need, I can bring to a meeting and let the other members take what they want.

IIRC, Richard Hammond of the BBC's Top Gear got himself buckled into an SLR and then he couldn't reach the door to pull it down! Not made for the verically challenged! As I scan through the instructions, this kit will be a bit of a challenge to build, but I am up for a challenge! While prepping the body parts for paint, I noticed that what I thought was mold lines are actually swirls in the colored plastic. And, the swirls are percisely placed leading me to think that they were mold lines. I had thought about paint it red, but decided on Gloss Aluminium instead.

Someone once said, "There comes a time when one must up their status in life." I don't know who said that, but this is a status machine! Designed to combine the look, feel, and functionality of a sports and a GT car, the SLR McLaren did. This is my new project, Tamiya's SLR McLaren. I don't understand why Tamiya uses colored metallic plastic for the body only to have the molded product full of swirls. This body would have really shined with a little polishing. My paint will be Tamiya TS-17 Gloss Aluminium. More to come...

I started painting the accent color onto the seats and side panels this morning. After painting the side panel details and allowing them to dry, I assembled the interior. A shot of the dash. More to come...

I figured that after a few days of no new posts, this subject was destined for the archieves, but I am sitting here looking at my parts box and all the built kit boxes that I have not cleaned out due to my parts box being quite full. The 2-In-1 and 3-In-1 kits are starting to become a bit of a problem for me now. With parts in the kits that I am not using, where shall I keep the the extra bits? It reminded me of this thread and I thought that this would add a new wrinkle. We have discussed the kits aspect of model hoarding, but what about the spare parts that we all have? Do you keep them, toss them, trade or sell them? What do you do with your spare parts?

I found mine at Michaels. I had heard that they were not stocked any longer due to the ink drying out inside the pens. So far, I have not had that issue.

I added the wheels and tires to the chassis and did a mockup to check the stance, particulairly the front suspension. This is exactly where I wanted the front wheels and tires! It is a good thing I decided to invert the spindles. I broke out the airbrush and painted the interior the main color of Federal Standard Blue. The accent color will be Insignia Blue. More to come...

Matt, yes this is the original factory stock release. I have picture of the box art on the first page of this thread. I have yet to see the contents of the new 2-In-1 kit so I cannot vouch for that kit nor the custom kit from a few years ago. It is possible that AMT changed the valve covers as part of an update to the kit. I wished this kit had an automatic trans instead of the 3-on-a-tree transmission.