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This, plus - If I have a question whether 1K or 2K clear will work with the decals I use the "Title Strip" on the Decal Sheet (applied to a spoon, the one that I tested the paint and air pressure on). Title Strip = part number, what car it's for and who made it. That is if it is on decal film, if not then I use the "trimmings" off of the decals that are going to be applied since it's the film that might react Vs the ink which won't.

Thanks! Great idea, this one should be pinned right up there with the others. Those hex beads also work well with "rubber hose", or vinyl coated wire to represent the high-pressure fittings in use before braided stainless became cheap enough for the masses to use.

Almost looks like the time honored "Ace Hardware Recessed Firewall Kit". Since at least the early 70's when "Rod Action" magazine ran an article on recessing Model A firewalls with a wheelbarrow body. They even came up with a few suggested uses for the wheel and tubing that came with it. Smart idea! Your idea is great, it works exactly like Hot Roders have been doing for years, even before the introduction of the wheelbarrow. Guess it's one of those "Life imitates Art" things! LoL!

I vent to the outside in the winter, even in freezing weather. Setup is a window with a piece of Lexan window material as tall as the opening and about a foot wide with a dryer vent punched through it. I open the window slide the Lexan into the opening and close the window on that. Never had any issues with the room temperature being too cold the fan unit pulls air from the room and exhausts outside. I would be leery of the "bucket" filter that you showed, it defeats the purpose of using the spray booth to exhaust the fumes and particulate outside. I could see the room filling up with paint fumes pretty quickly with that type of unit. You might as well just spray into a non-running spray booth rather than filter through that "bucket". I saw one unit and I can't recall where I saw it. It pushed the vented fumes through water, then through a charcoal filtration layer and then through a third filter of wadded up towels and T-shirt material. It was said to remove "a lot of the fumes" but not all the fumes. If given the choice, I would vent outside no matter what the weather.

My typical acrylic cleanup, including Createx is isopropyl alcohol with a drop of dishwashing detergent. I use an Iwata cleaning scrubber brush, (a round hog bristle brush is a good substitute) then scrub out the gravity feed reservoir with the isopropyl mix, scrub down the tip and exposed needle. Finally flush with clean isopropyl alcohol. I don’t break the airbrush down but about every five or six uses (maybe once a week with daily use), finding little if any residue. If there is residue just scrub it away with a stiff bristle paint brush and Bob’s yer uncle. (Never, ever under any circumstances use any wire brushes of any type on an airbrush. It will scratch the finishes and certainly wear away the plating.) I use about the same process for cleaning up enamel and lacquer using cheap no name lacquer thinner to flush and scrub. As long as you are scrubbing the pot, tip and back flushing the airbrush, it should come clean no matter what material you are shooting through it. I’ve been using this procedure for over 35 years, it’s worked on all kinds of D/A airbrushes from cheap Harbor Freight to Paasche, Harder & Steenbeck, Iwata, Badger and a few other offbrand cheap Chinese copies and never had a problem. Keep the tip clean and you’ll have no problems. This is the way I was taught in production Sign Shops, where you take care of your tools (brushes, airbrushes, etc.) but don’t wast time doing so. From experience, the more the airbrush is broken down, the more chances you have of bending or scratching a needle, scratching a seal, gouging a tip or even losing a part in a moment of distraction. So I try to keep that to a minimum, then do the disassembly, inspection, cleaning and reassembly in a metal butchers pan lined with a blue shop towel or two to keep things slightly padded and wick away any remaining moisture. Most of the time breakdown is pretty much an inspection and lube with the manufacturer’s recommended lube. Keep your tools clean in the first place and you shouldn’t need deep cleaning. Incidentaly, I have a couple of ancient Paasche D/A brushes one from the thirties and the other from the forties that have been treated this way probably their whole lives, they belonged to sign painters before me. They both shoot like a new Paasche!

I’d third the simple green + dishwashing detergent soak overnIght, gets in all the nooks and crannies to allow mechanical means of popping the assemblies apart. Three methods I use, one has already been mentioned, the photo etch blades work. Really well. Second method is a dental cement spatula that I thinned down to about half its original thickness so it slides under things to allow a gentle pry. Third is a dental explorer, the needle like pick that the dental hygienist uses to drive you nuts as they are cleaning your teeth. An explorer can be used to pick at and pry on the ancient glue puddles, gently working them loose. I tried tossing a gluebomb into my ultrasonic cleaner hoping it would break the glue joints loose did nothing, but I did get a really clean gluebomb! The ultrasonic cleaner will take off chrome in under ten minutes in most cases, it also weakens the lacquer undercoating so it can be wire brushed off (that’s using the Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner mix). Ultrasonic cleaner also works great to clean up the mold release from resin cast parts and bodies, as long as the heat is kept around 50 - 70degrees F. I normally run resin parts in the ut cleaner for 5 - 10 minutes, I haven’t had any paint issues with any resin since I started using this method. I’ve also found that using a strong mix of the HF Ultrasonic cleaning mix will loosen and take off most enamel, lacquer, and acrylic paints in about an hour or so. Haven’t used purple power yet, as the HF cleaner is similar, the ultrasonic cleaner helps remove the paint and chrome by cavitation. Acrylic paint is no match for the ut cleaner, it just shreds it off completely in a little under 5 minutes! To demonstrate the effect of cavitation, put a sealed foil packet in the ut cleaner and the cavitation will erode right through the foil, it looks like it’s been dipped in acid [experiment right out of first year materials Engineering!]. Thankfully the cavitation has zero effect on styrene, so it’s perfect for dechroming. The vat on my ut cleaner holds about half a gallon and is large enough to hold a car body or two.

The “Parts Box” in Australia makes a wire reinforced true straight axle, plus some I-beam and tube dropped axles with the “Ford-Style” transverse spring. I think they have an eBay store as well. The only downside is shipping charges, so it pays to make a bigger order, buying ahead. If I remember right they also have a shipping and handling charge which is why I always do a bigger order.

Createx and other acrylic topcoats do not chemically bond with the primer (or plastic) basecoats, think of it as a "vinyl wrap" of sorts. Acrylic paints adhere to the basecoat by basically "shrinking" onto a slick surface, primer/plastic by evaporating and "shrinking" onto the surface. If that surface is too smooth, thinned, sprayed acrylic paint can actually bead up on the smooth surface leading to some really killer orange peel! Think of using acrylic glue, like Elmer's Glue-All (white school glue), if you place it onto styrene/plastic/primer or another slick surface, it will sit there and evaporate until its dry to the touch. Yet you can pick at the edges and peel the whole pool of glue off of the surface, the side "mating" to the body will be as smooth as the surface it was applied. Now try to give it some tooth to adhere to the surface, by sanding and you will notice bits of primer come off with the glue blob. The acrylic glue is pretty much a "really thick version of the acrylic paint", it needs tooth to adhere to the surface to stick. You are providing that mechanical bond by sanding the surface for the acrylics in the paint to "mechanically' attach to, they will never bond because there is no chemical melting and bonding of the topcoat on primer. Acrylic paints thinned and shot through an airbrush need a good toothy surface for a good mechanical bond, primer provides a good part of that, plus sanding the primed surface. Acrylic paints shot through an airbrush will also show sanding scratches if you use too heavy of a grit when scuffing the surface. I've used Red Scotchbrite pads or 800 - 1000 grit sandpapers with good luck, showing no sanding scratches and good mechanical adhesion. (I haven't tried using any of the acrylic primers, in part because the lacquer-based primers are working well for what I'm doing. There are some good YouTube videos out there covering the use of acrylic primers.) Bottom line, you should use a good lacquer-based primer to help smooth over the sanding scratches from the earlier body work. Then scuff the primer before shooting the acrylic paint over it. Hope this helps.

I usually toss treaded tires into a vibratory tumbler with a light blasting media, followed up with walnut hulls. The "sandblasting" media takes the shine off of the surfaces, while the walnut hulls clean the tire back up again getting the blasting media out of the tread grooves. Depending on length of time left in the tumbler you can get a used to a pretty well-worn look, could mask off the sidewalls to get a tread worn look with only slight sidewall wear. I suppose a rock tumbler with either a course or medium grit tumbling media would do the same thing. Could either do them wet or dry and see which cleans up better. Would recommend tumbling with walnut hulls to remove grit and lightly polish the tire. I have also used a fine steel wire brush (dry) to scrub the treaded tires, removes the shine on the sidewalls, treads and between treads with just a light scrubbing. Normally do this after spinning the tire tread against sandpaper or Scotchbrite pad. I've read and heard of others using just plain old Scotchbrite pad all over the tire to scuff it up, to remove the shine.

Yes, you are spot on with your modifications, the second view is what I was describing. Rephrasing the question; I wanted to make sure I was on the same plane you were flying on! LoL!! I thought that was your original meaning before it was taken to left field with all kinds of other examples (albeit good ones). Reminds me of college Mechanical Engineering, where we were exposed to numerous “Cut-A-Ways” of all kinds of mechanical assemblies. They are a great learning tool to assist the “non-visual” person to understand what the assemblies loomed and how they function. Looking forward to seeing your finished “cut-a-way engine”.

I think your question was, "What should go between the lower engine block and the base?". That is before it got sidetracked with the other details, right? This looks like a generic 4-Stroke Horizontal Shaft engine depending on scale could be used in applications such as a rototiller, mini-bike... Blending the engine block to the base would make it appear as one casting, so something needs to separate the engine block from the base. In the last pic that Bill added, it looks like they have used the base as a "fuel tank". Represented by the fuel cap. So, if your kit doesn't have a fuel tank would be a great, logical modification to the kit. The base itself is not a part of the motor, just a base. So, a gasket or other spacer such as something to represent a separation, or vibration damper, between the engine block and its base would look right. If you do this the round stock used to represent the rubber vibration damper could also cut away down to the bolt threads in at least one of the mounts to the base. In a lot of these applications a squared off or round washer goes between the engine and its mounting.

I’ve used the same type of guillotine cutter for a long time too. Never even come close to cutting anything other than the material intended to be cut! Cutting tools of any kind are only as safe as you make them. Think safety at all times whether it’s an X-acto knife or a Dremel with a saw blade spinning at forty-bazillion RPM’s, treating them all like they’re going to bite you is a start. You will only get bit when you’re either taking shortcuts, doing something stupid, or just plain let your guard down. You’re the one with the brain, you have the ability to think; where any piece of machinery can do neither! So plan your steps out ahead of time, it’s your responsibility to protect yourself.

If they are not prethinned, then yes you should be able to brush it on. You really should be asking this question to Model Car World, I’m sure they’ve done tons of product testing, enough to know what their products can and cannot do. Contact MCW and see what they say about it.

The Novus system is like for plexiglas, (i.e. plastics, acrylics). So I’d do the ore polish with the least aggressive polishing pads 1000, 1500, 2000… then move onto the Novus polishes

Dental tools! Its called an Excavator, the one that goosenecks into a thin flat blade on both ends, the blades are around 0.02” Thick X 0.05” Wide X 0.25” Long. I think they’re for carving fillings or wax carving. With a little light file work and a fine hard Arkansas stone you can work the very tip into a sharp hook-like profile. A lot similar to the profile on those Tamiya scribing tools for a lot less cash outlay. I especially like these because you can modify the tip and continue until the profile consistently works for you to route the grooves in the panel (lines). You will have to keep tuning up the profile with use as the dental tools are stainless steel versus a carburized steel, but for the cost I’ll keep tuning.

Try eBay “Doll House Miniatures” or “G Scale Miniatures” or “G Scale Buildings” or “Chimneyville” and “75 mm Figures” maybe “Scenes Unlimited” for a start. Then follow wherever those searches cross reference to should get you pretty closets what you’re after.

Early Dragsters, Altereds - Liquid coolant in block expansion tank. Early 60’s Dragsters, Altereds - Liquid coolant in block with or without expansion tank, moving towards filling the block with concrete grout. Later 60’s & Post Fuel Ban Dragsters, Altereds, Funny Car - Almost exclusively concrete grout filled block, with some holdouts still filling blocks with liquid coolant. 70’s Onward - Dragsters, Funny Cars, Altereds - Iron Block Cars - Nearly all cars ran with concrete grout filled blocks, fewer and fewer were running liquid coolant. Aluminum Block cars solid billet no cooling passages. My high school girlfriend’s dad ran AA/FD, I started hanging around the shop in about 69 through 75 when I left for college. I know they ran grout in all their Mopar based iron blocks. I know this because I helped mix it a few times as they were filling the blocks.

Most two piece tires can be glued together with a vinyl cement, (same glue used to patch waterbed mattresses, inflatable kiddie pools, etc.) Vinyl cement melts and fuses the two part tires together producing a welded joint/bond, superglue only produces a weaker mechanical bond.

Another brand to consider- Paasche I have the 30” Paasche paint booth, they make a smaller 22” unit as well (check Coast Airbrush or Paasche). I got my booth from Coast. I always stop by Coast Airbrush when I’m near Anaheim, CA. I was looking at the smaller 22” booth and talking to (Commercial Accounts rep. / Owner) David (Monnig) about it when he told me he had an unused, returned 30” booth, not in its original packaging. I ended up paying same price as the 22” booth I was looking at, less $50. Both of us were happy with that. He even shipped it for us, so we didn’t have to pack it in the car while we were traveling, (it was waiting for me at the neighbors when we got home). I’ve had the booth for 15+ years and I’ve been really happy with it, never had any problem either. The Paasche is of the same type of quality construction and air evacuation properties as the similar sized Pace units, (I looked at both). As far as 2K clear coats or any catylized, or epoxy type paints; pretty sure that there isn’t a hobby paint booth on the market that will scrub both odor and harmful inhalents enough that one could stand next to the discharge and not be affected by it’s fumes. Spray booths are mainly to contain and evacuate the harmful components of the material being sprayed. You still have to wear respiratory PPE when using a hobby spray booth. I vent mine out a side window with a vent kit from Micro-Mark. My wife tells me she can smell the enamel, lacquer, acrylic lacquer… paint fumes in the nearby garden, it dissipates pretty quickly though, I’ve never had the next door neighbor complain about it. (They did when I used to spray projects outside.) After I get done painting, I keep the booth running and place the dehydrator right in front of it. I used to get the “that stinks” comments when curing paint in the dehydrator, haven’t heard it since I started venting. TIP: No. 1. Line the interior of the spray booth with freezer paper, it will catch the overspray keeping it off the booth itself. Change out the freezer paper when you get too much build up, cuts down on the chance of paint particulate related “dust” which can drop in to haunt your perfect paint! I line it right up to the filter opening and around the front of the booth. No. 2. Vacuum the interior of the booth frequently, as in before you use it. Vacuum the pre-filter as well, if something accidentally gets dropped, it could cause a shower of ultra fine paint dust to rain down on your project. (Never happened to me but I know someone it has, it wasn’t pretty either.)

Not totally familiar with the Bondic material, pretty sure it is stable enough to fill the gap but it’s not styrene. I’m not saying “it ain’t gonna work!” I’ve used the above method for some time on old glue bombs and rare kits where significant areas require replacement. The remove and replace styrene with styrene has always worked out well, probably because it’s the same stuff. I’ve found that fitting the section that’s been removed with a new section that fits in as tightly as possible yields a stable patch. The best patch material are panels from another glue bomb kit of same vintage, or even another body like the one being repaired. On newer stuff I typically use either Plastruct or Evergreen sheet, it’s pretty close to the Chinese recycled styrene. Plus it is soft enough that it can be formed to fit the contours of the section it’s replacing. I believe I first saw this repair method in Fine Scale Modeler, probably 30+ years ago for ship and aircraft models, I’ve seen and heard of other variations, I just adapted it to fit my needs. (CA glue and baking soda is another gap filling method which I’ve also used in repairing old collectible models, (Sci-Fi stuff, Aurora diorama & horror stuff long before any of them were re-released. - Courtesy of The Amazing Figure Modeler magazine.) [ I have several examples of original Revell - Ed Roth monsters, Hawk - Wired Ohs, Revell, SMP, AMT annuals, Johan kits and Promos…. In my collection and collections of others some over 25 years old with this type of repair which are as stable as the day they were repaired. ] if the Bondic works I’m all ears, I'm always looking for easier ways to fix stuff, as long as it’s stable and can stand the test of time, (I.e. no separation or hairline cracking etc.).

Quick answer, yes, for the enamels and lacquers. Although for water base acrylics I prefer a synthetic brush (they call them a synthetic Sable and other catchy names to let you know they are fake fur). For me being a pin striper and sign writer, my feeling is that the synthetic fiber brushes have more snap to them than a natural hair brush does, even the Kolinsky, that's just my opinion. I also don't use a brush for both solvent base paint and water based paints, it's a one or the other use. While on the subject of Acrylics, we are talking water base acrylic paint not Acrylic Enamel or Urethane. Water base and Acrylic paints especially acrylics are very hard on natural hair brushes, they perform well but they are hard on the hair behind the ferrule. Kolinsky brushes first and foremost are a high end water color brush so they are going to perform amazingly with water colors. Acrylic paint wicks under the ferrule and begins breaking down the natural hair fibers in time the individual hairs will snap at the ferrule. If you want to use them with water base acrylic paints then periodically deep clean them with an ultrasonic cleaner, the paint residue just seems to boil out from under the ferrule! Clean and dry the brush by dipping in clean water and gently drawing it through a clean dry cloth until the brush is dry, shape with your fingers and either lay flat or stand it on its handle end. Water color brushes can be stored with a light coating of brush soap in them to retain their shape, just wash it out before use. Enamels, Enamel / lacquer thinner, Lacquers, as long as the brush is properly cleaned it should last you for years. I have a few in my sign kit that were given to me as an 18 year old apprentice sign writer. They are fast approaching fifty years old, still as limber and snappy as they were when I got them! They have always been cleaned using a three pot cleaning system, (dirty, sorta dirty, clean). The natural bristles have never had their hair pulled hard either, a light tug is all that it takes as you draw the cleaned brush through a soft cloth. Paper towels are for wiping up spills and messes not cleaning brushes. They will leave lint behind in the brush that will adhere the the hair only to come out the next time you are using the brush. This is optional for modeling but helps the brush fight against paint build up under the ferrule. Once the brush is cleaned, dip the brush in either pure Neatsfoot oil or (most common) mineral oil, then draw it through a soft cloth, shape the brush with your fingers store either laying flat or standing on the end of the handle. Never, ever, stand any brush on its bristle end, it will pick up a bend that although you can work out you'll wish you hadn't! If you oiled the brush, clean it before use by dipping into lacquer thinner and lightly drawing it through a soft cloth until it looks like it just got a shampoo when dry. You may hear some pin stripers and sigh writers mention using transmission fluid as a brush oil. It works but most transmission fluid now days have detergents in them that are hard on the brush. Most of the older sign guys like myself are of the opinion that the detergents harm the brush. (Read that experience tells us, leave the transmission fluid in the automatic transmission not your brush!)

Remove short shot section in about 1/4” long section, leave as much of the left corner as possible. (Cut should be just as long as it takes to remove the affected material.). Next square up the cuts. Measure the two widths and thicknesses of the two individual steps, get the closest sized Evergreen Scale Models, “Strip Styrene”. Cut the two styrene strips to length and compare their width, match the width as closely as you possibly can. Now is the time to match the radius on the long edges to the edges of the door glass opening. Using liquid cement, glue in first strip making sure it is in place square with as tight of a fit as possible, should almost be a pressure fit before cementing in. Lightly sand and do the body work prep for the first strip using a fine sanding stick. Do the same for the top strip to form the stepped section. Lightly sand using fine sanding stick, brush the dust out of the joints with an old toothbrush. Next run a small bit of thick gap filling CA (superglue) glue into the joints and press it in with a light piece of card stock, wiping away as much excess as you can. Carefully sand the joints, the superglue is harder than the styrene use care not to sand the styrene lo wer than the glue joint. Finally fill the joint areas only with any lacquer based glazing filler, it should barely take a smidgen of filler, use a single edged razor blade lengthwise to lengthwise on the body to work and smooth the glaze. Allow glaze to set up in your dehydrator or ambient temperature until fully cured. Sand and blend out any high spots with a fine sanding stick, prime, repeat any wet sanding as required with a super fine sanding stick, repeat spot priming as necessary to work out any evidence of the joint or ghosting. Prime and topcoat as per your normal procedures and you shouldn’t be able to see the repair after the first full body primer coat.

Contact the manufacturer, tell them your concerns. They probably have real engineering into the development of their products and can likely solve most end user issues or at the very least inform you that you are overtaxing the limits of their product. Pace has probably invested tons of R & D into their paint booths so they’ve dealt with many scenarios that the end user could too. I think from an engineering standpoint you are going to get a better answer from the manufacturer than you will here or anywhere else because Pace has a vested interest in their own product.

Got the same shaker off of eBay, I love it. For high solid/pigment acrylics or the square Testers enamels in glass bottles you can’t beat it. I’ve always had issues with some acrylics getting the pigment fully mixed in with the acrylic and this always does the trick! I’ve used it with everything I shoot through my airbrush, never had any issues with air bubbles in the mix, but I normally allow the mix to rest after any heavy agitation of any kind. After the mix rests it’s normally stirred gently just like you’d normally do with any automotive paint. I also have a Badger paint mixer, which in my opinion doesn’t do quite as good as the shaker does, especially on enamels that the pigment is all sitting on the bottom of the bottle. The mixer left pigment on the bottom of the jar where the shakers agitation left none. Paint shops and hardware stores shake paint for a reason, probably because mixing is messier or maybe because it works better…. They’ve probably tried about every way to mix paint that there is and they shake away! Probably the best $30 I’ve spent on any paint gadget in a while, if I could get my One Shot enamels (1/2 pints) to shake on it I would in a heartbeat!

I’d have to agree, I’ve used some of the others but when I’m using a prewired distributor I like Morgan Automotive Detail about the best. Now for predrilled, wire your own, hands down it’s Norm Veber’s Replicas & Miniatures of Maryland. Both companies put out excellent distributors that are easy to work with, beats drilling, which I still do that too.