MrObsessive

Steve don't give up! It's lookin' too dang nice to let it go! I can empathize with you about kits "fighting back". The '59 Chevy I did gave me so much trouble right up to the end, but I was DETERMINED to finally get it done! Maybe it would be easier to just repaint the hood, and clearcoat it again? You mention "blushing"-----in the clear itself, or in the color coats? If it's just in the clearcoat, maybe sanding the whole thing and clearcoating it again might work? Just throwing out some ideas.......this is coming along to beautifully just to shelve it.

Michael, very nice and CLEAN! I remember as a nine year old when this car was brand new in '70, and thought it was the neatest thing on the road. I also had the extra niceness of seeing one up close and personal at least once a week. Back when it was new, my Dad was seeing a lady (he and mom were divorced for some years), and her next door neighbor had one. It was white with the black vinyl roof. Hemi's were rare then so more than likely his was the 440. When Dad would have my sister and I for the weekend, we would usually have Sunday dinner at his girlfriend's house and the Superbird would sometimes be parked right in front of her living room window. I can still remember just sitting there and looking at the car what would seem like hours! I was totally fascinated by the way it looked with that pointy nose and high wing! Fast forward to the later '70's when I'm in high school (circa '77) and I happen to see one for sale locally going for "only" $1800 and it was in VERY nice shape. It wasn't the old neighbors car but another party selling one. Seems as though as powerful and unique as the cars were, no one wanted 'em as far a being serious collectibles for whatever reason. Now you can't touch 'em for much less than six figures now.

Edit: I should say it took me a second to get that, and all I can say is SHADDAP!

The humidity in my house was playing nice today, despite temps in the upper 80's outside. I went ahead and got everything clearcoated as I had planned.................. I did tint the Tamiya X-22 clearcoat as I mentioned earlier with 6 drops each of Tamiya Clear Green and their Clear Blue. This did knock down some of the "harshness" of the metallic flakes a bit and I'm happy with the ultimate hue of the paint. Everything now sits in my dehydrator, and later this evening I'll turn it on at 105 degrees, and let it sit overnight. I don't like to heat up Tamiya's clear too soon.......the heat does something to it if heated up right away as I've learned in the past. I let the paint set up a bit before letting the dehydrator do its thing. Next (after the paint has fully cured) will be the tedious task of rubbing and polishing everything out-------just like a real car. Particularly the roof, hood and trunk I like to focus on as those are the first things that get noticed when a model is on display as that's what the light is hitting. I don't ignore the sides and such, but for newbies that want to get their nice paint job really noticed------------really focus on those three areas. For me this stage of the game is all downhill..........after it's all rubbed out and polished, it's just a matter of final putting it all together and detailing. Glass, interior, wheels on the chassis (which all five wheels are painted now), and get it done. Maybe I can get all of this done by the middle of next month or earlier? We'll see............ Thanks for lookin'!

Interesting about the rear end in that kit John. Which kit would have the proper diff in it to suit the Hemi? I have both the '67 Charger and GTX, and never gave that a second look. The GTX has some body issues that bug me-----if I ever get around to building it, that would be chief among my corrections. Curious about the rear diff though............

Brian, I'd say from looking at this picture that the tips are from left to right------ .2mm, .3mm and your .5mm. Once again as I said if the needle holder is not right for the cap that goes over it, and for the parts shown here, the paint will not spray correctly. Hope this helps!

Actually Rob, that's pretty good! It's always best to lose the weight gradually over time (1-1½ lbs per week) than to try and lose a great deal in a short time. The weight didn't pile on overnight, and overnight is not how it's going to go and stay away. I've been reading some very interesting stories recently about the people who were contestants on "The Biggest Loser" and how most if not all of them have gained their weight back and then some! It's sad, but one has to make their changes part of their daily routine, and for me it's that I have to be ever watching what I buy at the grocery store. 'Cuz if it ain't in the house, I can't eat it! Where I work we have an in-house Doctor and clinic. Back in February, I decided to pay her a visit to get some tests done, and this helps us out as we get a discount on our health insurance by doing so. I mentioned to her that I'd like to lose another 10-15 lbs or so, and while she didn't give me a "diet" per se, she gave me a calorie count which was around 2,180 calories per day. Well, I happen to have an app on my phone (MyFitnessPal) which had those near exact calories listed per day! So, it was just a matter of me being more patient and following through, and letting time do its thing. I don't really count calories as strictly as I used to anymore..............I can tell by the type of food, and the portion sizes when enough's enough. There are some things I just don't flat out like anymore (greasy fried stuff).........probably because I've gotten away from eating that on a regular basis for so long. True Story: When I was at the Mid Atlantic NNL a month ago, before the show was over I decided to stop at the local McDonald's and "treat" myself since it was a Saturday, and it had been a long time since I had been to a McDonald's. What I got was their Chicken McNuggets "meal" along with fries and a soda. I believe the McNuggets was a 10 piece and the fries a "regular" size. I could only eat three of the nuggets and half the fries before I couldn't stand the way it tasted and I threw the rest of it out! It tasted that bad to me that I literally threw over half of it away-----including the soda! I guess I've gotten spoiled to how I fix food, and I suppose I've been "trained" to eating a certain way now that it's a good thing. I still like the occasional dark chocolate chip cookies though!

Thanks Al! Well, today I'm gonna try (the operative word "try") to get it all clearcoated today. It's been awhile since I used my Tamiya X-22 clear and I think what I'll do is test it out on that plastic spoon I painted a while back to make sure there are no surprises with fisheyes, adhesion, etc. As I mentioned, it'll have a subtle tint to it to blunt those metallic flakes just a touch--------meanwhile as things are drying out, I'm at the very beginning stages of my next WIP. I've got some stripping of a donor body I want to use going on, and I've got lines drawn out on the main body as to where I'm going to make the various cuts and such. Look for new WIP post on that in the days to come.............

Actually, that was the inspiration for the production AMX in which the Javelin was created for market first from the AMX for broader appeal. To this day, a VERY good looking concept, and it's too bad AMC didn't debut this earlier.

I use a chamois cloth to burnish down the BMF and to shine things up. You can fold the cloth to get in those tight spaces and the cloth is akin to your own skin. I don't think you can get much softer than that.

If the cap is not the right type/size, your airbrush won't spray properly. It needs to be a proper fit to atomize the paint properly as it passes through the crown. You'll know when things aren't right as it'll be spitting and carrying on. You can match them by looking as close as you can, test them out and then mark them accordingly as Harry mentioned. BTW, on my Badger Patriot and Crescendo airbrushes they're marked on the cap as follows........... L = Large M = Medium F = Fine Yours may be marked like that as well (you don't mention what type you have) but you have to look reeeealll close to see those letters marked on 'em. Edit: Here's a pic of my Patriot airbrush with the marking on the "crown". It's the letter F which is the fine tip.......

Brian what I have is something like what's linked here..........

Yeah, it's a metal plate that's marked for different sized drill bits #61-80. I've had it for years and it comes in real handy to size up for instance brass rods I may want to use, and for different drill bits that might get misplaced somewhere on the worktable. I bought it at our local train shop (Tommy GIlbert's in Gettysburg) and it's a nice thing to have.

I can usually tell visually, but there's a drill bit sizer I use to tell me what drill bit is what for my pin vise if I get them in the wrong place in their holder and it's marked accordingly. As far as a spray pattern, I guess you could make some kind of "template". In other words, put in your needle, spray its pattern on a piece of sheet plastic, and then tape that needle to the plastic to tell you which one sprays in that particular pattern. Kinda primitive, but when all else fails..............

To echo what Harry said, I found a bottle of that type here. It's not Tenax--------but I've found both this and Tenax to be about the same. The problem I had with Tenax in the past is that it tended to evaporate a bit too quickly.........in the bottle! I haven't used it for years because of that and switched to Ambroid. Now that Ambroid has become unobtainium, I switched to the product I gave in the link.

Definitely the Revell kit IMO. To my eyes a more accurate shape, better chassis detail, and has an excellent Hemi to boot! Can't go wrong with this one!

OK, I got curious and stepped on the scale at work yesterday------I knew I had lost more weight but wasn't sure how much. The scale read 220 lbs, and that's down from the low 240's since the last time I made a post on this. I'm sure I'm about at the limit, but I'd like to see how things look if I lost another 5-8 lbs. Here are a few pics I took this morning........... Yeah, I had to do THAT pose! The shorts I'm wearing are a size 40 and they're too big..........a couple years ago when I took those other pics you see, they were still pretty tight. I can get into a 38 very comfortably (some are too big), and probably into a 36 depending on the pants/manufacturer. Nevertheless, the battle never ends nor will it ever end for me. Unfortunately, fat runs in the family but I've zeroed in on what puts the weight on (and keeps it there) and what works for me in taking/keeping it off. Now this being Saturday, it's another "cheat day" for me, so I'll indulge in some chocolate/peanut butter ice cream with a coupla three cookies later on. Then tomorrow it's back to normal for me as I don't wanna see that stuff till the next weekend. As I've mentioned before, for those of you who struggle with weight, I can certainly empathize as every situation is different, and not everything works for everyone. The key is to not give up, and to keep at it! Thanks for lookin' folks!

I use Future or Tamiya Clear X-22 for attaching things like emblems and such to the body.

There were only 500 of the Daytona Chargers built for '69, so Chrysler took the time to fill in the seam where the "plug" went in to put the back window at a different angle. The Superbird not so much as there were a lot more of those made (1900+) so instead of going through the extra cost and time of filling in the seam, Chrysler simply put a vinyl roof on those to cover it up. Odd for a car like that, but that's what they did. The NASCAR racers though obviously had no vinyl top, so they went ahead and smooth things out and painted them accordingly. As Michael said, the vinyl top on the Monogram kit is already molded in------seams and all. The hard part's been done! Just take your time to mask and paint this area, and all should be good.

The color is "Laguna Green" and I got the paint from my local auto paint place who mixed it for me. It's acrylic enamel which I find a bit more user friendly for me to work with when it comes to painting/airbrushing.

Beautiful chassis work! One suggestion if I may-----or I should say more of a caution. If you're going to use the wire wheels, I found them to stick out from the body unacceptably far due to the wheel hubs being maybe a bit too long. I built this many years ago (late '80's) and that's what I can remember from mine. I ended sanding the hubs down to get the wheels to tuck in further. I could have assembled the hubs wrong to begin with-----I'm not sure as it was so long ago, but it wouldn't hurt to test fit the wheels to make sure all is well before final gluing.

I also want to add Jerry that it's a good idea to wait a bit after primer coats to let them fully gas out. What I mean by this is you want the solvents in the primer coat to be totally dry before adding any more solvents such as when you add your color coats. Some may cringe at this, but I've waited at least a week between primer and then putting on color coats. The rule of thumb is if you can no longer smell the paint coming off the body, it should be dry enough to paint over. In your case (I'm taking a stab here) you may have put your paint on too soon, and the lowest layer of primer paint wasn't quite dry enough. You then added more paint (nee solvent) to that area, and then your primer/paint attacked the plastic. As far as the dark spot, this might have been a "spit" of paint that came out of the can, and if I'm showing someone how to paint------the rule of thumb is to NEVER start or stop on the body! Start to spray away from the body, and stop after you've passed the body. That way you get as little or no spitting effect of the can (or even airbrush) on the body. You can carefully paint over that area again after you've lightly sanded it out........or just leave it as is. It's up to you,

Jerry, right below the driver's side rear quarter window is where the mold line is showing through. You may have knocked this down, but mold lines can be stubborn things that like to reappear after you've painted. The mold lines have a built in "memory" in the plastic, and when you sand them down, adding any kind of solvent such as what's in paint can make them show again due to the "memory" of what was once there. What I've done (and suggested in the past) is to sand down the mold line------especially heavy ones, and after you've sanded the mold lines down, brush over them with some liquid glue such as Tenax. The "hot" solvents in the glue will make the lines reappear, and then when that area is fully dry, sand them down again thus erasing the memory. When you paint in this area, the solvents in the paint won't make the mold lines show, because you sanded them away before adding any more types of solvents. As far as the "swirl" marks on the doors, it looks as though your primer may have etched the surface of the plastic, and that's what's showing through on your color coats. I take it you used a spray can------this can be OK as far as it goes, but I've found spray cans-----especially the automotive ones to spray too heavily, which can lead to a bit too much paint buildup in any one given spot. This area is where the molds have come together (kinda like a mold line) and where the plastic joined to make that particular spot, you get the swirly marks or circles. I may not have the technical aspect completely correct, but that's what you're seeing there. One suggestion to ward off such things is to either get your technique down pat where you're not spraying too close and too "hard" on the plastic, or use a "barrier" coat of some sort on the plastic before putting on any primer and paint. You've been out of the hobby for awhile, but the plastic today is not the same as it was even 15 years ago. It's softer than it used to be, and it doesn't take well to the harsher paints that are out there. Particularly when I'm doing a lot of bodywork on a model, I more than likely will barrier coat the plastic as I hate nasty surprises when it comes time to paint after all that work. It's up to you, but you can leave it as is, or strip the paint down and begin again. It's yet another reason I'm a BIG fan of airbrushing. YOU control how much paint and pressure is coming out at any given point, and you also control how much to thin the paint given the color, and type you're using. A lot to soak in, but it's just one of those things we've all gone through. In my nearly forty years of building, I can tell you that I learned a lot through simple trial and error. There was no internet for me until maybe 15 years ago when I stumbled on to the message boards. By then I was somewhat established as a "decent" builder, but even today I still run into snags and "oops" that will strike without notice. Hope this helps you out!

OK folks, not a lot to report this time around......just finally got 'er painted up and sitting quietly gassing out. Maybe over the weekend, I'll clearcoat the whole works, and while that's drying (I may stick it in the dehydrator to speed things up), I'll get started on my next WIP. Here she is...................... I have to say, it's nice to be able to get to this point so quickly! It's been quite some time since I went from just starting on a model, to getting it painted! Hopefully, this'll all be done in within the next month, and I can get moving on the next WIP in earnest. That one will take quite a bit of time from start to finish, and I can safely say that it'll be this time next year, and still may be working on it. Thanks for tuning in!

1962 was barely out of the '50's and it was just another one of those '50's jet age gimmicks! They would have been designing those in the 1959-60 time period and so it goes. Neat feature, but as David said you'd still need a light at night which was probably that "Mopar Green". I can remember seeing my Dad's '57 lit up that way.