MrObsessive

I can't give you an exact coat count. Alclad Chrome is something you have to mist on lightly to get the results you want. I know that too heavy a coat will make the finish more like aluminum taking away the chrome effect. Also, I'm not sure about using lacquer paint as I've always used Alclad's black to be on the safe side. As Harry said, any enamel should work however. You can always test it out to see if the lacquer would work.

Wow Dan, that looks NICE!!

Alclad is a lot more durable (even the chrome) than your run of the mill paint Harry. Even so, handling anything too much is bound to wear it out. I remember years ago trying to clear coat Alclad Chrome..............but IIRC the finish wasn't quite the same. I don't recommend clearing it, but someone else may have had a different experience. One of the reasons I mentioned making dang sure the gloss black underneath is super dry, is because when I was building my '05 Mustang, I had used Alclad Chrome on a portion of the wheels. The gloss black undercoat was not as dry as it could have been, and I noticed the chrome rubbing off quicker than usual. More than likely because the undercoat was not fully cured.

OUCH!! All I can say is if I had a relative that did that.........lets just say there'd be more than just a "broken model". As the others have mentioned, I would COMPLETELY strip it down, glue the crack with liquid glue (Ambroid's good stuff!) give it some strength underneath with super glue, put on a barrier coat, and then prime and paint. The more I look at that, the more ticked off I would have been as that was a NICE paint job!

I'll try to answer some of your questions............. First, I'm not sure about the Meguiar's as I use a different type of that wax. Read the labels CAREFULLY to make sure it has no silicone. You'll end up with "fisheyes" and what looks like what might have been a decent paint job, will be ruined. Either of those gloss blacks should work..........just make sure that the paint has dried THOROUGHLY before trying to mist coat on the Alclad Chrome. Failing to do so will have the Alclad smearing when you'll need to handle it to get the tires on. As far as adding lacquer to enamel paint, I've never tried that------but if Donn suggested it, you can't go wrong since he's the Master of painting! Should be no problem using it with the Alclad, since it's already somewhat lacquer based. Alclad mentions using acetone to thin it, however I've used lacquer thinner in the past with no problems. Here's a few pics of a C6 'Vette I did with the wheels done in Alclad Chrome. HTH!

Wow! That's held up well after 30 years! Some don't like this kit because of the front end being slightly off, but I still think this is one of Monogram's nicest musclecar kits, and can be built quite nice with some time and effort.

I can tell you that quick passes and air pressure set around 10 PSI have worked for me. You'll also want to keep a small but good paint brush at the ready---------this is for when the Future likes to pool near the rockers and quarter panels. Your brush should wick it away while it's wet. I have let mine sit overnight and then painted right over it the next day with no trouble.

Y'know, the more the years wear on, the cooler these cars look! I thought they were quite dreadful looking, even when I saw these as a kid in the '60's. Now, they look pretty sharp compared to some of the dumb designs I see today. That's a pretty neat build, and I'll betcha some street 1:1's were running that Ram setup under the hood back then.

Ditto on the brushes! It can get mighty aggravating when you're trying to paint with a cheap brush, only to have one of the bristles come out into your just painted surface! Good brushes are probably one of your most important "tools" for model building.................don't try to go low buck only to have more frustration!

At first I thought it was a Tom Coolidge resin as he does a BEAUTIFUL '57 Buick Sedan. But looking at the glass, the headlights, I thought Nahhh..........no one's THAT good! A close friend of the family had a '57 Buick when I was a kid back in the '60's........his was a 2 door HT (Century, Special?), white with a red interior, and I got to ride in it quite often back then. So I knew what this was the millisecond I spotted it. Wish all of them were this easy!

Matt, I'm sooooo sorry for your loss! She looks just like my Captain.............. Yes, my two cats are my "kids" as well. They're only here for a short time though, and it's never easy to let 'em go when it's time. You take care and take the time to grieve--------we'll be here when you return.

I highly recommend it for a quickie way to barrier a styrene body against "hot" paints as that article shows. I've used this in the past when guys were screaming about Revell's "new" plastic which wasn't holding up very well with the hotter automotive paints, when this was not a problem a few years earlier. Here's a pic of a Revell '05 Mustang hood which was the subject of howls of protest of the new softer plastic Revell was using. I airbrushed the hood with Future------and then subsequently primered and painted the hood with no crazing of the plastic whatsoever ......................... Here's the hood all rubbed out and polished after the paint was cured.............no crazing! BTW, the paint is not as speckly as it appears in the photo-----the metallic is a lot more subtle than it appears. It's also a great barrier for sealing that nasty red plastic that wants to bleed no matter what you do! Here's my '55 T-Bird which was once molded in red, but I used Future to seal the plastic and airbrushed it in pretty Thunderbird Blue. (the hardtop's a little crooked, but it does fit correctly! ) You can brush Future on as it leaves virtually no brush strokes------or you can airbrush it on, but be careful as it's a bit runny, so a lesser PSI would be needed to shoot it well. HTH!

Michael welcome to the forum! Barring you can't find what your looking for in a book, why not ask away here on the board if you run into a snag? There's a wealth of knowledge as close as your keyboard.............while all of us don't know everything, it sure wouldn't hurt to ask!

As Jim mentioned, those Testors Acrylics can be a pain..............better to use Tamiya water based paints if you can find them in your area. Problem right now with Tamiya, is their thinner is hard to get right now due to it needing reformulated for the California market-------so I'm not sure when it will be readily available again. When brushing on acrylics, it's a good idea for the previous coat to be completely dry before trying to put on a second coat. I don't know if you have one or if you can afford it, but nothing beats airbrushing acrylics, especially for interiors. For flat colors, simply take your finger and rub it on the side of your nose (there's some oil there) and rub it out on the seats for instance to give a nice sheen. It's an old trick but it works.

I'll add another one I don't think has been mentioned......... Ill fitting glass! Nothing takes away a from a beautiful model more than glass that wasn't fitted properly where the gaps around the perimeter are HUGE. Especially '50's, early '60's cars is where one needs to really pay attention to the fit of the glass due to their wraparound windshields. Even "professionally built" models I've seen go for big bucks on the 'Bay suffer from this malady. Now no one is perfect in getting all the details well done, but that's one that sticks out like a skunk in a space suit!

That's a thought Bill! That looks good! Yeah, us "insane" folks can never seem to catch a break!

If I were building this kit at the moment, I'd tighten up the recess a bit with evergreen strip and then glue on the rear chrome pieces, after they were stripped. I'd then BMF them after everything was all painted. Makes for a much more consistent look for all the chrome trim IMO.

Certain clears with their hot solvents WILL attack decals! I've had this happen to me in the past, so I highly recommend testing the decals so there are no surprises. I also recommend even if using a very mild clear such as Tamiya water based acrylics, that the clear is thoroughly dry before putting a decal over it. Failing to do this can result in the decal having a wrinkled appearance due to the clear still shrinking over time.

SoCalCarCulture Model Car Resources

I don't think they do Skip. At least the one I built years ago didn't have struts included, and I don't have the unbuilt one in front of me to check.

That was part of Fujimi's Enthusiast series which I believe was recently reissued IIRC. It was originally released back in the late '80's as I had one then. I have the Coupe and this Spyder as well in my collection, but haven't touched them at all. This is a FANTASTIC kit, and looks as impressive in the box the way it's laid out. Some parts of it can be a little fiddly to put together (as all Fujimi's Enthusiasts Series were), but the effort is well worth as seen in the results on these pages.

That is one beautiful car, and a beautiful build Matt! Now if only SOMEONE would reissue this kit, or more of them turn up on the 'Bay...............I WANT ONE!

Awww! Mommy he said a naughty word! Bro that is lookin' super duper sharp! That paint is simply miles deep! You're doing this model some good justice, and I LOVE the new box art Round 2 has done for it!

Steve, I've seen late '50's early '60's (through '64) GM cars use red oxide primer underneath. It all depended on what was going on at the factory on any given day. GM's not going to shut down a line due to being out of gray paint! They'll use whatever's on hand to get the job done.

Amen to that Pete! I've been a judge at a number of shows, and have raised the ire of certain contestants because their model didn't place when they "think" it should've. I try to politely tell them that their paint needs to be rubbed out and polished a bit more to be really attention getting--------also fingerprints on obvious surfaces don't lend themselves well to having a decent flawless finish. Pssssst................here's a tip for you future contestants! If you want to really catch the people and judges attention, make sure your roof, hood, tops of fenders and trunk are as flawless and as glass like as possible! As a former judge, that's the FIRST thing I notice when coming upon a model. Nothing will disqualify a model faster than a substandard paint job, no matter how many bells and whistles it has.