MrObsessive

What a sharp little Ferrari Alex!! As usual your paint is flawless! I built a BBR '56 250 a little while ago and 1/43's can be good therapy against the super detailed builds I like to do.

FANTASTIC build Jeff!! The pics look great from this end! So much detail............that would take me forever to do!

Lotsa good stuff there! Good to see Revell doing the ZR-1!! Let's hope they get the tires right unlike the Corvette Z06 kit. I wish to heck that Grand Am was 1/24-25th scale! That's one car begging to be done right as a standard kit! Can that Vega be built stock? Sigh.................The '66 Chevy while it looks to be a nice kit, still will have that off angle rear window like the '65 hardtop.

James, do you mean the Superbird 2012 Concept? That sure is sharp! Hmmm.........some tweaks here and there from the old MPC '71 Superbird kit..........reshape the wing............Hmmm..........

Hey, I resemble that remark! I know what you mean Dave.......I always advise folks that want to start cutting open things is to start with a junk body and start with something simple, like a fuel filler door or something. Guys get discouraged because they expect their results to be perfect right out of the box............it doesn't work that way! It took me a number of tries before I was satisfied as to how my doors open, and then doing the surrounding bodywork correctly. Door jambs, body door jambs, etc, take time to learn how to do well!

Wow, how cool is that??!! And it's well earned Peter as that Charger is a stunner! That paint is eye searing excellent! I've seen this fellow's work before and he is an exceptional artist---------a real compliment to be featured in his blog.

If it were mine, I'd clear it!

I don't know if the tires are too big in that kit, or the wheels too small. In any event that's another one of mine too-----wheels and tires that aren't to scale like the 1:1. It's a matter of appearance if the profile of the tires are too tall like the GT500KR. In fact when I built my '05 Mustang GT, that's one of the reasons I switched wheels and tires......the kit ones just appeared too small to my view.

Hmmm...........glass that is waaaaay too thick for scale! AMT's '57 Chrysler is the worst at this offense as the rear glass is so thick, it might as well be for eyeglasses! One of the reasons I have yet to build that kit. Not to mention the waviness that is inherent in so many kits. Tamiya might be the best at distortion free glass (they must polish their molds really well). You can count on the glass looking in scale for the kit..............but their kit prices are outta sight now!

Phil, the cloths do wear out over time-----I can't give you an exact time though. One advantage to using the soapy water is that it kinda gives a "cushion" to the surface you're polishing. Also the water keeps the grits from getting clogged with paint. Except for clearcoats, I like using the water on the cloths to rub out the paint. I tried using the water method with clearcoats but somehow always end up burning through it in spots.

Why I cut them open! Really----sometimes I'll take the back edge of the Exacto blade and deepen them a bit. Another trick is to run some water based acrylic black paint the panel lines, wipe off the excess, and then paint over them. Marcos Cruz a while back did a model, (can't remember which one though---'69 Charger?) where he shows how he did this very thing. The door and trunk lines were nice and defined as if they could open like a 1:1. Hope this helps!

I'm going to polish the roof until the scratches/swirls are gone. No, there is NO clear coat on the paint..............one need not clear solid colors due to there being plenty of hardener in the paint (especially Krylon). Metallic colors you'd want to clearcoat, as it's not a good idea to rub out and polish metallics. That can lead to a swirly and mottled appearance due to the metallic flakes not being evenly suspended in the coats that were applied. Hey Jeff...........thanks for the compliment!

Only if they lengthen the wheelbase up front and get rid of the "wheels too close to the front of the door" look.

Thanks for reminding me of that tip Mike! I remember having to do that years ago when I built my '69 Daytona. That car is loaded with sharp edges and creases!

Wow, that is a nice truck! And this coming from someone who's never built a tractor trailer. Actually, I've got several of these kits over the years, from a pristine kit to the new reissue, to a couple glue bombs. For someone not into trucks, for some reason this particular one seems irresistible! Hmmm..............wonder how that would look with a stone stock 426 Hemi??

Model Car Garage has the scripts you need for the exterior. IIRC, the kit has gauge faces, but I'm not sure about the bezels. Hope this helps!

Mark, pretty much in the same direction------although others might do it differently. You also have to be careful around ridges and edges-------it can be very easy to burn through the paint on a car with a windsplit in the roof for instance. I try to sand as close to edges like that without going over them much............I hate repainting!!

Thanks for posting those Brandon! I actually got up front and personal with K.I.T.T. back during the winter of 1982-83 when it was at our local auto show. I had taken a BUNCH of pics (polaroid) but they've been lost over the years. This is the first I've seen of his engine.............and it still looks good after nearly thirty years!

Well here it is! The way I rub out and polish paint on my models.............I didn't do the entire car for time's sake, but just to give a general idea on what to look out for when doing what I think is the most important thing to a model. 'Cuz in the end, it won't matter how many bells and whistles are on the model, if the paint job is a mess, it will be all for naught! Here's the roof section before any rubbing out is done with the polishing cloths. Years ago I would do endless rubbing out with wax to get rid of the orange peel-------The polishing cloths take care of that in no time, but one has to learn how to use them. Here are my somewhat well used Detail Master polishing cloths. I'm going to start with the 3600 grit and work all the way up to the 12,000 grit cloth. Since this is a solid color with no clear coat being rubbed out, I'm going to use the water method in rubbing out the paint. Just a few drops of dish detergent in water should be sufficient. If this were a metallic color with clearcoat, I would not use the water method as water tends to "hide" your progress. Next thing you know you've burned through the clear coat and now have to paint that spot. Not my idea of fun! Simply dip the cloth in the water and do a back and forth motion with the cloth on the roof. If you're working with a really flat surface such as hood with no ridges, then you might want to use the foam block that's available with the polishing kit. This will ensure you get a nice even surface when rubbing it out. Here I'm simply using my fingers being careful not to create any "troughs". Oh BTW, please DO rub out the trim around the windows! I've seen a number of models done in the past where the BMF while put on neatly, had a rough, craggy, appearance due to the surface underneath NOT being rubbed out! BMF will NOT hide errors in the paint, only magnify them! Okay, here's the roof after all the grits have been used. Here's what I've been using to polish out bodies for at least 20 years now. A chamois (pronounced phonetically SHAMMY) cloth which can be picked up at most auto parts stores. I dip my fingers in the wax, which in this case is Meguiar's Car Cleaner Wax, and with a circular motion rub the wax on. Then I take the chamois cloth and wipe off the wax. I usually don't wait until the wax is dry--------directly after I put the wax on, I'm taking it off with the chamois. And here is the result after just a few rub outs. There are still some fine scratches to get rid of, but after I get done there will be none. Chamois cloths are great as opposed to using a t-shirt or flannel as they can leave scratches after each time they are used. Well, I'm going to go ahead an completely rub out the entire body-------those of you who paint and polish cars for a living know that this is no overnight job! You have to do each section at a time. First the roof, then the fenders(s), then the trunk, door's, etc. IIRC, when I built the '61 Caddy a few years ago, it took the better part of a week working and hour or so at time to get the results I got with the dark blue paint. This one I'm sure will be no different. Any comments or questions ask away!--------Thanks for looking!

Sorry for the looooong delay in updating this thread fellas! After being out of town last week and a lot of catching up to do this week, I've just gotten around to building some more on the Merc. Last time I was on I was working on the engine...............here's the latest so far........ It's always a good idea to have a TON of reference pics for whatever you're trying to build. A good source of pics is eBay Motors and Google. Generally the more the asking price is for the car, the better the pics will be which should include undercarriage pics as well as interior and trunk pics. As you can see I have a BUNCH of cars listed on my laptop, and behind each of those folders is a whole lotta pics! What's on the screen right now is a stone stock '49 Mercury which was on eBay recently. The perfect color as the interior is the exact color I want to paint mine in. Getting a firing order diagram is also a nice idea for you replica stock builders, Yeah, I know the engine isn't going to run------but it looks better if the wires are running in different directions from the distributor, not all neat and orderly. NO cars from that era had wires that ran neat and orderly! I usually I drill the holes out ahead of time when I want to add plug wires, but in this case I forgot! Anyway, I covered the bottom of the engine with Parafilm to keep the smudgies away. Once again, I need plug boots for the heads, so I sliced and diced some wire insulation to represent plug boots. These were then inserted in the heads. I then started to wire the engine according to the diagram-----at least as best I could! I think I miswired a plug or two! Notice how the wires "sag" and not bow outwards...........important if you want realistic looking engine wiring. Exhaust manifolds.............folks remember to get rid of the mold lines if present here! Completed engine! Not a lot of detail for this type of build, but enough so it doesn't look too lonely in the engine bay. The radiator hoses I'll add after the engine is set in the chassis to get a more positive location to where they should be. Okay, as promised------I said I would do a mini tutorial on rubbing out and polishing. Early this morning I was doing just that, and took some pics. I'll be writing up what I did after this gets posted--------hopefully within the hour, I can have it put up. Stay tuned!

You want to check this thread here. BTW, I know you're new here, but you'll want to put your name in your signature area...............dem's the rules here so we know who we're talking to................ HTH!

Nick, you need piano type hinges for that type of door. That generation Willys' were manufactured at a time before envelope bodies and such did away with those type of hinges. Model Car Garage sells hinges made for street rods with those type of hinges..............they're tiny pieces though and not for beginners. Click the link here to check 'em out. If you try to go with the gooseneck type hinge you're trying to do---------you're going to have trouble simply because there's no shoulder on the body to make a sufficient door jamb to "hide" the hinges when the door is closed. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the well wishes guys! As I type this I'm still in a hotel room here in Windsor, CT where I've been for most of the week visiting friends. They bought me dinner tonight, but no alcohol as I don't drink. It's back home tomorrow morning, and back to work Monday night--------in other words, back to the 'ol grindstone! And now that things will be back to normal soon, I'll try to get something new on the Merc as well as it's been a little while. Thanks again fellas!

Absolutely Beautiful! And so real!! Welcome aboard------you've certainly made a splash!

Nice Work Jeff!! Yeah, those doors are tricky due to the unique shape and all. Your door gaps are excellent! Nice and tight they are!