MrObsessive

Yeah you never see Javelins on the road anymore George unless you go to a show and then they're not plentiful. IIRC, that one had a six cylinder, and my Mom kept it until mid '69 when she got another Javelin. This one though had the SST package, potent 390 V8, auto, air, redline tires. I think she got rid of the first one because she said it kept stalling and the dealer gave her a real good trade on the '68. She had that '69 for something like nine years or so when her then husband hated the car and traded in it for a '78 Grand Prix. What a piece of JUNK that one was!! Thanks for touching that up Harry, that does look a bit better!

Y'know I had to read your reply a couple times! Don't worry, if things work out, that "accident" won't happen until both of us have said "I do". Thanks for the compliments..........I'm trying not to go too overboard with this although it's tempting. I'm considering a lot of the new ones here whom I don't want to be intimidated by what they see if I get too crazy!

The engine will be a light blue of my own mixing, so a decent primer is in order. Tamiya makes a pretty good primer for most any kind of bodywork. It sprays beautifully out of the can, and doesn't leave a thick coat like some other primers might for this application. Okay, I mixed up the Krylon Royal Blue, with Krylon White to get this shade of blue which is pretty close (if not exact) to pics I have of a flathead in a '49 Merc. And whadaya know! That split did NOT show back up! Who says Future doesn't work?? The transmission will eventually be airbrushed with Aclad Steel. I want the engine paint to fully cure in the dehydrator, so lets look at a couple parts in the ignition area. Norm makes some EXCELLENT pre drilled cast resin distributors which also come with a shaft. I think he gives you three or four, so I'm down to my last set in this package. I do have other unopened sets to work with in the future. A close up of the distributor using the macro setting on the camera. I'll be using Detail Masters engine wiring for the distributor. For those of you on a budget.......you can get the same type of wiring at a good electronics store. Check around to see what they have. The key is it NEEDS to be in scale! Nothing takes away from the appearance more if the parts used are out of scale for what's needed. I want teeny-tiny plug boots on the dizzy, so lets slice the insulation they give you to around 1/32" to make these. Here they are all sliced up and you can see the comparison to the distributor. The shaft that Norm gives you I won't use-----instead I'll use the shaft that comes in the kit is it's a bit more to scale for this engine. And for safe keeping, the little boots will be kept in the plastic bag until I need them. If I leave them on the table, one sneeze and they're history! Okay that's it for now............as I mentioned in another post I've been quite "preoccupied" in another life. The truth of the matter is I've recently met a very nice young lady through our church and she and I have been spending some time together. In fact I'll be seeing her again tomorrow evening, so needless to say, updates may not be as numerous as they could be. Through this week I'll be working on the engine, I'm only going to get as detailed as the ignition wiring. For those of you who are novices, I would skip this step and concentrate on getting your construction as neat and clean as you can. Thanks for looking guys, and thanks for indulging me!

I want to get started on the engine to cover a few basics here dealing with appearance, particularly when looking at the engine from the bottom. Nothing irritates me more than engine blocks that are split the entire length of the engine and trans together. But this is how the majority of kits were done in the old days. Separate oil pans were a bit of a luxury. As you can see even with the best of lining things up, some areas still don't mate properly. BTW, I'm not as concerned with the trans case as those are cast with a parting line down the middle. As best I could I got out my diamond flat files and tried to make both sides of the engine/trans as even as can be. Even so, I know that split will show up after painting, so I got out the Tamiya putty again and proceeded to even out the surface that much more and try to minimize the split "ghosting". I didn't care for the heads on this engine, so I got a resin set from Norm Veber of Replicas and Miniatures which look much better than the kit one with the molded in wires. I'm going to get a little more "obsessive" with the engine as I'll be adding ignition wiring, so those kit pieces had to go. Okay, one of the best modeling tools to come down the pike in regards to painting has got to be this stuff here! Future Floor Wax------which I believe is now called Pledge with Future Shine. My sense tells me that despite all the careful painting that split still wants to rear its ugly head so.............. Lets brush on several coats of Future on the oil pan. I brushed on a coat------waited 'til it was dry, then brushed on another coat. I repeated this several times until I got a nice thick coat of Future on the oil pan. Stay tuned for more!

Okay, I know some of you will get a laugh out of this! I was over my Dad's house just a while ago and saw he had this pic on one of his tables that I thought was gone forever! It's pic of my sister and I all dressed up which looks like it may have been for Easter or something. The pic was dated Easter 1968, which would have been correct as we're standing in front of my Mom's then new '68 Javelin which she had bought in October '67. I would have been six years old (I was always a TALL kid) turning seven that October------My sister would have been four turning five that June. Another reason I can remember the year is I didn't have eyeglasses as of yet-------------I remember getting glasses right around my seventh birthday. The yellow streak on the car door wasn't paint damage.....just the pic suffering the ravages of over 40 years! All right-----here's the pic! I remember another pic of us standing in front of my Dad's car, he had a 1960 Valiant at the time, but he can't find the pic at the moment. If he does, I gotta have that one as it's classic!

Looks great from my vantage point Rob! That tape is also good for replicating vintage 1956-57 Corvette seat/door patterns. It's close enough to the "waffle pattern" that the 'Vette's had in those years. Great for headliners also!

DO NOT PUNCH A HOLE INTO THE CAN!!! Even after you "gas out" the can if you disturb or shake the can even a little bit, the solvents in the paint can once again cause pressure inside the can! Punch a hole in the can, and you've got yourself one huge mess on your hands, and your face, and your clothes.............. Do as shown in the pics here if you want to decant sprays.......... Get some snow cone cups or funnel cups like the ones they use in dispensers and cut the tip off as shown............ Then tape the cup to an airbrush jar......... Then spray away inside the jar............ No muss, no fuss, and much, much, safer!

DO NOT PUNCH A HOLE INTO THE CAN!!! Even after you "gas out" the can if you disturb or shake the can even a little bit, the solvents in the paint can once again cause pressure inside the can! Punch a hole in the can, and you've got yourself one huge mess on your hands, and your face, and your clothes.............. Do as shown in the pics here if you want to decant sprays.......... Get some snow cone cups or funnel cups like the ones they use in dispensers and cut the tip off as shown............ Then tape the cup to an airbrush jar......... Then spray away inside the can............ No muss, no fuss, and much, much, safer!

Ismael's right about the kooky wheel placement on the driver's side Here's a couple pics where I got out my dial calipers to confirm this to myself when I was building mine............ Note how the wheel would be about .10†rearward than the other side!……….this is the driver's side we’re looking at. As you can see by my built up pics that problem was cured.

Yes, I did slightly blackwash the brake discs on that one. The wheels were also stripped of their chrome, airbrushed with Alclad lacquer black, then airbrushed with Alclad chrome. I thought the kit wheels were just too shiny of a chrome to represent the 1:1, but the Alclad chrome gives them more of a highly polished aluminum look.

Sorry for the delay guys! I'll try to have something new to put up by Sunday. I didn't get much time to work on it this week as I've been.......................well let's just say preoccupied.

I've always liked that kit as I built one years ago. I wish they'd reissue it as it does build up very nice with some extras.

Welcome Roger! Glad you decided to join us!

Miguel you're lookin' great! I've done the same thing recently...........my knees, feet, and ankles were hurting so bad at times it was painful to walk. Especially at work where the floors are concrete. Back around June I decided to change the way I eat.........I stop drinking milk eating yogurt instead, got rid of the junk food, and try to stick to "real" foods. In other words, avoiding most anything out of a box. I started working out again.............mostly bodyweight exercises, as I can't afford a gym. When I started I was weighing somewhere around 320 lbs, wearing a size 50 in pants. Today at 6' 3" I weigh 279 and wear a size 42-44 in pants. Those that saw me at the Super September Showdown can vouch for this. Here's a couple pics............ Before from a few years ago and looking this way around May-June And how I look now although this pic was taken a couple months ago........I've gotten a bit thinner since then. Yes, I feel much better as I don't get the acid reflux anymore, or the terrible heartburn! If I can get back to the shape I was in when I got out of the army back in '92, I'll be very happy! I know that was a while ago and I'm older-------I'm just glad to be feeling better and gaining some self esteem to boot. Miguel, keep at the great work! You really look fantastic!

Here's my '05 done in Sunset Orange..............

Cruz, I'm glad that acetone worked for you-------that Willys looks fantastic!!

Hmmm........I got mine not long after they were intro'd. It's possible the design changed down the road. I remember getting a brass rod (or aluminum tubing) the same size bore as the airbrush body and gently pushing it out. You could try that as I don't think that bearing should be a permanent part of the body.

I second the Badger Crescendo! I've been using it since they came out around 1993-94 and have had nary an issue with it. The only issue (if you can call it that) was replacing the needle bearing, but that's just regular maintenance.

I love nice, shiny, orange Winged Warriors! That's a beautiful 'Bird Nicholas.........that vinyl top looks great as well----I have to try that sometime!

I'd go with my gut on this one Nick. It's hard for us to tell out here in the hinterlands to tell what shade is what, because everyone's monitor shows colors a bit differently. Not to mention the color of the car in the pic may be skewed because it's in a pic and you're not seeing it one on one. To get an exact match of that particular year F-Bird..............I'd check out here, then check it against what you've got.

Ahhhh---------yes that was Hawk #1! I'm sorry I almost forgot about that one........Been in sorta of a daze lately. Got some interesting (read good) things happening in my life as of late. Yes you're right...........I originally built the 1958 Hawk #1 back in 1993-94. But as my skills had gotten better, I went ahead and did the second one you see on the thread here a few years later. I don't know what happened to the first one. I may have traded it for something years ago, but don't remember what. That was probably one of the first NNL's I had ever been to when I built that model. The one pictured here I don't think was ever at any show. Sorry for the confusion........that one totally slipped my mind! ;)

Hmmm.......I don't think that could have been mine as I was just building this during late 1997 into 1998. I remember the Hawk you're talking about in Car Modeler-------I don't remember who built it but it couldn't have been mine. My cat unfortunately is seven years gone now. He became very sickly and wasn't getting any better and I had to have him put down.......he was 16 years old. He had wrecked it a couple years earlier.

How'd I miss this one?? Absolutely beautiful Randy!!

The hood is molded open on the R&R '57..........I had a whole kit but just got rid of it recently on eBay. The quality was.........well let's just say not up to Modelhaus standards. Here are a couple pics of the R&R DeSoto..................

Well, the lower grilles should be longer------they should extend a smidge beyond the main grille. Also, you can't tell in the pic-----but the doors still have a hint of the "scallop" that the '53 had. Redoing this, I would cut that section out and replace it with sheet plastic and blend everything in. I originally built this in 1998 so my skills weren't as up to par as they are now. The fins were done with sheet plastic by making a template out of a 3x5 card that would make both sides symmetrical. Also the "shoulder" of the fins were done with sheet plastic and once again both sides were done as a mirror of each other so there would be good symmetry. Everything was blended in with superglue and baking soda to speed things up and then painted later after all the other body work was done. The paint IIRC was Krylon Antique White and Studebaker Canyon Copper for the fins. Other things that aren't seen are the body door jambs could stand to look better per the 1:1, and also the interior particularly the front seat could have been done cleaner. You mentioned the '56----- I have the '56 Golden Hawk done by R&R. It's VERY clean with little cleanup needed and the details are spot on! Who knows when I'll get to that one though............