MrObsessive

That's a pic I recycled of my model room...........but even if I took a pic right now he would be in it! He's the only cat I've ever had that has to be wherever I am!

I'm not an expert on building a homemade booth........but I can tell you that a regular face mask WILL NOT cut it against potentially dangerous paint fumes! You definitely want to invest in a full dual chamber respirator that will fend off the toxic fumes as well as the paint particles. I myself have a paint booth I bought at a local hobby shop.........but it was pricey so that may not be the route you want to go................ As far as speeding up drying times a light bulb might get a little dangerous around a cardboard unit ..............I use a food dehydrator that I picked up at the local Wally World for around 40 bucks. It's really great because you can set the temp at 105° and you're all set. Within 24 hours I'm all set to rub out and polish the paint. Some other guys may chime in on homebuilt units that they may have built.....................they can give you some pointers.

I like the auto-reducing pic feature of this new board.......................it eliminates that annoying manually "shuffling the board" just to read everything because the pic is too big!

Ahhhhh! I see it now..............the RSS feed is a nice touch too! Thanks Gregg!

Beautiful '57!! The 1955-'57's are among my favorite '50's Fords.....................You did that old kit justice as it's clean as a whistle!

Whereabouts is that Gregg? I've looked all over the "My Controls" page and don't see a button where you can change the skins.

First off Welcome! When I have "blank spots" on chrome such as a bumper...................I take the hard route and have then replated somewhere such as Chrometech or Little Motor Kar Company. It costs money...........but the results are well worth it. Some guys like to use "Aclad" which is a very reflective "chrome" paint. This is the cheaper way to go, but it requires being skilled with an airbrush. Another way would be to use Bare Metal Foil which can be found at most good Hobby Shops. The only caveat with this method is if you're only covering the bare spots, this can lead to an spotchy appearance as the chrome shine won't be the same. As far as super glues, I highly recommend using a toothpick or some such thing to apply it. Just put a small tab on something discardable (such as an AOL startup CD ) and apply it in small amounts. Stuck fingers can be embarrasing! Hope some of this helps!

I really LOVE this new style!! The emoticons are much better too...................more "up to date!" Great Job Gregg!

1/25 scale gas of course! Right now I'm working on the hood struts and hinges which are a little more of a challenge since there's not as much space. Hopefully this weekend I can post pics and compose something reasonable to say about it to boot!

Looks great!! Which '57 Chevy kit are you building? The old or new one?

Darin, I've never had that box checked off as long as I've been on the board.........and I'm still getting the message from time to time. :? :shock: Edit: Okay.................this time the debug error message didn't show-----who knows...:?

Gary, I ditto what Jairus said....................along with that make sure the plastic your working with is clean as a whistle! Oil on your hands or on your fingertips does not a good bond make. Especially in the hot, humid summer is this more acute. I use Ambroid Pro Weld almost exclusively when doing body work (I just used it a few minutes ago on my '06 Magnum project) and have not run into any bonding problems as you've described.

Nice body work so far Luis.......and ditto on the trunk hinges! 8)

Hmmmm...................If I can remember frisket paper correctly, it might be a bit "scratchy" for excessive handling. IIRC, it seems kinda stiff. Here's a link for Parafilm and a pic......... Hope this helps! :wink:

Harry, if you're worried about too much handling............you might want to consider getting some Parafilm. This stuff is what's used to seal lab beakers, and it's what I used when I built my Jaguar D-Type which was basically built from the inside out. Parafilm is sold by MicroMark.com and it's great stuff! Just cover up the areas you'll be handling and you're good to go. Of course, you want to make sure the paint is fully cured just the same. :wink:

That looks great James..................One of my favorite mid '60's Chevy's! Your interior gloss of black is dead on for vinyl! Sometimes that can be hard to achieve. Keep up the good work! 8)

Len, here's a few I found surfing eBay.............. Hope these work for you!

Hi Len, You may want to give eBay Motors a try.......................there's a lot of years you could check out, say from '84-'96. Someone may have one on a lift showing you the underside.

I thought about that as I've never attempted opening up all 4 doors on a model..............but I think I'll let that go------on this one. :wink: I got another tough project to finish after this one ('55 Ford) so I'll need to keep my sanity!

Ooh Ohh! A '68 Charger!...........hopefully this time with NO vinyl roof! And ditto on the Cadillac XLR...........that should be a no brainer! :roll: I'd even like to see a new '07 Escalade kit while they're at it.

I was able to get some more done on the Magnum...........that'll probably change as vacation ends Sunday night and it's back to work :roll: Anyway, here's what's been cookin'............... It was time to make the struts for the tailgate....................I have a bunch of brass tubing from K&S which has an I.D. of only 3/64" this is great for making in scale struts, or tie rods for chassis, etc..... Here I want to crimp the one end flat, so I got out my vise and squeeeeeeeezed the brass tubing flat on one end, just big enough for me to drill a hole in later. A better view of the vice I use....... I then took a #76 drill bit and drilled a tiny hole in the flattened end............ this was made just big enough for a tiny HO scale brass bolt from Galtran.com to pass through. Unfortunately, these are no longer available through Galtran...............so I'm cherishing the stock that I have left. Here's a pic of the HO bolts passing through the holes I drilled. The nickel is a reference to just how tiny these are! Okay...................using .020 music wire to telescope through the body of the brass strut, I now have a working strut like the 1:1. The black connector on the tailgate end of the strut was made from the vinyl insulation of some scrap wire I have laying around. I cut a tiny piece of it off, flattened half of it, and drilled a hole with the same #76 drill bit. The black connnector is attached to the music wire with super glue so it ain't goin' nowhere! (Is that a piece of cat hair hanging on the side!? :shock:) A view of the tailgate down with the strut collapsed.................. Another view.................once the bottom part of the strut's pins are epoxied on the body they'll be more parallel to the tailgate and not seem so "crooked". So far after a bunch of test movements, the top of the tailgate works freely and still sits flush with the roofline with no binding. Also, I'll eventually paint the body of the struts first with metal etching primer, and then paint them black. Next on the agenda is possibly scratchbulding the hood hinges and its struts. I have to thank Lyle Willits for letting me take underhood pics of his sharp Magnum at the meeting today! I got some really good close up shots of the hinges and the struts. Stay tuned!

Very good work so far Harry! Keep up the progress! 8)

It doesn't?? :shock: Hmmm................if that's the case that should work because most of the '60's AMC's were based off the same unibody platform. Just shrank and stretched as needed. I think the inner fenders in the Rambler are still not up to par though......that's where the Mustangs could work with some tweaking. :wink: Also, the '69 Rambler is not as readily available as it once was............

Anyone else out there having trouble today posting? Several times I've tried to post but I get a message that says "Debug Mode" and can't tell if it really posted or not. :?

Okay.............I see the problem now-----my GIF animation was causing the problem, so now it's gone and replaced.