Jim Gibbons

This is looking really good, Mike. I'm impressed how well the Gloss Aluminum with clear looks. I have a Mercedes Benz 300SLR #722 that has been abandoned for a number of years. The chassis is completely done, and is just waiting for the body and decals. I stripped the body twice because I just wasn't satisfied how the other silver/clear paint jobs I applied looked. This looks like the perfect solution.

Myself, I never clear over foil. As a matter of fact, I only clear over metallic paints before I polish. I feel that non- metallic finishes look more realistic after polishing without clear; that's just my own opinion. Factory cars never had a finish that made you want to dive into it like a swimming pool. Foil is the last thing I apply, and then I use a model wax such as the Treatment or Tamiya's stuff over it. Again, these are just my own thoughts; many folks here could prove me wrong!

Looking at Ian's picture of the '61 Starliner stars makes me think that they were indeed, chrome, rather than gold. You'd be safe leaving them as is. I guess 1960 was the only year they had the blue paint in the center. That's why I love '50's, early '60s cars; when you look at the detailing, castings, etc., it reminds you of a time when designers ruled. Cool stuff.

Nothing like a Panhard to show minimalist engineering!

Here's a link from Hemmings Classic Car magazine; it's hard to tell the star finish from these photos. I wish there were more detailed pics, but here's what they had. http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2009/07/01/hmn_feature6.html They very well could have been chrome. My 1:1 Sunliner clearly didn't have them!

Thanks, Skip, for this great resource. I know Russ von Sauers who does the line illustrations for Hemmings, and saw some of his cutaway drawings that won't be found in their publications. Back in the late 70's, early '80s, his illustration technique was a major influence on how I did mine. However, I'm not talented enough to do cutaways; well, more accurately, I've never attempted them. Great stuff.

Subscribed; looking forward to your vids.

Thanks for posting this; I wouldn't have been aware of it otherwise. I had to back this one. I've done a lot of automotive illustrations over the years, some having been published. I really liked what I saw, and this is a gem of a project.

Just a quick note; the fender scripts and the one on the trunk, plus the stars on the C pillar were an anodized gold finish on the 1:1. If I recall, there was a light blue paint in the center of the stars. If the foil doesn't work out for those small areas, gold paint will work well. The lower part of the "S" on the trunk Starliner script should be solid; it was a swiveling cover for the trunk lock. My avatar says it all, lol! Love your work on this.

All cool; imaginative and diverse! I like them all. Welcome to the forum, and looking forward to seeing more of your work.

This is scary good. I think I'm going to start concentrating on my paper models!

Way cool; love it!

I've had pretty good luck with Testor's, but I do two things. First, I warm the cans in hot tap (not boiling!) water. Then I shake the heck out of them before I spray. After I finish painting, I invert the can and spray to clear paint from the nozzle so it won't clog or sputter next time I use it. Here's a poor picture of a couple of resin 1/43 kits I built. This is Testor's Guards Red and Italian Red over Plasticote primer. I built up light coats so I wouldn't fill in detail, and am very happy at the results. I polished the paint without using clear over it.

Well, you lightened my wallet, Chuck. I ordered the Modelhaus kit, along with the full wheelcovers for my '60 Starliner. Guess we'll be seeing another '61 Fury here. To quote "Young Frankenstein, "###### your eyes!" "Too late!" Oops, sorry...should have typed "Darn."

You can also paint parking lines, etc. with white or yellow acrylics. A book of Architectural Standards from the library (or research online) will give you the standard length, width, and spacing of the lines. If you have an architectural scale, use the 3/16"=1'-0" for 1/64, and you can make a paper or thin sheet plastic mask to paint them. Here's one link for architectural models and supplies. http://www.hearlihy.com/store/default.aspx?CategoryID=69&by=9&c=1 If you do some more research, you will find others. Most are 1/48 and 1/24, but will give some ideas. Another thought I had is paper models. There are an incredible number available, and many are free. If you save the PDF files, you can up/down scale them to give you 1/64, and can print out doors, windows, details, etc. One member here (I have to find the link among my hundreds of Favorites,) has a bunch of posters, signs, etc. available for printing out to use in dioramas. Again, all you have to do is calculate the scale differences to give you the % size to print at. Here's a great link to do that with: Scale Conversion Calculator In other words, using the calculator, and doing some simple math, something printed or measured in HO Scale (1/87) that is on your computer such as signs (See Mercman's link below), you would print out on your computer by scaling it up 136% to give you 1/64. Conversely, if you have something 1/24, you would print it at 37.5% (38%) to get 1/64. Get the idea? Sorry, sometimes it takes my brain a little while to ramp up. I'm a paper modeler, too, so PM me if you need more info. Ah, found Mercman's Photobucket link, Fun stuff for dioramas. http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/mercman51/Signs/

Another thought, (and one I've used in the past,) is matboard used in framing pictures. It comes in a variety of colors, and greys and blacks make decent concrete or blacktop pavement. It can be weathered (adding oil drips, etc.) and "dirtied" up with pastels. Concrete slab joints can be scribed, and tar strips suggested with white glue mixed with black model jar acrylics (or just using artist's acrylics from a tube.) I used to get scrap pieces from a framing shop for next to nothing.

Very nice; the new issue of Hemmings Classic Car magazine has a great article on an original 45k miles '73 Cuda in the Basin Street Blue. There's some good photography of the original engine compartment, interior, etc.

Great work, and welcome to the forum. The Black Widow brings back a lot of memories, as I had built one many decades ago the same way. I really like the '49 Ford; great color choice, and it's great to see a stock build of it.

Jake, Welcome to the forum! You've gotten some answers, and I don't have a lot to add, other than foam core board as mentioned above will make good walls. Wander around the diorama topic; there are folks here that do incredible work. You might check out some model railroad sites; I'm sure you can find plastic sheets with brick, cinder block, flooring, etc. patterns. About 25 years ago, I belonged to an O Scale (1/48) model railroad club with a large layout. I worked on the scenery which included buildings, vehicles, etc. I recall painting some brick pattered plastic sheet to replicate a local building we were scratchbuilding. I used various acrylic paints and ground up pastels for effect. If you use foam core, you can emboss it yourself. It's tedious, but possible. A T Square, architect's scale, and a dental pick type instrument to scribe brick/cinder block joins would be helpful. A decent set of artists acrylic paints will be useful. Again, I recommend visiting the Diorama area. The good folks here will be glad to help.

Looking forward to following this. I love this kit; I've built both stock and rallye versions for friends. I wish more model manufacturers would mold the grilles open like Tamiya did on this.

Very nice; oddly enough, I like the look of the 4dr better than the coupe. Somewhere I have a 1/87 Alloy Forms Hudson that I built a long time ago in two tone blue.

Wow, I missed this build, too. I'm very impressed at your work on this. Great color combination, too; that's the way I would want it. Looking forward to seeing it under glass.

Very nice! This is my favorite era of Ferrari sports racers. I wish I could be Ralph Lauren just for a week to play with the cars.

Beautiful work! I wish there were more vintage rallye models available.

Looking really good; I, too, like Tamiya sprays. I built a Tamiya Lotus 7 for a friend in BRG, and had to do very little polishing. She had one in her vintage racing fleet. I didn't want to make it too shiny, as that's just not seen on club racers. Really nice work on this.