Old Coyote

I couldn't find a purple that came anywhere close to the real color, so I mixed red and blue enamels until I came up with this.

Yes sir, the "59" county designation on the license plate is for Sarpy county, and the county seat was Papillion. That's where we went to get those plates. The car was purchased from a used car dealer in South Omaha, but I have long since forgotten his name. Offutt AFB was in Sarpy county, as was the town of Bellevue where we lived.

..... the Red Baron Pizza Olds Cutlass owned and driven by Buddy Baker

..... the K-Mart / Little Caesar's Ford Thunderbird driven by John Andretti

....... Steve Grissom's Winston Cup rookie ride .... the Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevy Lumina

Another really nice build from back in the time that Nascar was fun to watch .............. not kludged up as it is now ....... that's a car you don't see modeled very often ...... good job.

Two absolutely stunning builds ....... great work sir.

Gorgeous build sir ........... this one is on my to-do list .......... hope mine turns out half as nice as yours.

Usually no more than two ........... I still lay down a coat of Duplicolor primer and wet sand it smooth with 1200 grit ........ then a very light coat of enamel just to check for any major blemishes ......... if no problems, I immediately apply the wet coat (not so heavy to cause any runs or sags) and set everything aside to dry ....... if you do find major issues after the light coat, you have to wait for the paint to dry, go back to the sandpaper, and start all over again.

Boy, that's a blast from the past .............. and a great looking build at that !

Yes, for the most part it is one big decal. It covers the hood and wraps down over the front fenders. The decal that fits across the headlight areas and goes underneath the upper grille did not fit the body at all ..... it was too small. So those areas are a combination of decal and enamel paint to fill in all the gaps.

There were others that I don't have pictures of , or I didn't think were special enough to make the first list ( the domestic vehicles) ......, a 1966 Olds Cutlass 4-4-2 W-30 ram air, a 1978 Olds Cutlass Calais, a 1984 Ford Bronco II Eddie Bauer Edition (yes I know it's a Ford, but the car came from my second father-in-law .... he wanted my wife to have it), a 1978 K-5 Blazer, a 1989 Chevrolet Astro van, a 1992 Pontiac Sunbird convertible for my wife, a 1993 Chevrolet Z-71 pickup, a 1999 Firebird again for my wife, a 2001 S-10 Blazer, a 2005 Pontiac Vibe, a 2007 Pontiac Solstice, a 2009 Chevy Colorado V-8, a 2010 Chevrolet Traverse, a 2009 Chrysler PT Cruiser (my wife just had to have one), and 2010 Chevrolet HHR. The 1966 W-30 4-4-2 (please excuse the babies in the picture, we were home on leave from the Air Force and this is only picture I have of this car) The 1978 K-5 Blazer that pulled our matching pop-up trailer all over the southwest when we lived in Phoenix My wife's 1992 Sunbird convertible (which my daughter drove to high school) My 1993 Z-71 stepside pickup \ My wife's 1999 Firebird My wife transported her invalid parents and their wheelchairs in this 2001 S-10 Blazer My wife's 2005 Pontiac Vibe (never liked the feel of this car, found out later that it was just a cute Pontiac body sitting on a Toyota Corolla chassis and running gear We got rid of it right after that discovery) My wife's 2007 Pontiac Solstice (really fun, but so impractical) My 2009 Colorado V-8 pickup (loved this truck, but it had to go when gasoline got to nearly $5.00 a gallon here) The 2010 Traverse for my wife (it was also a victim of the ridiculously high gasoline prices) ... and the three Honda motorcycles we pulled behind my 1978 El Camino when we went tent camping (that's my nephew on the CL-175)

With enamels I will usually wait 24-48 hours (or until all the "tackiness" is gone) before I will attempt to mask for a second color application. With enamels I will usually wait that long before handling and decaling a body also. I'm rather sure, knowing where you live, that the weather and the humidity have a large hand in the length time it takes for enamels to dry. It's the same way here, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. Just make sure the paint is not tacky at all. If I remember Mark I was able to find the Crown thinner at Lowes. It's Crown Paint thinner in the blue can. It works on oil base paints, varnishes, and enamels.

..... the 1996 Kellogg's Honey Crunch Corn Flakes Monte Carlo owned by Rick Hendrick and driven by Terry Labonte ..... winner of the fall Charlotte race in Terry's second championship year

..... the 1995 Jackaroo Barby-Q-Sauce Monte Carlo driven by Jeff Purvis Box stock Revell/Monogram kit, MCW paints, Slixx decals

No Mark, I used to use only Testor's enamel thinner. But lately I have been using Crown enamel thinner because of the exorbitant cost of the Testor's thinner ( I get almost twice the amount of the Crown thinner for the same price as the Testor's ). I know some say you can use lacquer thinner to thin enamels, but the chemical composition of the two is different and I just don't have the guts to try to mix the application. The paint on the MBNA Pontiac is Testor's enamel paint and Crown enamel thinner, mixed 2:1, and shot through the Paasche at 18 pounds of pressure.

Sometimes I will use the rattle cans out of sheer laziness, but most of the time I use the enamel out of the small bottles thinned 2:1 (paint to thinner) through my Paasche double action airbrush.

But, on the every day driver front, my wife and I are now showing our age ........ she's 10 years younger than I and still "sports" around in a Chevrolet Sonic RS Turbo ..... six speed manual ..... the little scooter gets over 30 mpg in town and a tick over 40 mpg on the highway. And I am now officially old ..... as I drive a Buick ..... a Buick Encore with the same turbo engine as in the Sonic ........ but with the added weight, the 6-speed automatic transmission, and all the other bells & whistles on the Buick, it only gets 25 mpg in town and about 33 mpg on the road ......... but hey, I'm old, and enjoy the creature comforts of a Buick

.... and of course ....... "Timmy" ......... my 1948 English Ford Thames street rod ............ he sits on a custom chassis built by Fat Man Fabrications in Charlotte ....... steel body, glass nose by Fiberglas Trends, and stock aluminum rear doors ...... powered by a 377 horsepower 327 Corvette engine ...... Comp cam & kit, MSD ignition, Pete Jackson gear drive, custom shroud built by Alan Shadwick covering a 600 cfm Edelbrock carb, and Hedman headers ....... TurboHydro 350 transmission with B&M clutches and converter ..... 9" Ford rear end with 3.50:1 gears ....... Chevrolet Aqua Blue Metallic paint and all body and fabrication work by Josh Richardson, and custom leather interior by Tim Scarlett ...... ET mags, Michelin front tires and Pro-Trac rears

The race cars I have owned over the years 1960 Chevy Impala, 335 horsepower 348, Borg Warner T-10 4-speed, 4.56:1 rear end ....... legal NHRA C/S 1963 Chevy Impala, 409 horsepower 409, Borg Warner T-10 4-speed, 4.56:1 rear end ..... legal NHRA B/MP 1932 Austin Bantam Roadster, Hilborn injected Stage II Chrysler Hemi ..... legal NHRA A/A

In December 1981 I married my current wife (36+ years and still going) ...... and she turned out to be a car enthusiast also ....... but with two kids by her previous marriage and one by me we went into a "domestic" car period for about 21 years. However, after the kids were grown and gone we got a pair of 35th Anniversary 2002 Camaro Super Sports ......... a Sebring Silver Metallic one for me and a Navy Blue Metallic one for her ....... both were 335 horsepower LS1's with Borg Warner/Tremec 6-speed manual transmissions and 3.42:1 rear ends ..... they both had SLP center mount exhausts, chrome 10 spoke SLP wheels, and SS grilles. The only difference was that hers had the Bilstein suspension option.

..... in late 1979 my first wife and I divorced, and she took the '77 Trans Am ........ I got the "bug" again ...... sold the '78 El Camino and bought a '77 L-48 Corvette ..... Ermine white with the dark blue leather ........ small 350 with a Muncie M-21 4-speed ....... and that's my 19' Vaquero mini motor home behind the Corvette

..... in 1978, we moved to Midland, Texas and at the time my wife was driving a Chocolate Brown special edition '77 Trans Am with the gold striping and I was driving a '78 El Camino Super Sport ....... here are the only two shots I have of these two cars in front of our house in Midland

..... in the mid 1970's I got the drag racing bug again and bought a race car and trailer ........... and I needed something to pull the trailer .............. so I bought a white '69 El Camino ..... the consignment dealer I bought the '72 Corvette from was opening a body and paint shop and offered to paint the El Camino for the cost of materials if I would let him sign the car and would advertise his new shop for him ............. I hadn't even received the permanent plates for the tow rig when this picture was taken in the pits at Amarillo Dragway

..... when I graduated from college I sold the little SS396 Chevelle and got me a '72 LT1 Corvette ........ Elkhart Green with dark saddle leather interior