LDO

Maybe it's the airbrush. Try some Tamiya spray can lacquers. Go get a primer, color coat, and clear. Yeah it will go on thicker than an airbrush, but man you can make a mirror finish. No foolin'. I tried them for the first time while deployed overseas. I had actually planned to build model cars and just the the bodies unpainted. I was talking to the guy who runs my LHS and he recommended the Tamiya paints. Even in dusty Afghanistan, I laid down the best paint jobs I have ever done. A Duesenberg got a couple of dust particles in the clear. I just sprayed more and sanded it out. Use a polishing kit but don't use the wax that comes with it. Use Novus plastic polish #2 and #3. I PROMISE you will be happy. I'm not suggesting using spray cans for the rest of your life. Just a trial to see what lacquers can do.

Thanks, guys. All paint is Tamiya spray can lacquers. Gold basecoat followed by clear red. The stripes are painted on. I tried something I read about in Hot Rod magazine maybe 25 years ago for the stripes; a white/pearl white checkerboard. I cut tiny squares from Tamiya masking tape and laid them out on the stripes, then sprayed some Tamiya clear pearl over that. Since it's all spray cans, there is a step. There are also a couple of tiny imperfections on the demarcation line. The checkerboard itself has a few hair-thin lines between white and pearl white. I'm not going to strip it and start again, though. Morale on that mission was virtually nonexistent. The boredom was inhumane. Building model cars helped keep me from losing my mind. The Mercedes has pearl on it that I'm not really happy with (just because the pearl has some blue in it), but it stays on.

I've got a car with racing stripes and the demarcation line has a "step". I'm wondering if I can cut some ***very*** narrow strips to lay over that and then spray clear on top. Yeah, I know, I should use an airbrush, but this is a '69 Camaro I started while deployed to Afghanistan. I want to finish the paint using the same techniques I used over there. The black & yellow Duesenberg and red Mercedes got finished. The Camaro just needs the paint finished. All three need touch-up from the beating they took on the way home. They are sitting on a desk I built for myself. We didn't have tools so I mail-ordered a circular saw, tape measure, wood screws, a drill, etc. After that mission, I got out.

Anyone who can afford to buy a real Aston Martin can also afford to have a few parts resprayed. They could also do something crazy like paint the whole car candy burgundy with a little pearl in it.

In Before The Lock!

Living in central Texas, I think it's pretty cool. Whether or not F1 comes back every year, a world-class road course would be a great thing to have in this area.

Once again, I agree that the number of people who would have spent $71 for a V-12 to drop in the '32 hiboy is pretty small. Virtually nonexistent. The complaints about this are a non-issue to Tamiya. Hey- no one is stopping anyone from building their own V-12. No one is stopping me from frenching the taillights on my Yamato.

Sorry for the hijack, but isn't the real car already stateside? I could swear I saw a black one in Austin a few months ago. Could it be a California that I saw?

It seems to have lots of buzz. There are several threads about it on different forums of this site. Several posters have one started. How about one thread where all the builders can post their in-progress photos?

Good luck. Look in 1/43 resin for that one. Even 1/24 resin would be a dud.

NOT aftermarket, but possibly interesting; a guy on a Yahoo! Group was working on scratchbuilding an Aston Martin engine to make his model more accurate. Check in the big scale forum on this site for a current buildup.

That thing is wild. I wonder if it is registered/insured as a car since it has 4 wheels?

Nice work. I love Lancias. I wonder how many here built models while deployed? I have a 1935 Mercedes-Benz on page 3 or 4 of the Workbench forum. It was built in Afghanistan and damaged on the way home. Just now repairing it.

I love the fin treatment. I can only imagine that it will get two pairs of larger round taillights in that custom back end. Very nice. Testors will have to repop that Chezoom one of these days. They're all getting cannibalized for the roof.

Let me know if you repop the Phantom Corsair.

I vote for flashy. Here's mine:

Good luck, and remember; the training is all a mind game. They will erase your current ideas about what your limits are. No matter what you do or where you serve, you will always be a veteran. You would be surprised at how many are out there and how they will help out their brothers. I do what I can by giving veterans a price break in my job as a plumber. Be safe. Always remain vigilant when deployed. There will be time to relax when you get back in the states. Thank you.

I don't see Rommel as being an issue. Pretty much all the big model companies make kits of WWII German subjects. Whether it's a caricature of a General or markings for an ace, neither glorify the Third Reich. The hot rod half-track kinda makes fun of it.

They only take advantage of you if you buy the kit. Many cars that Tamiya makes are done by other companies, and for less money. You can get a Revell Enzo and put some work into it.

This is one I worked on in Afghanistan in 2005-2006. Color is Tamiya clear red over dark grey, with pearl clear over that, polished to a mirror finish. On the long trip home, the fabric it was packed in tried to merge with the roof and doors. I just dug it out and decided to get it back into shape. I was able to polish the damage out of the doors, but the roof will need some more clear. The damage is barely noticeable, but I'm afraid more polishing will dig through the clear and into the pearl. I did that on a funny car once and it was a disaster.

Another reason not to like it: too much ranting about subjects that are off-topic or ***barely*** related to model cars. If I go to a chat room on a model car site, I go to talk about model cars, not to read about what a jerk the moderator is on some other site. The problem with that kind of talk is that someone who talks (types) a lot can dominate the page and cause on-topic discussions to "fall off the page". Chat seemed to be a lot better 2 or 3 months ago. It's just a waste now. Too many teenagers who lack focus. The smilies and sound effects only encourage their silly behavior.

Duesenberg J straight-8 with Monel exhaust. Why? Well, just look at it! In 1932; the same year Ford introduced its 65hp flathead V-8, Duesenberg offered a street car with 320hp. One customer got one with 400hp. FYI- the photo is a running 1/6 scale model.

I bought a 6-pack of superfine abrasives at my LHS, but it's the sanding film only; not a whole polishing kit. My old sanding block got chewed up by my dog. A local paint shop has sanding blocks that are thinner and more dense, (more like a sanding pad) but I want the thick foam block that comes with polishing kits. If you know of a source, I'd love to buy a couple. Thanks, Lee