oldcarfan

That's a good start! Have fun with it, those Tamiya Porsches are nice kits.

Testor's may not be aware of this, but their parent company probably does. I recently uncovered a box of paints that I had put away many years ago. They were mostly Testor's brand and many were doing just as you describe. I started looking at them and the one common denominator was that the leaking cans all had Rustoleum's name somewhere on the can. The older ones had only Testor's name on them and there were no leaking cans among that group. Personal opinion, and I've tried many ways to make it work, but Rustoleum is not a particularly good product and that seems to have filtered down to Testor's as well. For spray paint I try to use only Tamiya, Duplicolor, or Krylon, depending on the use.

Understandable. Even among the major kit makers, scale was a subjective thing. I talked to someone a few years back that designed kits for Monogram back in the day. He said that tires and engines were always a bit bigger than scale because it looked better to the eye for most modelers.

No worries, I didn't make it clear. The problem is more with my scratchbuilding than anything else. The engine is fine and I built the engine bay before ordering the twin turbo engine using the non turbo engine from a Monogram Mustang to judge the room needed. While I'm on the subject, I do want to compliment your engine. I was expecting it to be a lot more prep work. The parts were clean and went together quickly.

In an effort to improve my photo taking, I started a backdrop style diorama. It's a generic shop/factory floor but inspired by Magnus Walker's garage in Los Angeles. I used some printed brick bought off eBay along with a couple sheets of black foam board and some balsa left over from an old project. So far I'm only in to the project for the price of the brick sheets and the foam board. The gray strips are just painted balsa to represent concrete. I found some old photos online of a shop built like that. The base is 12 x 21 and I've backed the foam with more balsa strips on the underside. I'm hoping that will curb the foam board's tendency to warp. In scale, the brick walls would be around 16 feet if I measured right. The upper part is just plain black. I need to add some doors and windows and a decent floor, but it's a start. If anyone has tips, let me know.

A long time ago a friend in the Navy bought an old Chevette and stuck a built 454 in it. The first time he hit the gas it just spun the tires. He hacked the rear wheel wells and put some big slicks on the back. He hit the gas this time and it hooked up too well. The chassis was warped bad enough one of the front tires wouldn't quite touch the ground. Probably should have beefed it up and maybe fixed some of the rust first.

I like the idea of using fine fiberglass cloth to support things. I have a roll of that somewhere. Obviously I don't have access to the adhesive you do, but I used the cloth one time with resin to make a belly tank. The cloth has just enough flex to go down smoothly over the plug I carved. We are straying from the subject as some have said. I remember as a kid having a toy car that advertised it was made out of Hi-Impact plastic and it looks like this is the same sort of thing. The only thing that seems to work is heat welding with a soldering iron. I originally wrote the question hoping to find some glue I missed. No adhesives I've tried work and that is that as far as I can tell. I'll try making resin copies of pieces I want to use. Appreciate the ideas!

No real progress today, but I did make a few positive steps. I ordered a different engine to try. I'm having trouble getting the Coyote twin turbo setup to fit in the Expedition engine bay. I found a 5.2 liter Voodoo and will see if it fits better. I was hit with some inspiration for the front bumper this afternoon and also managed to get the hood to fit a bit better.

I'm now thinking this is the way for some pieces. I have an Alumilite kit I bought from HL last year and packed away. If it's still good, I may try making copies.

Reading the replies made me think and I went out and checked. The plastic does indeed have a sort of waxy feel to it not unlike Teflon in some ways. I have a couple of Bondo spreaders and they feel and flex like plastic I'm talking about. The plastic doesn't take cutting or sanding well at all. Out of curiosity, I tried an experiment. I scuffed up the leftover chassis of a parts kit and tried various things on it. I tried super glue, Bondo spot putty, two part epoxy, ketone, and some other solvent based cleaners. They had no effect on the plastic. It didn't bond the plastic and it didn't even distort it.

Reading the replies made me think and I went out and checked. I have a couple of Bondo spreaders and they feel and flex like plastic I'm talking about. The plastic doesn't take cutting or sanding well at all. I tried some epoxy on a roughed up area and it doesn't adhere very well either. Edit: Come to think of it the plastic feels similar to the plastic that Super glue comes in.

I have the same issue. Sometimes I can get them apart by twisting, but not always. One way that works fairly well is to cut a slit and pry the wheel shaft apart a little with a screwdriver to let the axle slide out.

Of that body style, the 1957 is my favorite. I think ModelHaus did a version of that, but I never got around to ordering one and now it's too late. I imagine if the kits sell in the numbers I think they will, Round 2 might get ambitious and do different years of them.

Many years ago there was a rumor that the MPC Chevette and Vega tooling were still around somewhere. Has anyone heard whether they actually are? I've been watching eBay for a while, but the originals always go for more than I can justify. I never thought I would see the stock Datsun truck or the Toyota Supra kit again and when they came out again, I bought several of them. Surely there are some other old tools that could be reissued.

For a short time in the late 90s I worked for a company producing resin bodies. We used various brands of resin depending on availability. Some were white and some were tan or yellowish when cured. Over time they all tend to discolor a bit. I still have a few parts left over from that time and even the formerly white ones are now a yellow color due to age.

The local Walmart has been clearing out their diecast cars of various scales at a good price. I got a ton of them to break down for the wheels and tires. Now for the question, a lot of these toys have some cool body parts and details that would be nice for model kits. The plastic on the chassis and interior is a slightly bendable black plastic. Could it be a type of ABS? I've tested use a Tamiya liquid cement, and super glue, but neither really touches it. I do have a generic Bondic but haven't tried it yet. Has anyone ever glued this stuff together and if so what works? I couldn't find any markings on the pieces saying what kind of plastic it is.

I love the details

That's cool!

I ordered these off Amazon as cargo for various builds. I ordered two sets, one in orange and the other in black and they shipped from China in about two weeks. They are actually sized for a larger scale I think, but they should work well enough. They are designed to be used for radio controlled jeeps and such and are actually hinged so you could fill them with tiny stuff. The medium, boxes are sized about like a Yeti cooler in 1/24th.

That sounds like good news!

Now if Tamiya would only rerelease their Volvo wagon kits!

I figured a Mustang was a good fit with the Expedition. Today while looking for something else I unearthed enough leftover parts from various Monogram F-350s to possibly make a duallie as the team parts runner. I'd tucked away an original kit years ago and when I opened it, there are a lot of extra parts. I have enough for two truck, except for missing one engine.

I like it!

That looks nice! I just rebuilt the same kit yesterday after finding the missing parts.

I have a soft spot for Volvos. My first was a 260GL which was a fun car. My last one was a V50 wagon which I really loved. I had a mechanic friend who bought and sold Volvos so he gave me a good price on repairs. I happily drove that car in Austin traffic for quite some time until the plastic Y at the bottom of the radiator split. The engine fried before I could get to an exit. The mechanic retired and I now drive a Lexus SUV.