Aaronw

I'll let you know after I visit the past lives pavilion.

Jim, here is my booth.

The Pace booths look good, I was about to buy one myself, but when I started to price materials I found I could save myself a fair bit of money. My booth is a little bigger than the Pace Super mini ($335) with a larger blower and I did it for about $200. If I didn't already own a lot of wood working tools, then by the time I got a drill, skill saw and sabre saw my savings would have gone away. It took me about 8 hours to build mine, which is a consideration since sometimes we do have more money than time.

The square part is the exhaust, it bolts on sideways and air is drwan through the round hole in the side. When I get home I can post some photos of the booth that show it mounted.

No kidding, I got two each of the 1970s Ford F350 and Blazer when Model King re-issued them a few years ago, thinking I could get more after I built them. Those two just don't show up much even on ebay, and when they do the asking price is high and they usually sell. I'm not sure what kind of arrangement was made between Model King and RC2, but I hope Round 2 will eventually bring them back, I could use a few more.

This is the blower I bought, my booth is 24" wide, by 16" tall. http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/DAYTON-PSC-Blower-1TDR7 I was quite happy with my purchase and Grainger's service. Also be aware that most of the blowers do not come with a cord, you will have to order that seperately. If you search you will find paint booths have been beaten to death, so I'm only going to make two other comments. The first is don't be cheap, figure out which blower you need and get it, expect to spend $100-200 just for the blower. A good blower will last you for many, many years. Trying to save yourself $25-30 by getting something less isn't worth it, as it will probably annoy you everytime you paint for many, many years. The other is you don't need a fan rated as "explosion proof", that is a very specific requirement (full size drive your car in paint booth, venting a fuel bunker etc) and those are very expensive (usually start around $1000). If you look at commercial hobby booths almost all of them use a shaded pole blower.

Well that takes care of my only issue with the kit, all my ideas involved a daycab. Is it done yet? How about now.

I like having a little lead time, it gives me time to think about what I want to do with a kit. For re-issues it lets me know to be very picky on any I find on ebay because it is coming back. I had been hunting Revell's 1941 Chevy and 1950 Ford trucks which were starting to get kind of up there. When those were announced for re-issue with new parts, I waited for the re-issues and bought a bunch. On the other hand, waiting can be annoying...

Ok, I'm going to jump in with a 1948 U.S. Forest Service "Green Hornet" fire engine. I was lucky enough to get to check out this 1-1 example a few years ago. After it's service with the USFS it was transferred to a volunteer fire department that still owns it and uses it as a parade piece.

Eh, put a few air holes in the trunk, they'll be fine, it's a short ride.

Maybe that is why the LAPD Charger I just bought doesn't have any decals. I know when Universal started working on the TV show Emergency! they approached LA city Fire first. They were "too busy" to play with TV people, so the producers went to LA County Fire who was more than happy to work with them. Some people just can't see free positive public awareness opportunities if it bites them on the butt.

If you are kind of iffy on wood working, I'd go with Ed's idea. It is simple, and quite manageable with hand tools. Pine will be your cheapest option, if the shelf is painted don't bother paying for more expensive wood. If you are going to stain it you might want to look into nicer wood. Pine takes stain well, but it is a very distinctive wood and it always looks like pine regardless of the color you stain it. I agree with Ed here too, Poplar is a fairly inexpensive wood with a nice non-descript clear grain that can mimic other more expensive wood when stained. You will end up with upsidedown U shaped parts that you can glue or screw into the existing unit. I've never had much luck getting wood cut at a Home Depot / Lowes type store. They will do it, but not very accurately. I've had cuts 1/2 - 3/4" off, not a big deal if they are just cutting a 12 foot board in half to fit in your truck, but it is a big deal if it is cut to your specific needs. Real lumberyards are usually better, but I still don't rely on them to do more than cut the wood into managable pieces.

I guess I'm going to be the oddball. I generally clear, then foil, then decals, then a top clear. The first clear provides some protection to the paint during the embossing / cutting stage. I do the decals after for the same reason, less likely to damage them while foiling. So far I've never had a problem with clear yellowing over foil, but I have had foil start to come loose after a time when I didn't clear coat it. BMF had (has?) a bad tendancy of having the glue go bad. I know they claim to have addressed it on several occasions, but don't know if they got it right on the most recent "new and improved".

I downloaded Google Sketchup last year and have been playing with it. It does a pretty nice job for a free program. Here is a stepvan I drew up with it.

That is a good idea. With the way the cabs are made a new front would work for both the day cab and sleeper. Since it is a fairly simple smallish part (compared to most cab conversions) it shouldn't terribly expensive either.

Thanks, I'll probably skip the hardener then from what you've said.

There was a completely seperate custom 1950 Chevy truck that included all the stuff you are mentioning. This kit is pretty much all stock equipment. If you guys go to Round 2's website, you can download the instructions for this kit which show a few new items. Looks like the additions are the push bumper, some warning lights, a sun visor for the windshield ((I don't recall that being in the kit before), and of course some Texaco decals. http://www.round2models.com/models/amt/texaco-chevy-pickup I've got a couple of these trucks already but I'll add at least 2 or 3 more when they come out.

In 2004 I bought a pint of USFS green paint, it is Dupont Centari acrylic enamel. It came with a small quantity of hardener that the paint guy said was optional but recommended for the best finish. I also have the laquer thinner it was supposed to be thinned with. Anyway, I've never used it as I have since found some "close enough" matches in spray cans and I'm kind of lost with anything more than a basic job with the airbrush. This paint wasn't cheap though so I'd like to get around to using it up, but have several questions. #1 since it says it is an acrylic enamel, that means it is not a urethane paint correct? I ask because of the hardener that was suggested to add. I'm not used to regular paints requiring an additive. Urethanes have enough issues that I don't even want to start down that path. #2 Sealed in the can, and stored in a cool dry place do I have any real shelf life issues to worry about? #3 How much of each bit should I use? and do I thin before or after adding the hardener (if I should even use it). #4 anything else I should know about it (recommended psi, spraying tips, etc?) I'm a rattle can and single color acrylic airbrush user, so if this paint will require any special techniques it is safe to assume I don't know that. I do have a cartridge respirator with the appropriate cartridges for use with most paints and a paint booth exhausted outside, so my lungs should be covered. I have a Paashe double action airbrush (VLS I think). Thanks

I don't use it a lot, and I never even thought of using it as a filler but it is a nice putty for sculpting parts from. It is similar to modelling clay in consistancy although a bit sticky instead of oily. It gives you plenty of working time before it starts to set up. I bought some about 5 years ago, and shelf life doesn't seem to be an issue. The unused portion is still as it was when I first bought it.

I see your cash, and suggest returning to barter. Can you believe the prices of Tamiya kits? I paid 3 chickens, a goat and two blankets for the new Aston Martin.

The later VW microbus (1970-80?) we had a '72 when I was a kid and would love to build one.

A squirrel cage is a shaded pole blower.

A squirrel cage blower is the type recommended and used by most commercial hobby paint booths because the motor is out of the airflow.

That should be a fairly simple task. You can get a replacement cord at a decent hardware shop. The cord will be ready to attach to the motor with 3 wires, you just need to figure out which one goes where. For a switch you have a few options, find one you can insert inline (between the cord and motor), plug it into a powerstrip which will be your switch, or just do like me and plug it in / unplug it to turn it on and off. A good hardware store should have someone who can help you figure out the wiring.

I always find these threads on whatever forum tend to end up with a fair number of badwrongfun comments. They also tend to bring out the amatuer psychologists who try to explain how we are compensating by having a large number of kits. I'm not a hoader or a collector, I'm just a bad businessman, I'm starting a hobbyshop, but never quite get to that actually opening a shop stage.