Mike Kucaba

One of the putties is Fun tack. It is generally referred to as posterboard putty. A putty to use to simulate weld beads? I'd go with something very slow setting and workable by wetting in case you make an error and want to start over. My choice would be Magic Sculpt. Others may recommend Aves or Milliput. All are basically the same,just that I find Magic Sculpt a bigger bang for the buck. They are twp part putties that you mix together and spread on.They can be tooled with a wet finger so you can get a very smooth finish before any sanding.

I've got several sets of BFG Radial T/A's. They are kit based,so are they inaccurate or something?

When you notice the cracks you mentioned is when they should be tossed.

There's no driver?

I 've only heard about doing this on diecast,or more specifically,white metal. Now if you could slow the buffer down to 100-200 rpm...?

Ok Fair enough. If ALL he wants to do is paint the back of a grille,wouldn't the procedure be similar to painting ANY part? I guess this is one of those "a picture is worth a thousand words" .

Opening up the by sanding from the back is the way to go,but some grilles are just too fragile to do this(I did that to the grille from a '64 Mercury and I'm afraid to breathe on it) so you blackwash it like the others said. I do prefer Tamiya Smoke for this,and it really helps tone down the chrome look on hubcaps and wheels.

I don't know if this is why,but I started/went from the bottom up. I had all three cans ready and waiting and applied all colors one right after the other with no drying time in between colors.

I thin it with denatured alcohol,about 50/50 and shoot thru my airbrush at about 30 Psi with a fine tip and needle

Rattle canned Testor's Fiery Orange,Lime Ice,andInca Gold.

Lacquer,enamel, aqueous enamels,nail polish,real car paint,spraycan,airbrush.

I...I'd like to buy a vowel. Can I do that

It looks like this car is already finished. You'll have a hard time blending anything custom now unless you can match the paint. I just saw online a neat front end on a rod type vehicle. The builder used the rear Chevy fenders from the '53 Ford and narrowed them,stuck the 2 halves together and put them on with the rear facing front. Just a thought.

Outstanding effort then and now!

Nice story and execution.That's probably the Mono diecast model.Looks good with the hood all polished,might be a good way to do it as a full build.

I think I'd pick out the details after the clear coat on that one.

I'll try and load all those that I mentioned later this week.

I've never understood leaving parts on the sprues and painting. There's bound to be a mold line or some schmutz that needs to be massaged before any paint or primer. I can only think that the chrome tree would be the exception.

My cherished builds are by someone else: I have four Corvette models built by Scale Dreams : '54 Nomad Wagon,'54 Corvair corvette Fastback,'59 Corvette Stingray,and 2000? Corvette Indy I also have : Maserati Birdcage by Arrdvark models. And a Stingray III wagon by Joel Dirnberger

WOW! Lets jump in with both feet! Open doors,cut away front clip. Nice work so far. How about some details so I can copy this. Like kit, chassis,etc.

I don't know anyone that clear coats over a blackwashed grille. Most treat the grille as a separate item,and detail it separately. Chrome headlights can be enhanced by dropping a coat of Future clear acrylic on it for depth or clear epoxy.Side marker lights are done with clear yellow/orange,and clear red,or a decal in the kit.

Great job! Love the phantoms

I'm certainly not giving any of mine up. One thing I like about the AB is control.You know those high spots you sometimes buff thru on a RC paint job, you can dial down the pressure on the AB and shoot a little more color and clear to build up these areas,and how you gonna put a decent amount of paint in the underside of a '59 Chevy rear fin.

Nice clean build and a good choice for the colors.

Can't wait for this to get repaired,got a bunch of sealed kits for $5.00...