Scale-Master

I have shot baking soda through my airbrush mixed with Testors paints. Just clean it out before it dries, like usual (hopefully), and it does not hurt anything. But baby powder makes a finer texture... These were done by mixing baby powder and Testors enamels and airbrushing the finish.

I can't imagine anyone looking at the PL GTO and not seeing the banana-esque failure in the shape of the body. The Monogram is my choice, and looks far better to me. You'd have to pay me to build a free PL version...

I believe that was two different people's quotes...

If you haven't seen it, how can you post it?

I only build to please myself...

You can't scale down time but you can scale down MPH? The "H" in MPH is "hour". How does that work?

I have been told and learned the "correct" way to pronounce Pocher, but went back to the way it looks in American English since I had to repeat it that way to anyone I was talking too. From the Tamiya family..., Skip is correct, there is no emphasis on any one syllable; all equal/flat vowels. Just because an American employee pronounces it any certain way does not make it automatically correct. But then again, using almost any pronunciation, people still know what you are talking about…

Testors enamels do not dry and cure all that quickly. Baking speeds that up. Normal cure time is as much as four weeks, it may be dry to the touch after a day, but the paint is still too soft to handle for assembly, or to be waxed.

That's not the correct push bar...

I did not strip this one, just sanded out the roughest spots (dirt and such) of the original blue paint, gave it an overall scuff for adhesion, and sprayed the red. When I do strip them, I use carburetor cleaner, or Jasco stripper. Then more work is required to clean up the casting lines and the metal parts will need to be primed/prepped. As far as baking, I have used the kitchen oven, but only for the metal parts. The front valence is plastic on this one and I would not risk oven baking, it is not that precise. However, it has been relatively warm here and I used a clear acrylic dome over the parts to trap the heat of the sun while they sat on top of my hot tub for 8-10 hours a day. Safe slow baking for free.

It is a Hot Wheels diecast I took apart and repainted with Testors Guards Red. Took about two weeks to bake it. One benefit of metal bodies...

This one has opening doors, rear deck and an engine... You can see it in the third photo down. He didn't want full detail so it is just what came with the model inside.

Quickie job for a friend of a car he used to own…

I'm not a big show rod fan, but your workmanship has my attention. Nice!

Finally got the rear wing assembled. Tamiya paints and SMS C/F decals…

Just wanted to give a last reminder for the show tomorrow. We have trophies and great kits to award to the winners from our sponsors: Revell, Round2 Tamiya Even Model Cars Magazine, and others...

I'd like to add to what you started here as knowing what to expect can be helpful... This is what I wrote up years ago to explain our judging philosophy. We still adhere to it uniformly and consistently. We also do not have the entrants names attached to the entries to further cut down on any perceived bias. Only the registrar has that info until the judging is over. And the registrar does not judge at all. As one of the judges so poignantly points out, "the model doesn't know or care who built it", so we don't either. Judging is done in groups of three or more, sometimes five or six. Some of the judges enter in the contest. They do not judge any category they enter in, and are subject to the same rules as all other entrants. If a judge places in the competition, he is removed from the judging pool before the Best Of awards are chosen so there is no way of a conflict of interest. He is not told what he placed with, or where, until the awards announcement like everyone else. We also stay around afterwards to discuss with the entrants anything they want to know about how we arrived at our decisions. What are the Judges looking for? Our intent is to promote the modeling hobby and encourage everyone to build to whatever level they are comfortable with. If that means improvement, we are pleased to offer assistance. We think if you know what the judges perspective is, it can be a benefit to you. These are some of the fundamentals. First is general quality and command of the basics of model building. This means the parts are assembled neatly and aligned correctly. For example, all the tires are touching the ground symmetrically and the model is sitting evenly. (Obviously there are exceptions to this example, some lowrider cars for instance. Think generally and common sense.) The sprues have been completely and cleanly removed and touched up if needed, this includes chrome and clear parts. Ejection pin marks (those pesky round indentations) and flash (excess plastic) should be removed as well as any other imperfections. No excess glue should be showing. The paint should be uniform, no dirt or fingerprints. If multiple colors are used, the masked lines should be clean and sharp. Orange peel and runs, as well as poorly executed body work, will result in a lower "score". Adding extra detail is great. But if the basic construction is not executed well, the extra parts won't matter much. An Out-Of The-Box model built very cleanly will almost always beat a model that has been super detailed, but not met the requirements of basic quality construction. If you do add details or do something special, note it on the entry form, but we study every model regardless of notations. Moving parts are not a plus or a minus. If they are done well, and all things are equal between a model with moving parts and one without, it may tip the scales toward to working one. But rarely are "all things equal". Difficulty of the kit used is considered, but the primary focus is the end result. That is another reason we use anonymous entry forms. It does not matter who entered what, it is the model that is being judged. Subject and color do not matter to the judges. While an attractive vehicle or a flashy color may get some instant attention, every model is fully studied. An ugly color on a boring subject that is well built will beat the flashiest color and coolest design if it is not built as well. Some colors and paints are inherently more difficult to work with. Consideration is given to them, but they still must be applied well. Another case of "all things being equal", a more difficult paint job can sway the results in that direction. Models also should be constructed as logical counterparts to real cars. For example, while an incorrect firing order on a wired engine is not catastrophic, plumbing the fuel lines to the spark plugs would certainly be noted as a negative. The more accurate and logical the mechanicals are the better. Granted, many models are not exact replicas of real cars, but that does not negate reasonable and logical requirements of mechanical construction. When you can see clean through the wheels, wells, engine, chassis and out the other side, that is not mechanically sound either. Same thing with being able to see through gaps elsewhere on the model. While these situations may not bump a model out of serious competition, by not having those problems it elevates it substantially. Models that are replicas of real cars should be just that, copies in as many respects as possible of the real car. Documentation, while not required, is a benefit. On the other side of that coin, documentation that shows the model does not match the intended real car is of no benefit. Some models are weathered to some degree. Just like other aspects of modeling, well executed dirt is usually better than poorly done clean. Weathered models are judged on their own merits just as any other entry.

Nice... It's not that I don't trust you... But I want to see it now!

I thought it might be die-cast too, but you handle/work with both mediums don't you? Do you hold die-casts like a 3 year hold holds a toy, or more like you hold a car model? Seems like it may be one of those gaffs a non-modeler might make...? Just an observation.

Anyone else notice how ham handedly Stacy holds and handles the car model? I know I read he builds models somewhere, but wouldn't a builder handle a model a bit more like a model and less like a block of wood?

Wow, Still not here yet...

Too true. When I changed the clutch on mine I had all my power tools on hand. Hardly used them. Even using a ratchet was difficult for many fasteners. Good old box and open end wrenches were needed to do the lion's share of the work. It was built like a tractor and repairs seem to be designed to be done with what you'd have found on the farm in the 60's. The cool part, you don't need many tools to work on them, the bummer part, it takes a while to do some jobs on it...

It wasn't edited out, I think the issue is the car is a C5 although it was not referred to as one. It was described as "I have a 2009 Z06" which it clearly cannot be since the photos show a C5 ZO6 (hardtop) and a 2009 Corvette (including ZO6) would be a C6 (coupe). The last year for the C5 was 2004. This is a 2009 (C6) ZO6 for comparison... Glad that is cleared up, at least as to the basic visual differences between C5 and C6 Corvettes... It was probably just a typo anyway.

Clean! Looks like you have silver finishes down pat. And I agree with Harry about the wheels... Everything else is spot on.

I think you'll need a stone type bit to grind through the glass as opposed to a steel cutter. Finer rather than coarse. I have sucessfully hand sanded and polished glass with traditional abrasives so it could work. I would do the finishing of the cut edge by hand with wet sand papers. Of course, use proper protection...