Scale-Master

This was started with no clear direction of where it would end, sometimes this kind of build can be “just the thingâ€, it was for me... The journey was more fun than the destination. Definitely on the funky side. It was just something to tinker with and an excuse to machine a few parts. I started with the front wheel and brake. The body was reworked and a handful of detail parts were machined for the headlights, gas cap and rear wheel mounting. The exhaust was made of brass and textured to march the front rim. The rear fin is made of aluminum. Paint is a leftover mix from a previous “real jobâ€, I did add a little white to it and blended (frosted?) the tip of the front fender. BMF makes up most of the trim spears. Enjoy it if you can… WIP Thread: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20350

The Surfite is coming together; the chassis and interior are done. The body is almost done, just detail and trim work for the exterior. In the mean time here is what is done… On a side note, this is probably one of the more underestimated kits as far as detail and fit. For as old as it is, and as tiny as it is, the fit is very good. The real car is not really all that “detailed†or busy, so some of the perceived simplicity of the model is really a reflection of accuracy.

Always wanted to build one of these since I was kid. Finally picked one up in the vendor room at the last GSL. Just going out-of-the-box and using good 'ole Testors paint for much of it, at least what will be seen when it's done (the Tiki Hut is a different story...). The interior was treated to some Scale-Master decal gauges and I couldn't resist taking some artistic license with the VHT Purple paint on the header. Tiki Hut This thing was a blast to paint, not much in the way of assembly, but a great way to burn a few hours each evening for about a week. I sprayed tan on the sides, brown on the roof. Then it was just brush painting the details and using washes.

Nice to see you back at it Mike. Lookin' good!

I have the front wheel/brake/fender assembly done. Make that almost done, I just noticed in the picture I still have to paint the bleeder cap black... Most of the main body is done too. Here are the headlight/running light/turn indicators I turned from aluminum and acrylic. I also machined a fuel filler cap too. The exhaust tips are made of brass and textured to match the front wheel, going for a cast look. Hmmm, seven pipes, wonder how that happened... I still have to make parts to cover the brass axle mounting points for the rear wheel.

It’s not just a few random parts anymore… The tire for the front wheel came from a Redbird model from the Batman & Robin movie. I’ve decided to use the main parts from the rest of the kit too. Now it’s a case of just playing and tinkering to make it look less toy-like. And hopefully find another personality for it. The front wheel/brake/fork assembly is done. The front fender shape/details are still not fully determined, but the geometry is set. Some material has been removed from the front of the fender. More machined aluminum parts for the fork assembly; it is also made to accept a receiver set-up for the handlebars. The caliper is a modified kit part with some additional machined details, as are the bottoms of the forks. The rear bodywork was treated to a fin I rough cut from aluminum plate and shaped freehand. I included a couple mounting tabs on it and epoxied it into a couple slots that I cut into the top of the fender. Sheet plastic cut into triangular shapes were used to build up the top sides of the rear fender, a little polyester filler was utilized to smooth and blend it all together. (Guess I should have taken a “before†pic…) A coat of two-part polyester primer further helped meld it all together. I still don’t have a set idea of what it is going to be or even what color(s) it will have on it when it is done. I’m just letting it flow into whatever it wants right now. After all, it is just for entertainment, I might as well watch along. But is does seem to want to stay Batman themed at this point, oh well… I did start tinkering with the engine. I’m thinking it needs some aluminum too… Here’s a link to the wheel/rotor thread: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20241

Here is the finished rotor and front wheel. All parts were machined in aluminum. The rotor is made up of 11 pieces; the wheel is made of 7, (including valve stem and cap). Ironic no? The center of the wheel was textured to look like a cast unit, but shooting the pics in the late afternoon sun makes the texture look much coarser that it does in person. Front forks are almost done too but the paint needs to dry before assembly and photos… I did spend some time on the overall shape of the “body†of the bike too, so now I have a direction to build towards. I’m using an existing kit to build on but the design is still not finalized. I will say it is not my “normal†subject style…

Looks like the question is still alive... To some... Here's a hint, there are no clues to the answer in the brake rotor.

We have a winner...

For a new project I’ve been tinkering on. (Yeah, attending the GSL tends to get me fired up to play…) This is the front rotor. I machined it to assemble much like a 1:1 unit. The rivets in the bag will fasten the hub and rotor together. It was too windy to take them out of the bag and risk making another batch just for a photo op… Wheel and forks are in the works too, anyone care to guess how many spokes are in the wheel…?

Actually Len, it was done...

Out of the box with some C/F (SMS) accents and some artistic license on the color. It is blue, not black. I used the Wolf Dark Blue Tamiya spray. I also made new “screen†decals for the rear “windowsâ€. The kit supplies them in silver, but I wanted to have them in black. The kit fits together exceptionally well… Here’s a link to the W.I.P. thread: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19711

Thanks everyone! As for the C/F: I used the Scale Motor Sports HiDef C/F and Mr. Mark Softer by Gunze Sangyo for decal solvent. There really is no secret or trick, just a little planning and patience. But this is how I did it and you may find some points useful. When I cut out the odder shapes for the rear engine area, I paid attention to the “grain†of the printed pattern and left a little extra material around all edges. To apply them, I started at the front and worked towards the rear. After dipping the decals in water, I let them completely release from the paper before attempting to slide them onto the model. This can take as long as five minutes, but even if you wait five minutes longer than you need to, it won’t hurt them. Once they were put in place on the model, I applied the Mr. Mark Softer (hey, I didn’t make up the name…) to the edges on both sides (top and bottom) and waited a few minutes for it to soften the decal. I used a soft brush and Q-tips to form the decals to the parts. Once it was how I wanted it, I hit it with a hairdryer on high for a few to several seconds. This causes the decals to really suck down and conform. Plus it speeds up the waiting between applications. Once all the decaling was done, I clear coated them with a thin layer of urethane. As for building part of another one to display with it: What would I do with the left over parts? I figure these pictures are enough to show what it has in it. I'd rather build another complete something else first...

I’ve been working on this (more off than on actually) for a little while. So far it seems to be a very nice kit, fit and overall cleanliness of detail. Just an OOB build, here’s some in-progress photos…

An out of the box build using Tamiya paints throughout, even right from the can in several circumstances. I started this a good six months ago, but was interrupted many times by many things. While this is not a simple model to build, it is rewarding if you have the patience to take your time. It's the delicacy of some of the parts that can be frustrating, especially when you forget about little details from an earlier building episode, (not a fault of the kit). A tip to anyone who is looking to build one, the TS-76 Mica Silver is a great match for the silver on the decal sheet. And go easy with the solvent. Some is needed, to make the decals conform, but they get gooey very quickly even with mild decal solvents. - Mark

A Tamiya kit from I guess a few years ago. Typical fit and construction one would expect from a contemporary Tamiya model. It went together easily, a relaxing “no responsibility†build over two partial weekends and the week nights in-between. Exterior paint is a combination of automotive urethane base colors and enamels. Clear is urethane. Interior colors are mostly Tamiya lacquers. The patterns on the seats are ScaleMotorSports decals as is the C/F on the hood and rear spoiler. The most effort required is the probably for doing all the window trim on the clear…

I have had this sitting around waiting "for the right time" for years. I know I bought it around this time of year, but what year? I have no idea. I had to play with it just for the engine... Once I got to the "waiting for the paint to dry before finishing it off time" on the GT-90, and having a couple holidays off, I figured the time was just right for this. A pretty straight forward build. A custom mixed DuPont base color from another project, urethane for the clear. Lots of hand painting of the details. Some ScaleMotorSport decals for the seat patterns, and some really old Scale-Master decals for the gauges. Some of the chrome parts were salvaged with Alclad, others, like the exhaust pipes for example, were, well lets just say "creatively" painted to hide some of the flaws, and some of the less seen and/or rougher parts became "aluminum" and "magnesium". I didn't try to fix everything, just make something fun in the short time I had to play. Well spent time in my world. Gotta love playin' with the toys...

The kit was a gift and this was something fun to do with it... It's an out of the box type build, just custom decals and some painting. - Mark

You can check this site out. http://www.hotworldcustoms.com/ It has several How-To's that I have done over the years. Lots of pictures and captions make it very easy to follow. If the link doesn't take you directly to my How-To section, look on the left side of the top of the page for "Features". Under that click on "The Scale-Master". Hope that helps. And I just use super glue to put them back together most of the time... Maybe I should write something for the magazine along these lines. Whaddya think Gregg?

I have been tinkering with Hot Wheels again. Some of the new castings are very well done, (just like they were lifted from some nice current kits in some cases...) All of these feature my decal art. Most are just quick and fun, but I did put a little extra effort into the Vette. I have gone back to my "real plastic toy models" instead of these "kids toys"... (for now.) Seriously though, these are great for getting a feel for and testing model paints and schemes without spending a ton of time to find out if it looks as good outside your head as it does inside... Grand Sport Vette (Jack Spaulding's Mecom Ride) Camaro (I know it's not an original idea anymore, but I got the date right if it happens next year) Cuda III (Well, the back looks a little Charger III ish to me...) And those who know me know how much I like these blues...

I think the reason you see so few of the real ones is due to the electronics. Once they turned about ten, many picked up problems and became very expensive to maintain.

I don't know exactly why, but this 300ZX is one of my personal favorites of all the builds I did for Tamiya America for their showroom umptine years ago. Maybe the sharp contrast of the basic white and crisp black trim is what sets it off for me. I have to admit after building it, I bought three or four of these kits for myself. (Some of you may remember a BRE Anniversary Edition I made with one of them?) This was built long before we had the Tamiya spray lacquers here in America, even before the Boyd's line of Testors enamels. I used Testors Classic White. The model was in very good condition when I received it back. Just a cleaning, waxing and some minor touch up on the black that I messed up while cleaning it was all that I did to it.

This is another of the models I built for Tamiya America (well over fifteen years ago) for their showroom and they were nice enough to allow me to have some of them back when they moved their headquarters recently. It was a nice bright metallic red the first time I built it , but was showing a little wear, mostly just the chrome wearing off and a couple of chipped decals. They did very good job of caring for the models. But I thought I'd have some fun with this and took it apart and "rebuilt" (mostly repainted) it in the span of less than 24 hours. Sometimes a simple and fun project is just what is needed. I used Tamiya lacquer military colors for the camo and some old Badger acrylics for the rust and mud. This is an interesting kit as it has fully working suspension. While simplified on a few levels it gives the model a nice feel without being too terribly toy-like. I guess I should have shot a photo or two before doing this to it, but it was just a wild hair project...

An old (circa 1990) resin kit. Wanted something different and this seem to fit the bill. The blue is all you are supposed to paint, the rest is decals, but the yellow portion cracked a lot so I hand painted the yellow. I still had to touch up some areas on the parts of the decals, but they did not crack anything like the yellow. Overall an enjoyable build that did not take too long, just week or so of evenings (every other day at that). One of the benefits of these old Starter 1/43rd kits. Not too detailed, but not too difficult to finish either...

I was in the mood for another simple fun build, and this kit had been beckoning me for some time. I finally had the time for it. Not much time was required. I started this on Saturday and finished it 8 days later by just working on it a couple/few hours a day/evening. I even followed the paint instructions and used almost only Tamiya paints. Except for some old Alclad I had for the raw metal finishes. And I did drill out the rotors, (can't help myself about that), but the rest is simply OOB. I admit to being spoiled by the newer Tamiya bikes, but this one was still well done and an easy build...