Scale-Master

The blue and gold is done with the original decals from the kit. They responded well to a hairdryer and solvent but I had to be careful around the wing area with the heat. No cracking thankfully.

Ready for final assembly…

Starter resin & brass kit in 1/43rd scale. Most Starter kits are curbside but this is one of the few "full detail" kits they offered. As you can see there is still a good amount of clean-up required after removing the thin flash in the main openings. This structure has to be cut out too. The "full detail" section is basically one part and the removable engine cover. Kind of interesting how they cast it with the steel axle in place.

I considered that option. Unfortunately the decals are designed with cut out sections for the covers. These are Starter kits; they have their quirks...

The headlights were yellowed like the windows and I have been having good results with peroxide and sunlight on them so I tried it on the resin headlights. It did lessen the yellowing a good amount but also left them chalky and no longer transparent. I clear coated them with acrylic gloss and restored the transparency. Next time I'll just use the sunlight. The body is painted and ready for decaling.

Starter 1/43rd resin kit. The rear fins and wing were warped and the fins had sink marks in them. I straightened them with a hairdryer and filled the low spots with CA before rescribing and cleaning up the body. The front wheels are chrome plated and look nice, but the rear wheels are aluminum and were oxidized dark gray. Steel wool and polish on the lathe seems to have done the trick. The one on the right is how they came out of the box.

The decals respond well to a hairdryer and decal solvent. They are not brittle but they are thin. I had to cut the front fenders and rear end decals into multiple pieces to deal with the contours. It took a good 2 and a half hours to apply these 6 decals.

Thanks guys. 1/48 scale.

Fun kit. This was a test shot so there were no decals or instructions. But I found a lot of photos that indicated they didn't all have stenciling or insignias.

The green was mottled with a combination of airbrushing and sponge stippling with the same green tinted with a little smoke. The yellow area was distressed by wet sanding.

I mixed the light blue using old Testors Pla enamels; 1108 Light Blue and 1145 Gloss White. Shot it last night.

The light blue and dark green (Tamiya AS colors decanted) were airbrushed on and the yellow (Tamiya LP) was masked sprayed about 15 minutes later. These Tamiya lacquers are fantastic.

This is a 1/43rd resin kit by Starter from the early 90's. The body casting was pretty clean compared to the other variants of this casting I have. (Must have been a low mileage mold.) But it had an inordinate amount of holes that needed to be filled. I'll take that issue over a crusty worn out mold that can really mess up details. At this point the brass parts have been attached and the stance has been adjusted. It's ready for primer.

Tamiya 1/48 kit. The paint scheme is a composite of multiple aircraft I found partial reference for. But first I needed to build the trolley. Assuming the trolley is made of wood, maybe a pressed/ply/composite from what I can tell from photos, I went with AS-45 Tan as a base. Then I stippled and semi dry-brushed X-24 clear yellow with a little graphite powder before using the brown Panel Line Accent as wash. The aircraft was rescribed and the panel lines preshaded.

WIP Thread: https://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/188110-hardcastle-mccormick-coyote/

I shot the headlight covers with Tamiya Smoke and assumed the headlight detail in buckets might be visible so I painted and installed those parts. Maybe with a flashlight the headlights are visible… All the clear parts fit pretty well. The taillights were done with Tamiya acrylics and foil.

Thanks Steve, I could CAD up the wheels and since they are not supposed to be chrome 3D printing them would quite well. I used the kit decals for the stripes, but they had a matte sheen so I polished them while they were still on the sheet before applying them. When applied they responded to decal solvent well (to wrap around the front edges) but are somewhat fragile. I made new exhaust tips from aluminum.

After a polish and wax (no clear coat), it's time to add the other details to the body. These older enamels are still very good paints, they just need more dry & cure time compared to the newer lacquers.

No they aren't. The set of BFGs I have from them are bigger/smaller, not hollow, more rubber-like and have a better tread pattern.

That's a great story Steve! Thanks for sharing! Nice model of it too.

It's nice that the kit includes BFG Radial T/A tires and the tread is clearly identifiable as the second generation design. The sidewall detail however is bold and at the same time on the soft side and out of scale. (I still have a real set of BFG's to compare to.) I'm not too concerned if the tires are not the correct sizes for the car. I used Tamiya LP-4 Flat White to hand paint the lettering. It sticks amazingly well and flexes like an acrylic; I was even able to mount the tires to the rims after painting.

IMC kit with a few minor upgrades, machined parts and vintage enamel paint. My kit was missing the rear body panel and the rear window along with a few other minor parts. I made replacements for all of them. The wheels were damaged so I cast copies of the best one and supplemented them with machined aluminum outer sections. The tires were MIA too so I used some Tamiya Pirellis. I cast copies of Re5 Turbo windshield wipers to replace the molded in ones and added a license plate. I also created all the decals. WIP Thread:

The wipers, mirrors and door handles are installed. (The door handles came in the kit.) The Fiberfab badges that go behind the door windows still need to be painted and attached. There is supposed to be one for the hood, but it's a short shot in my kit and I like the cleaner look without it.

I cut vinyl for the flat black accents on the hood, quarter windows and side scoops. I machined an aluminum latch handle and made a license plate and decal for it.

Ken, my kit was missing the rear window so I made a new one from a Monte Carlo Nascar window that had inner and out outer details molded on to it. Your IMC window should be fine.