Smart-Resins

I have started casting this year and primarily in 1/16. I have actually given that some thought. I have not thought of a good way yet other then heating upi the tire to make the flat spot as well as filling in the iside, then using bondo on the outside to create the wrinkles.Still searching for a better technique for this.Also being unemployed right now, I already have a buch of casting to do infront of me before I start much else.Anyways, I do agree and would love to put this on the list of to dos?Anythoughts or opinions?

Thank you. Looks like I will have to get a list together in the future for him.

Does anyone have close up shots of thier bodies in wich they used this paint? I know those wheels look good?

I am liking the way this one is going.I am planning a truck build soon.Where did you get that vintage blower? Thanks

While in my local hobby shop today after glue, I saw that he had a new rack of the Testors one coat laquers. I had to laugh some when I read the instructions as it said use multiple thin coats, but it states one coat laquer on the front? Anyways they had a nice red and a nice yellow and even a very different green I might contemplate using on something.I usually use duplicolor paints as they are so easy to use with such good results.Wondering if any one has used these yet and how they are? I am currently unemployed, so couldnt get a can to try, but I am very interested in them.

i TRIED DOING IT WHEN i WAS A KID AND GOT SO DARN FRUSTRATED WITH THE WARPED FRAME AND NOTHING FITTING THE WAY IT WAS SUPPOSED TO, IT CAME TO A EARLY UNCOMPLETE DEMISE, THAT WAS FUNB FOR A FEW SECONDS ANYWAYS.nOW THAT i AM MUCH OLDER AND HAVE MORE SKILLS, PATIENCE AND CAN SCRATCHBUILD, i WOULDNT MIND EVENTUALLY PICKING IT UP FOR A FUN BUILD.

Another quick update.Worked on the floor pan last night.Need to still do the sides along the frame then that is done and on to the tank mounts.Please say hi to Al for me.LOL.

Udate here.After taking a ride and taking pics of the snow we got here in East TN, got a little build time in. Filled in the fire wall and placed the rear cross member and spring perch and notched out the back of the cab.

The wheels and tires are from the AMT Lincoln kit that the guy and bottles and guns came out of. I will be scratch building hubs for the rear to make them duallies. Thanks for the kind words guys. I am building this for a build off on a group site and figured I would share it here too.

That is sad new. I never saw the finished product of what he was building that I liked. He had done the aluma coupe, then started on a truck of simular design. I liked what i saw of it, but never saw the finished build.Anyone have pics or reference link?

I had some extra parts left over after the wife got a 29 goodguys truck, so hunted around for a few more.Decided to do a dropped ratted out hoochy tanker. Heres some progress pics so far.I reversed the front horns and added a tube cross bar with a spring bar. Moved the tranny mount up to the top of the frame and moved forward slightly. Now working on a rear cross bar with spring mount. Will have a caddy 354 in it and a 32 Ford street rod rear end and Lincold wheels(dualies in the rear).Enjoy This one is first mock up with scratch built tank This is of the front frame. This is a quick mock up at proper ride height without the tank.

I have never had luck with brake fluid. It never gets everything off for me and seems to be harder to wash off with warm water then paople state. 90% alchy works some say. I find it does on chrome, but nor so well on paint. Purple Power from Walmart seems to be my trick to all of the above. The only downfall is if I use it too much, my hands try to break out so I either have to use it occasionaly or wear gloves.Thats fine with me.

Looks like some good reading! Weathering is one thing I have yet to learn!

This is the first drawing I have done in about 7 years and the first car drawing I have done in about 15 years. So please dont laugh too bad now O.K. Just after being un-employed for a couple of weeks now, I got the bug to draw a car.Took me about 30 minutes from picking up the pencil to inking it to erasing the pencil marks.Enjoy.Jody

I am stuck. She thinks I spend too much on my hobby, though I really dont spend that much, maybe 2-300 a year. She also complains that I spend too much time on my models/computer. Yet when I decide to not work on them and want to spend time with her after her complaining, she first asks what is wrong with me, am I sick. Then she after a short time tells me to go to my room, or tells me she is to busy why dont I go do what I want to, wich is go to my room. She has no hobbies of her own and sometimes thinks mine is a waste. But at other times she is soo happy that I have it as to keep me out of her hair. She is very supportive about me getting my children into it and she also is doing her first model and swapping parts and customizing it. So she is split I quess, between hating it and liking it?!

You are welcome. I save tons of photos almost everyday. I have litterally thousands of photos. It was a site I happend upon while looking for something else. I had no interest in the site but found the tutorial informational so read it carefully and saved the pics.This is the method they described, as far as cutting out the hole and all. I have just supplied the common sense of doing it without cutting out the hole to make things simple. I have not tried it myself yet, but if you give me a couple of days, I am working on a 1/16 swcale 1934 flip top altered ford( with the top cut off and filled in and sitting on a scratchbuilt "homebuilt" style frame. I am wanting to add louvers to the back deck, so it would be the same as you were talking about, just bigger.If you are in no hurry, then I can take progress pics of it and share them with you to show you how to do it if you want. As for the prior tutorial pics, I dont always catagorise them, or catagorize them incorrectly so you have my apologies. Some day I want to organize all of my photos and get a web site with them all on it under certain catagories for poeple to find stuff a little easier.Thats why I had to upgrade to a 64X dual core processor and dual core memory even though its only 1 gig so far. Soon I will have to add more memory, thats how much I got! Jody

Darn it all. I just saw a good tutorial on scratch building louvers on a model truck that was posted on a model truck site of course. I saved the pics, but with my thousands of pics saved, I cant find them now. Anyways, Evergreen Styrene sells quarter rounds in various sizes. Choose the size you want and cut them to length, Easiest I think would be to use a modeling miter box and razor saw, clamp a stopper in ther with a large gator clamp or small c clamp so it always goes in the same distance, then cut them. Next round of the ends.They are now ready. Now heres where theres a varience. You can either cut out your opening and use thin flat stock strips, the thickness of your hood and cut them the length needed to fit snuggly inside the opening then glue them to the back of your louvers center then glue your louvers on. Here you can glue one on then use one for spacing and glue on the next. This method gives you opened louvers. Or you can go the simple way and leave your hood or whatever solid and glue one on, use one for spacing, then glue the next on. This will give it the appearance of louvers, but it wont be open. You choose the level of detail you want. It takes some time, but is not difficult at all. I hope this helps. Since I do larger scale models, this is a neccesity for me to do if I want to.Hope this helps.

Hello. There are a few simple ways to remove chrome.They take varying times to do. Fresh windex, but it takes awhile. 90% alcohal from the drug store will remove it as well. My favorite is purple power found in the automotive section.hat is great for removing paint as well. Just if you have sensative skin, wear gloves. Theres also scale coat found in the train section.Some swear by it as well and that you can re-use that over and over, but I have not tried that yet.

Now I have been using the Alumilites resin, but have only about 30 seconds to mix and then sling it. The micro mark stuff I have been eying now. When I place my next order was thinking of trying the 7 minute one. Any pros/cons or tips and tricks to go with it?Thanks.

A quick couple more tips for ya. First, I use Price Discrolls Ultra 4 polyester parfilm paintable mold release. You get a large can for not too much and a little goes a long way.Great item. Second, if you want to have your part come out colored, you can paint the inside of your mold before casting.The resin will pick up the paint and give you a fairly decent colored surface. If you want your molds to last longer, they have stuff out there to prolong its life.I have not used this stuff yet though.They also have dies and pigments to change the resins color. There are as several have said, other resins out there with longer pot life.When I am done using up my alumilite, I will try the resin from micro-mark as they have 3 minute and 7 minute pot life. Now another one, if you ever decide to use a pressure pot, bump the mold rubber from #3 down to #2, if you havnt already so it will hold up better. Now also to help with bubbles, you can use a sterynge(spelling) to "inject" your mold with. If you want a better how to, send me your email addy and I will forward a copy of a tutorial I got from Chris Buck wich is focused more on molding bodies, but it does have some really good info including the equation to figure out how much resin you will need.Hope all info is helpfull, and does not bog you down too much. My suggestion is to start out simple and as you go, try some other trick as you get better at it as to not get overwhelmed.Good luck and most importantly, have fun!

A quick couple more tips for ya. First, I use Price Discrolls Ultra 4 polyester parfilm paintable mold release. You get a large can for not too much and a little goes a long way.Great item. Second, if you want to have your part come out colored, you can paint the inside of your mold before casting.The resin will pick up the paint and give you a fairly decent colored surface. If you want your molds to last longer, they have stuff out there to prolong its life.I have not used this stuff yet though.They also have dies and pigments to change the resins color. There are as several have said, other resins out there with longer pot life.When I am done using up my alumilite, I will try the resin from micro-mark as they have 3 minute and 7 minute pot life. Now another one, if you ever decide to use a pressure pot, bump the mold rubber from #3 down to #2, if you havnt already so it will hold up better. Now also to help with bubbles, you can use a sterynge(spelling) to "inject" your mold with. If you want a better how to, send me your email addy and I will forward a copy of a tutorial I got from Chris Buck wich is focused more on molding bodies, but it does have some really good info including the equation to figure out how much resin you will need.Hope all info is helpfull, and does not bog you down too much. My suggestion is to start out simple and as you go, try some other trick as you get better at it as to not get overwhelmed.Good luck and most importantly, have fun!

It was someone on LSM that told me about the talcum powder trick. For the amount of resin, there is a formula to try to figure out close to the amount you will need.I will have to dig it out later. Also, you can buy a small digital scale on ebay for a few bucks that will help you mix up about what you need. I am not trying to confusse you.Just give ya some tips.I went through a couple of boxes and got very frustrated and was about to give up when I started talking to other casters and getting tips to do better resin parts. I am a stickler about air bubbles and loss of detail, so I try to do good parts.Thats wy I just bought the pressure pot.Have not had a chance to try it yet, but had to pick it up since it was only $40 on harbour frieght.As for the fumes ect., think I gave ya straight answeres on that?

In short term, heating the mold helps to reduce air pockets. Now to also help reduce air bubbles in the resin, it is also common practice to use a poweder like talcom powder or baby powder.This helps to "de-gas" the resin orhelp minimize the air bubbles.Also while mixing make sure you mix slowly to help ensure you dont add air bubbles to the resin, and also try to pour slowly.With the alumilite, I know by experience this can be difficult as time is very short.Practice helps here! also, if you go onto thier forum and ask around, you may find that leaning the mixture may give you a few seconds if you are not looking for resale quality.Without a pressure pot, you will have some air bubbles.On rims, these tend to be where your lug bolts ect. are. So do expect it and plan for it.Make sure you have a air escape on your mold to help reduce this.Also, if it is a one piece mold, you can take a pin and pop any visual bubbles until the resin begins to kick.With Alumilites, this will be evident as it will start to go from semi-clear to a milky color. Hope this helps.Jody

Yes, it is safe to warm the mold in the microwave. That is the quick way.Is supposed to better to kepp it warm on a hot plate though. There is a smell to it after warmin it, but it is non-toxic to you.It does not affect the micro-wave, mold or food to be nuked later. A respirater is not needed either.Maybe when grinding the resin parts when you munk up, esp. if theres TA on them LOL. Otherwise, very safe.Do have fun and always ask wuestions, dont get discouraged.By the way, what are you planning on casting?

I will try to help out some here. For the big companies, thier injection molding is set up with a big press, heat source and cork screw idea. The styrene is melted, then the press turns down, forcing the molten plastic into a high pressure steal mold, held tightly together in another form of press. The molds will have a escape hole with a door. The press pushes the liquid plastic into the mold and out the other side.Once the plastic has filled the mold pushing the majority of the air out, the door is closed.As the press continues to push the plastic in the mold at literally hundreds of PSI, at around 400-700 degrees depending on material, it litterally crushes the air bubbles that remain.Then the mold is cooled quickly with usually water running through cooling chambers in the mold itself. Now these machines cost any wheres in the neighborhood of a hundred grand. Now for the decent resin casters, they can and do try to imitate this the best that they can. A good caster will try to make thier molds using a pressure pot to try to eliminate air bubbles in the mold itself. Then they will also cast the parts in the pressure pot as well to also try to eliminate the bubbles then as well. And some casters do inject thier molds with a small injector simular to a meat tenderizing injector. key here is to use a resin with a longer pot life and also have a escape hole for the air to escape.The problem is the injection molding system allows time to make the parts.Most resins have a very short pot life.Alumilite average a minute to mix, pour(or inject). Did I mention out of that 60 seconds, you are supposed to stir for 30 seconds.So that leaves you 30 seconds to fill the mold and place it in the pressure pot.Very hard to fit it all in. There are some resins out there with a slightly longer pot life.However for the longer pot life, you tend to trade off other things like durability/strength. Now I am telling this as a bigginner that has talked to several other casters. I just got my pressure pot 2 days ago and will be trying to get more advanced on my casting. Now there is something new out there that a friend has told me about, spin casting that is supposed to be good, working on a centrifugal idea to create pressure.have not heard how that is working yet?Thanks.Jody