Kit Basher

Thanks, Jeff Thanks, Matthew. I am thinking about building a 1/12 scale all aluminum B29, which would require drinking a LOT of beer, just for the aluminum, of course. I will let you know!

The body and the interior are permanently attached to the frame. The back window is in. I wanted door windows in my truck. The passenger side is all the way up, the driver's side is part way down. I had to eat a whole tub of chocolate chip cookies to get the plastic for the windows. The sacrifices we make for our hobby! Started on the underhood details. The clutch tube is attached to the clutch master cylinder, and the steering shaft is in place. Next is the starter wire and the hose from the air pump to the air can, then a bunch more stuff. Advice and comments always welcome. nuff for now, more later.

Thanks, Dave. I hope it works out for ya.

Is there any place to get the cab and batwing hood for a '70s Loadstar? I know "Models by Dave" was working on a resin one, but I haven't heard any updates on it. The only other one I have seen was on an awesome school bus model, but I think that one was scratched. I've got another 1:1 I would like to copy, but this cab is giving me fits! Thanks

It is confusing. Paint basically consists of three parts, solvent, resin, and binder. The most common resins used today are acrylic and urethane. The most common solvents are lacquer thinner, mineral spirits, and water. These can be combined in lots of different ways. The labeling is what makes it difficult. You can have "acrylic enamel": acrylic resin mixed with water, or "acrylic enamel": acrylic resin mixed with lacquer thinner, two very different animals. Neither one has any relation to traditional enamel, i.e. alkyd or gum resin mixed with mineral spirits. At least it's simple in one respect, based on the previous comments, it seems that lacquer thinner will work on all of them.

38.5 lb! That's not a cat, that's a Border Collie! Is that like a Guinness record or something?!

Uh, guys, having seen the word used quite negatively several times in this thread, I would like to make it clear that my screen name is "basher" because I am a "kit basher". Kits will be the only thing I will ever bash! I really enjoy looking at Mr. Teresi's builds, and agree that it would be a huge loss if he stopped sharing them with us. Please don't misinterpret me!

Wow, Steve! That is amazing! I just want to follow up and say I followed the advice I got here, sprayed Testors black thinned with lacquer thinner, let it dry overnight, sanded with 2000 grit, and gave it another very thin coat. I ended up with a very shiny and smooth black. I sprayed the Alclad, but didn't want to use too much, I ended up with "black chrome". Next day I sprayed a couple more coats of Alclad, and while my results don't match Steve, Bill, or Dan's, I am very happy with it. Thanks to all for the great info!

Holy guacamole! Now that is a bumper! Crazy as it sounds, I think that one might be easier. At least you don't have to chrome it. Remind me not to play chicken with you!

You know Roger, I thought about those pin heads, but the pins I have are too big. Even if I could find smaller pins now, I wouldn't do it, that Alclad is too tricky to mess with.

It wouldn't do you any good, Matthew, it's got the air dam on it!

Thanks, Roger. I basically followed your idea. I sanded off the trim strip, and glued a narrow strip of thin styrene along the top corner of the bumper. Leaving the channel, I glued another strip of styrene on the face of the bumper. Then it was a lot of sanding, priming, and polishing to get it all smooth enough for Alclad. The hardest part was getting the new plastic to blend smoothly into the bumper. Thanks for the suggestion, I don't think I would have come up with that on my own!

I got a little update. Here is that bumper. Hours of work but worth it (I guess!) Under the hood: advice and comments always welcome. nuff for now, more later

Yes Roger. Thanks for asking. I finally finished that blue blinkin' bumper just today. I've also been working on some paint touch ups and started putting the cab together. I hope I will have something to show in the next few days.

Thanks for upgrading the forums. It is noticeably faster now. Hopefully that will be the end of the dreaded "pink screen". This is a great place to hang out, thanks again for making it better!

It was truly wonderful what a cherry bomb would do to a plastic model!

After almost 40 years as a woodworker, a little piece of plastic has no power to irritate me. Wood, on the other hand, has a mind of its own, and is sometimes downright evil! After all that practice on something REALLY frustrating, modeling is pure pleasure.

It's not a good reason, but I have Testors, I don't have Alclad black, and I'm cheap! Dan, did you polish the black, or leave it as airbrushed?

Yeah, that's why I asked the question. I have had Alclad rub off in my early attempts. I'm doing a bumper and would like to get results like Dan's. I've heard of using Future over Alclad. Anybody tried that? Thanks all.

I have seen several recommendations to use Testors gloss black as a base for Alclad chrome. Does that mean MM black (which I don't have) or Testors square bottle (which I do have)? The square bottle is notoriously slow to dry, if I use Donn Yost's method of thinning it with lacquer thinner, will it dry faster, and still be OK for the Alclad? I have also heard to polish the black. I have Meguiars Ultimate polish, it doesn't say anything about silicone. Anybody know if it would be safe to use? Thanks in advance.

Dang, Matthew, that's tough. I also have a little fur buddy who "helps" me with the computer, so I really feel for you. I hope things get better for both you and your fiancee real soon. I'll miss your advice and good humor. Hang in there, Hugh

Sok jo! (Sorry if I'm spelling that wrong) We don't often see people in model cars here. I like it.

Thanks, Jeff. Ohio could be on Mr. Boone's map as well! I think I'm gonna go with a variation of Roger's idea. The channel on the 1:1 bumper is barely 3/16" deep. In 1/24 that's only 1/128". So I took strips of the thinnest styrene I had, and laminated them on the bumper leaving the channel. I already sanded the top strip flush with the top of the bumper, it looks pretty good. I think I can feather the bottom strip into the bumper as well. I won't be able to work on it until after the 4th, but I'll update as soon as I make some progress.

Hey you guys notice we've got a regional thing going here? Kentucky, West by god, Vajanya, and Maryland. Sounds like a map out of Daniel Boone's pocket.

I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure I need one!