James W

Thanks Gregg for posting pics from the show including the awards pictures. People pictures don't carry much weight in a car mag, but having them availiable is a great thing! Besides, now I can prove to my wife that I DID go to SLC.

I do not own a pink shirt. :roll:

Dennis, I would try to mask off the valve covers, maybe at the flange and air brush the Alclad onto them. No disrespect to the other gentlemen, I'm sure they have used Alclad more than I. But I did use some to touch up the chrome on a Duval style frame that I had worn off by handling. It was then mounted and has not been touched Since it sounds like the valve covers will not be handled. it might be worth a shot.

That's a great tip on bending tubes!!! 8) I'll be trying it very soon. I also got some guitar strings from the music store waste basket. It never hurts to ask. I like to use them as choke cables and even threaded rod.

I like to do weathering and scratch build little details. My favorite part of building is problem solving. When you modify a kit, wire it and add details the build sequence can get tricky. I like to figure it all out.

The other day I was painting in my room. When I finished I cleaned the brush with a wide open nozzle shooting lacquer thinner. My wife was sitting 20 feet away through an open door reading the paper. I asked her if she could smell anything and she replied that she could not. Scientific no, but I think I'm OK. :shock: My fan came from an old central air furnace. It has a pair of squirrel cages and I removed one side. I fitted a 4 inch intake hose that draws from below my work surface then exhausts via an 8 inch hose to the window. It is sealed to the outside.

I drive a 95 Dodge Ram SWB. Its lowered and has thick sway bars front and back. Its got a V6 with a Magnaflow muffler that dumps out the right side. I drive it like a 2 ton gokart. My wife drives a 05 Hemi Magnum. Its Black. nuf said. 8) A 55 chev 210 Del Ray is displacing air in my garage. It needs work. And money.

Hey Doug, Looking Good! California plates, nice touch. Stick it to the Man!! Ilook forward to seeing it at the 2007 PACIFIC NORTHWEST NNL NEXT WEEKEND!!!! Is there an echo in here?

I recently tried mixing Squadron White putty with Pactra Racing Finish lacquer thinner to keep it from drying too quickly. I only used a small amount to smooth some framerails. Dose anyone have experience with this sort of thing on larger surfaces? It seemed to work really well and remained spreadable until I had the putty where I needed it, but what will happen on a larger area? Have any of you mixed solvents with this type of putty? What works and what does not?

Hey Revell, put me on the waiting list. How long is the wait by the way?

flatheadgary, this kit had all the hinges and door panels to build the kit with the doors open if the builder cut the door themselves. If this was done well, it would look like factory on a completed kit. That is probably what you have. There was also a monogram 53 chev but it was a BelAir. Its doors were molded closed also. Hope this helps.

I like the ghia, but I would NOT want to carry the fitted luggage that came with the car. The two suitcases were HUGE and this was before the era of pop out wheels.

Nice work on the seat. It looks like you have quite a bit of experience with pastels for weathering, both from the model and baggy of chalk bits. Do you use the brush as an applicator or other tools?

You have a great start there! It reminds me of a 34 coupe I saw in Portland OR. The roof and deck lid had been welded shut and smoothed (?) with a ballpeen hammer then the whole thing slathered with body filler. It looked like vintage body work and much of the filler was now missing. Very cool to drive around AS IS. I hope to see more pictures as you go.

Doug, I'm going to abandon my hobby room with built in work table and start building on the kitchen counter 'cause I could not do in a month the fab work you do in a day!!! By the way, I just read all three pages and must add that I rode in a ghia in a car pool in the third grade so in my expert opinion this thing is sweet! 8)

Thanks for the kudos. Don't be afraid to try a little distressing to a kit. A little research goes a long way. Thanks to Jairus for posting the pics. Foiling the body was easy. The car is fairly "flat". I tried the same thing with a 41 Chev p/u but it created too many wrinkles and over laps. Many techniques were attempted for the tool marks but I settled on 2000 and 1500 grit paper stuck to a 1/8 plastic rod in my motor tool. Pastel chalk and india ink bring out the details. The floor was vacuum formed over bucks made from the floor pan of a second kit. Any of the new AMT kits with seperately molded frame and floor pans will lend themselves to this technique. The holes in the floor were made by a motor tool. It dose not look as good from the bottom, but some heavy application of "mud" will help. The trunk floor was free-lanced, without research I faked some reinforcement ribs and used the second kit for the top half of the fuel tank as well. After all what fun is a rusty trunk if you can't see the gas tank through the floor. :wink: Some day I'm going to do this to a kit and then restore it.... NAAH!

Very Cool! The look is just right. What kit is the body from? I'm looking to replicate a '29 coupe as a hot rod.

That's great that you are getting her involved. My six year old daughter loves to build with dad. We've done several snaps and are working on a glue kit (Revell Viper) I have found it helpful to buy my kids the new kits as they go together wel and the instructions are better. It's a wonder that any kids built models in the 60's at all That's quite the ambitious project, good luck and I'm sure the time will be well spent.

Jairus, I knew I shouldn't have left you to wander by yourself.... Now get back to work!!

I checked the 5.7 engine in my driveway. There are stamped heat sheilds over the manifolds. The raised edge could pass for the flange of the sheet metal. Paint the heat sheild (outside portion) stainless and the rest of the manifold cast iron or rust. The 5.7 and 6.1 engines have there differences but heat sheilds are fairly common practice anymore.

I just run a fine stream of hot tap water over the can as I shake it. The can heats up, then I shake and the heat transfers to the paint. When the can no longer cools as you shake, it is ready. This takes no longer to do than mixing the paint as you shake it and you don't have to clean the paint off the ceiling from the can you forgot on the stovetop. 8)

Looking at the kit, I would cut the fender wells out at the firewall and forward leaving the lip for the hood, then back down just behind the radiator, where it attaches to the fenderwells. This will leave the splash pan to tie the fenders together at the front. If you want to cut the front bumper off, cut the bumper appron at the line that disects the park lights but leave the splash pan where it backs the grill. The grill will then hide it when complete and still tie the fenders together. The hood latch attaches to the grill so it is logical to leave the grill intact. Questions in this index are just fine, they probably get the most exposure here.

Always treat the customer right!! I recognize most of the kits but what scale are the feet?

OK I've seen a lot of your '06 handywork, Whatcha gonna do in '007? What do you have in mind, what would you like to do. The years are going by faster and the stuff on our shelves are getting older (as are our eyes and fingers). We're all friends here, what secret project are you going to drop on the show scene this year?!? :wink: I'll share to start. Rear engine digger, 50's style, 4cyl '30 Ford sedan hot rod, GMC 6 cyl '62 Dart Max Wedge(Ugly is Beautiful) Who's next?

Now you can just tell people about all the crazy details you added to a kit and if they don't beleive you, pull a picture of the microscope put of your wallet.