mrm

To each their own with choices of methods to achieve a better finish. Different strokes for different folks, in the words of one Rocky Balboa. I personally can't make any sense of taking 15 steps to achieve the same result I can get from 3 steps. So I simply wetsand my clear with 2500 grid sandpaper. It is coarse enough to even out any orange peel I may have and to take out any dust particles or slight pooling around body panels, but does not leave marks that a good compound can't take out. I don't need to start with 1500 and then follow with 2000, 2500, 3000, 4000, 6000, 8000, 12000.....That's insane in my mind. For many different reasons. First of all, it's a lot of unnecessary work. Then comes the cost of those kits. Followed by the problem with availability. And then probably the bigger issue - the stress that with every following grade of sandpaper you are praying not to rub through the clear. On the last picture in my previous post the body has a really nice finish, which would be satisfactory to most and looks really smooth just as sprayed. A quick wet sanding however, reveals there actually IS some orangepeel and there are high spots around body panel edges. A simple 2500 sheet of sandpaper from Walmart with a little water and a good dose of patience takes care of these issues and leaves a nice smooth surface. After a very good wash with dish soap to remove any residue, everything is dried and black paint is flown in necessary recess panels. The clear coat protects the color from the flat black and I don't have to be carefull, because after the black dries, I'll buff out the access. At this point the inside of the body and the headliner were sprayed with light grey. Next I buff my paintjobs with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. By hand with a terry cloth. Under ten dollars will buy you a few years supply. A good alternative is Scratch-X, which I believe is by the same company. Give this stuff enough time and you pretty much don't even need anything else to follow up with.

OMG! Where do you guys find these? I love these cars and I tried several times to get any of them with zero success. Once in a blue moon one would pop up on "the bay" and usually would come with some ridiculously unreasonable price and in some cases equally ridiculous shipping cost from Japan. I would love to build them all and if anyone has one willing to part with for reasonable price, I will do it justice.

This looks interesting. Great idea cutting the cab and making it like a truck. Puts the "how-come-I-didn't-think-of-that smile" on my face.

I keep looking at these kits thinking how cool they are and keep never getting one for some reason. The color combo is cool and will be keeping an eye on your progress. Perhaps I will get inspired and finally get me a Hudson.

Your last paragraph demonstrates a lot of what's wrong with the way of thinking of most current modelers IMO. I have two teenagers at home. And they are so different from one another, that you would think they grew up on different planets. The younger one is quiet and very passionate about his possessions. He still loves Legos and it's all about Star Wars and .....drum roll....."Racing Champions" - a series of cool cars. Some of them can blow your mind with their engineering, as small as they are. He follows what gets announced, when it will be released and pretty much everything else we follow on here about model kits. He's 13yo and has all of them, besides the fact that he doesn't work, has no means of personal transportation and they cost pretty much same as a model kit. What I notice is, that some of them are proudly displayed on a shelf and others are stored. The ones displayed are some cool cars that are popular with teenagers today, can be seen on spotter blogs, car an coffees and for the most part have never been made into plastic models. Here's a hint: there are no Mavericks and Dodge Darts amongst them and none are from 1958, '64 or seventy-something. The other things he's getting into and is really passionate about is Formula One racing. A big part of this interest is the Netflix series he watches with his brother "Drive to Survive". An absolute gem of a show. When was the last time a Formula kit was released? Meanwhile diecast companies are releasing each year's grid in numerous of scales and that hobby seems to be thriving. Have you been on a diecast forum lately? To take a peak at the interest on a global level? Because model making and the companies involved are global companies and don't exist just in a world between two oceans. Now take my older son. He loves cars and all his buddies love cars too. They go to every cars and coffe show and yes, they are on their phones all the time. And they watch countless videos on youtube or tictoc or whatever. Half of them are about cars. They love hotwheels and would spend literally days driving between all the Targets and Walmarts they can think of, in search of some rare hotwheels cars that they saw on video that just got released. You wanna guess what they are? Drift cars, Nissan GTR's, Porsches, AMGs and Miatas. There is a car show every Friday, literally in the parking lot behind my back yard. In the afternoon. They don't care about it. Do you know why? Because it's two rows of C4 and C5 Corvette waxers in their '50s and '60s , a sea of Tri-five Chevies and a bunch of clapped out muscle cars with Elvis Presley as a background music. And the crowd is all retirement age. In other words the teenagers can not relate. My kids will wake up at 6am on a Saturday with their friends to drive an hour to get to a cars and coffee. And then they will come home and talk all day about what newest Ferrari or lambo they saw, the details on some cool tuned BMW, the burn out show at the end that the JDM crowd puts on or the LS swapped Miatas. I hear them talk about how cool the 55 Chevy ice cream truck was or how "fire" the newest twin turboed Corvette that showed up was. They appreciate a well done '50 Merc or a pro built '69 Camaro. But they mainly care about two categories. What's cool that they can afford and realistically own and what is the latest dream otherworldly hypercar for $3 Million. My kid used to build models with me. He used to take the drive from Aspen Colorado, all the way to Kansas City for the Heartland Nationals. He won wards in the Junior class and a couple of his models even made it on the pages of the Contest Annuals. That was when his teeth were falling out. Nowadays he still builds models. The Bandai Star Wars figures. But he doesn't care coming with me to the shows. And literally what he says is: "I don't care to go because it's always the same thing - bunch of old guys and only ugly old American cars and hot rods." I don't personally share his feelings and in a way it hurts me that he feels this way, but that is the reality of how he and his friends feel. He did come to the last show I went to. And he really appreciated the craftsmanship on some models. And he even bought himself a model with his own money. An old Japanese kit of a square Mercedes Benz 190E with ground effects and custom wheels. Because a couple of his buddies drive similar ones and because it's something he finds cool and he knows he can actually afford to own and drive. The interest is there. The young generation with the potential to cary the torch of the hobby does exist. The problem is that the current modelers crowd, for the most part, is stubborn, selfish and unwilling to move out of the proverbial past. And the industry is caught between a rock and a hard place, because they do realize they need to look to the future, but meanwhile are catering to the money flow from a generation that is on its way out.

These were far from accurate representations of the real cars and they are very lacking in detail. To the point where entire major assemblies are completely missing. Like for example the Pink panther does not come with a steering wheel or anything resembling a steering system. The chassis could be mistaken for a sprue tree. The Outhouse's interior does not have much in common with the real car and if I remember correctly the drivetrain is also wrong. Similar issues plague the Invader also. These are the three I have experience with, but I can't imagine the story is very different with the rest of them. Having said that, I would love to see these reissued and I would gladly buy multiples.

Considering the going prices for those old Eldon show cars, if Round 2 can reissue them, they have to be crazy not to. And by the way, I agree with the comments about the utter garbage that came out of Barris' shop.

I really wish that Atlantis, or any other brand for that matter, tries to produce some new kits that grab the attention of the younger generations, rather than keep reissuing obsolete kits designed half a century ago, so the hobby can survive past the lifespan of the current generation modelers.

You are right. There are exceptions here and there, but for the most part, something usually goes sideways. The front fender did buff out, by the way, which I am very happy about. Now I have to repaint the headlight pods and clear it again. Keeping fingers closed for no more mishaps.

Thank you, Atin.

Looks really cool. The mods are done very nice. I love modifying diecast.

I have gone through the troubles with building a couple of Protar 1/12 Ferraris and a couple of Tamiya’s. What I did when using the kit supplied clear tubing was actually flow diluted Tamiya clear orange. Best effect I ever achieved. And it will never rub out. If you still have enough clear tubing left, I think it would be worth a try and will be an improvement over what you have now. An alternative eliminating the possibilities of kinks is fishing cord. If you go to most fishing supply stores, you will probably go home with enough clear “tubing” in various scales to last you a lifetime, for free. Just tell them what you need it for and they will give you all sorts of pieces. Something I have also tried is clear beading cord, which is super cheap and available in any Walmart or craft store in a variety of sizes. Again, three bucks will probably set you for life.

Wow! You absolutely nailed the color. Who would’ve thought that Tamiya color could look so good? The color suits the build perfectly.

The Nissan plant is here. The amount of Nissan Zs I see on a daily basis is unreal. In every possible stage of modification, tuning or decay. The amount of Nissans in general. But I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment of the new Z. It is one of the ugliest things I see on the road and it is IMO a big step backwards from any previous Z models. Frankly, it has nothing in common with any of the previous Z cars when you look at it other than that roof line from the 350/370, which for some reason just doesn't really go with the rest of the origami on this misunderstanding of design.

While the clear coat is curing some more after the wet sanding, I started addressing the interior. The rear package tray is molded as a separate part, which at first I found odd. But I actually appreciate it, because of how the real cars are builtAll of them have the interior tub up to the package tray in carpet. On some 550s the same carpet continues in the tray, while on others it changes color. Some cars were ordered with leather upholstered trays. Molding it separately makes it easier to detail paint. In my case the tray will not have carpet and it will be contrasting color to the carpet below it. The only thing I wanted to do to it prior to painting was to open the slots that the seatbelts come out of. The interior door panels are poorly detailed even for a 575M model, but they are completely wrong for a 550. So I drilled the center of the door pull's upper attachment point, just to mark its location and eventually to provide an attachment point for a new door pull that I would have to scratch build. Then the whole surface was roughly sanded and the door pockets/arm rests trimmed. The armrests are a joke, the door panels are inaccurate and too thin and the door pulls are now gone. So basically I will be scratch building the entire panels. The interior tub is fine the way it is. So it needed just paint and some carpeting. I have quite few memories involving Ferrari 550 Maranellos. One was owned by a local guy back in Colorado. A young-ish doctor with attitude you can say. He had no cats, aftermarket exhaust, Novitec Rosso tune and wheels and the car looked and sounded just spectacular. He used to bring it to track days and put it through its paces. It was the classic Ferrari red with black on tan interior. The carpets, in other words the entire interior floor, center tunnel and the space behind the seats, were red, matching the exterior color of the car. As odd as it may sound, the color combo actually worked great in person. So I took a gamble and decided to apply the same color scheme to my build. Therefore the "carpet" in my 550 is going to match the exterior. The pedals are not drilled as they should be, but in this build you would have hard time seeing they are there at all, once everything is done. I have not painted the seats yet, because I am still on the fence what to do with them. There are plenty of 550s with those exact seats in them in the world. But technically they are inaccurate for the car, because they did not appear until the 550 Barchetta was introduced three years after the Maranello. They were an available option on the 575M and a lot of people retrofitted them in their Maranellos, but were never installed from the factory in one. The factory optional sports seats in the Maranello were of different design, first seen in the 355. Either way, if I decide to use them, I will first modify them slightly and then make molds of them, as I borrowed them from my F430 Spider model and I would like to return them to that model.

Thanks for the comment, Mark. I have my own story with Mike Tyson, but it involved a white Lamborghini Diablo 6.0. Went on a test drive with another Mike driving (not me). Let's just say that when they came back, he was about the same color as the car. ? Oh....and I just edited my profile. I moved from Colorado about two years ago. Beautiful place.....to go on vacation....two weeks tops.

Thank you, Tim.

If you want to stay on a budget, Maisto also makes a decent variety of Diablos. This is their SV, as a comparison to the last one by Autoart. LAMBORGHINI DIABLO SV - Maisto

The 550 family.

I love the Modulo. I have one in 1:18. I believe the car was originally white and it got briefly repainted black for a tire sponsor promotion or something like that. The Engine and transmission were never removed from it, they were just always gutted. Ferrari did not give the car to Pininfarina. It always belonged to them. Technically it is their own car, they just ask Ferrari for authorization to use their name and/or logos.

Paint correction. Simple 2500 grid wetsanding to make sure the panel gaps have no pooling and any dust particles that may have stuck to the clear are gone. Next comes my most hated part - couple of hours buffing out and polishing.

I like to be efficient. And what I really don't understand is when I see people take all these extra steps that make their project considerably more complex and unnecessarily more complicated. Like the whole ritual going through 15 different grades of sand paper when polishing paint. Or the number of coats and sanding in-between them, whith different primers and unicorn dust, blue moon spells and specialty paints from Dalai Lama's birthplace thinned with holly water.... I follow three golden rules: 1. Anything can be sprayed through an airbrush. ANYTHING! 2. 2K Primer can be sprayed over anything and anything can be sprayed over it. 3. 2K clear can be sprayed over ANYTHING with better results than anything and will dry and polish faster and better than anything. And on the long run cheaper than pretty much any clear coat. A big no-no for me is to have to do something twice when unnecessary. That goes for anything, not just models. In this particular case, the perfect example is the foundation for the paint job on this model. It's diecast, which is notoriously problematic hen it comes to paint sticking to the Zinc-rich alloy. Well, the manufacturer went through quite a budget trying to figure out what works best I'm sure. So why remove it, when it can simply be sanded smooth, orange peel and imperfections corrected and then resprayed? It basically comes already primered with the best primer for the job. Some parts, like the front markers, are impossible to be removed without destroying them. And others, like the side markers are just molded into the fenders. So, what needs to be saved from overspray is masked off. In this case with liquid mask. And then everything is sprayed with Rosso Barchetta. To be honest, I don't know if that is the exact color of Rockefeller's Ferrari, but it looks close enough from all the pictures I have seen. Here is another myth that I don't really understand. Spraying "base colors" under a base color. That one always makes me chuckle. Base colors are not transparent. Quality paint will have enough pigmentation, that after proper application not only will not make any difference what is sprayed over, but would pretty much maintain its color no matter how many coats you apply. Of course Candies and some semi-transparent metallics are a different story. But Whether I spray solid white over black , solid red over grey or solid black over white primers should make absolutely no difference whatsoever. Maroons for me are like Kryptonite, together with white. I hate working with them and usually they fight me back. This particular color is a PPG product, mixed for me by an auto paint store ready to spray. However, some paints apparently have different "grain" pigments in them and are just not working very well through an airbrush. They still do, just no as well as others. This Rosso Barchetta is one of those paints. It sprays always grainy and it sand off really easy. Rosso Corsa (aka Ferrari Red) on the other hand, mixed by the same shop, the same way, using the same product line has no such issues whatsoever. Regular 3M sand paper (automotive) available from pretty much anywhere for cheap does the trick. There is absolutely no reason to sand base coats with anything higher than 2000 if you are going to spray another coat of anything over it. Simply because any paint will fill these size scratches. Probably even 1500 would be safe. And also when not careful rubs right trough when wet sanding. While I was wetsanding the sides and naturally the side trim was the first thing to shine through, I had an idea. So, after another coat to cover up the spots I sanded through, I covered the side markers with BMF. And then painted them with Tamiya clear orange. Then I sanded through the side trim on purpose, giving me an easy perfectly straight, very shiny and very naturally metal looking "chrome side trim". Once clear coated it is forever sealed. Just like the side markers, which also got more depth this way. Thanks for looking and stay tuned... P.S. Any repetitious overuse of "any" or "anything" is anything but coincidental. ?

Next the headliner had to be addressed . The holes where the roof's tabs were protruding were filled in. Puttied. And sanded

Thank you, Martin. Interesting you say that. I started in the hobby with airplanes, went through my "Top Gun" and "Platoon" stages, tried a little WWII and when I started with cars it was all about tuned up exotics. Then I had my showroom stock Ferraris period, which went through Ferrari F1 period and then somehow into full Boyd Coddington swing. Then I was all about JDM tuners and then back to hot rods. Over all, I have built way more exotics than hot rods. And when I say more I mean it's like 20 to 1 ratio. I just never really showed anything but hot rods and customs, simply because the other stuff does not generate that much interest on the forums. This is also one of the reasons IMO, that the average age of modelers keeps going up, which can not be good for the hobby, but that's a whole different story.