Chief Joseph

Welcome to the forum! You won't change the shade by altering the sheen of the basecoat. You'd be better off mixing two Alclad colors together to get slightly different shades. I don't know if Polished Aluminum and Airframe Aluminum would be worth mixing together, but adding the Magnesium to either Aluminum will give you a darker shade. You can use straight Aluminum and two darkened shades (for a total of three shades) and that will go a long way toward breaking up the monochromatic look. A flat base coat would simulate a rough cast appearance to the metal, so if you have a part that is supposed to be a bare Aluminum casting, like some transmissions, it would be appropriate. You can change the appearance of Alclad somewhat by changing the color of the basecoat. For instance, using gray, white, or even blue instead of black. You'd have to experiment a little to see what happens with the different basecoat shades to decide if it's something you can use on your model. Hope this helps.

Excellent photos, Geoff! This should be a sticky in the Tutorial section.

Agree; between Freeman Supply and Smooth-On's videos, there should be no reason why anyone can't make proper rubber molds and resin parts. All the information is right there for the taking.

I've built a lot of science fiction models over the years and I've used fiber optics many times. I haven't used any in an auto model yet, but I have some ideas. It's very easy to use.

Thanks; I was hoping to see more than one built example, but I guess it's not that popular. From the looks of it, it appears to be a nice representation of an 85 Camaro, just a little lacking in the engine and undercarriage department. Cross-kitting it with the old Monogram Trans Am should fix many of those problems.

Anybody have the recent issue of the Monogram 1/24 1985 Z-28? Any opinions on how well it resembles a real Camaro? I'm thinking of building an IROC-Z out of it. I already know I need some correct wheels & tires, but I'd like to know if the kit is on-par with other fairly nice Monogram kits from this era. If you have a photo of a built model that would be great. Thanks, Joseph

Maybe take a break? For your own sanity?

Ah, so you've been to the Hyperscale Forum, yes? That place is a mess on top of a mess.

Every other modeling forum I visit has basic sections for a particular topic, and everyone is free to post questions or techniques or WIPs or finished models or industry news or whatever as long as it pertains to the topic. If you have a question about "X" you post it in the "X" section where all the "X" modelers will see it, not in a section where questions about "X" and "Y" and "Z" are all thrown in together. Seems to work out okay for those forums. One particularly good forum has sections for all different modeling interests and then a separate section for tips, tricks, and questions. Things work well with that arrangement, too. Admins & Mods on all the different forums have to move posts around from time to time, but this is the only forum where I see people complaining about having their posts moved. That has to tell you something.

I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to apply a black enamel base to small items with a brush. Glossy enamel is very good at self-leveling and brushstrokes will flow into the paint and disappear if you're brushing with the correct wet-edge technique. BUT, if you have several parts to do, it would be much faster and easier to airbrush the black base. It's not like you don't already have the airbrush, right?

It has a lot to do with the shape of the part and the type of mold you're using, but 0.010" is do-able. I've cast parts with details thinner than 0.010", but I'm using all the proper casting equipment & materials to get those results. You'll have a hard time doing detail like that without pressurizing the resin as it cures.

First, is your surface to be decaled smooth and glossy? Second, are you using Solvaset (by Walthers) or Micro-Sol (by Microscale)? They do the same thing, but Solvaset is a lot more powerful. Solvaset or Micro-Sol are meant to be applied on top of the decal after it is in place. You can use a Microscale product called Micro-Set in the area the decal will go to help with adhesion. Micro-Sol and Solvaset are meant to "melt" the decal onto the surface by softening them. Micro-Sol is so weak that it hardly has any effect on most kit-supplied decals, and Solvaset is so strong it can ruin decals. I personally use a 50%-50% mix of Solvaset and distilled water as my decal setting solution. The surface is the key. It needs to be smooth and slick for the decal to settle down. When using the decal solvents, the "rule" is to put the decal down, wet it liberally with the solvent, and let the decal naturally pull itself down into the details. I find that doesn't work so well at least half the time. I do some gentle persuasion with a cotton bud to work out air bubbles and get the decal into the details. You have to be careful, because the decal is soft and will wrinkle up or tear easily.

I can respect the builders who don't do any research and just build for the fun of it and don't let themselves get bogged down in the details. I'm perpetually bogged down in details, but that's part of the fun for me. I saw a musclecar build recently that was well-done, but there was a mind-jarringly obvious problem: the model has seven decals on it, and six of them were in the wrong location by several scale inches! That's something that could have been avoided by a simple web search for a few images of the real car. I'm not going to call out anyone for criticism over something like that, but getting all the little things right is something that I strive for... even to the point of delaying a model for years because I don't have all the information I need to finish it correctly.

Good work; one of these days the two or three GTO models I have in perpetual WIP status will be finished

One of my favorite business aphorisms: "You can have it good, fast, or cheap. Pick any two."

Brand-new packaging. It's not even on the company website. This is an image from a poster on the FSM forum: According to the manufacturer, it is the same product as the old Future. However, there are some people saying it's not. It is possible they may have gotten hold of another product and are confused by SC Johnson's marketing department: Notice "cleaner" on the label. That's a dead-giveaway that it would not be suitable for model-building duty. Bottom line right now is that if it says "Future" on the label, it's good. My gut says the newest version is good and some people have gotten the wrong bottle.

I'm hearing from various modeling circles that the newest version of the product does not have the word "Future" anywhere on the package, and this new version is indeed a different-- and inferior-- product from the original Future. I have not verified that fact, but I know there are folks scrambling around to different retailers looking for the older packaging.

You could try Testors acrylic clear to apply a "friendlier" coating. It comes in gloss, semi-gloss, and flat. You can customize the level of gloss by mixing them together. If you don't like the result, stripping it off with Windex should not harm the chrome. If you have access to Tamiya paint, they have a flat base that you can mix with Future to make different levels of gloss. The Dullcote works well, but it's a one-way operation-- definitely test it before committing it to your rims.

All I can say is my mom did not approve of the cover of Love Gun when I brought that LP home back in '77 or '78. It's a good thing she didn't hear any of the lyrics, either.

The UMM Scribing tool is supposed to be the shizzle* for various scribing needs. I have wanted one for years, but haven't pulled the trigger. I use needles and pins held in a pin vise, a Squadron scribing tool (similar to Bare-Metal's tool), X-acto blades, and various razor saws for different situations. The UMM tool is supposed to cover virtually any scribing situation. link: http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/product_info.php?cPath=21_105&products_id=474&osCsid=99rr3pf2rj8fhsi1pocur6ng56 For cutting through a body along panel lines, I'd have to say that an X-acto is probably the best tool. In the old days (when kits were cheap), the common thing to do was get two kits. You'd hack out the door opening in one kit and hack out the door from the other kit. This way you end up with an open door that would theoretically fit back into the opening with no gap. Any method you use to scribe out a door on a body will result in a door that's smaller than the opening by a scale inch or more because of the thickness (kerf) of the cutting tool. You can close up that gap with styrene strips fairly easily, though. *sorry I went into Snoop Dogg mode.

Wicked Colors Jet Black is very, very black. It dries to a semigloss sheen but can be clearcoated.

You can also use very fine solder to make piping-type trim on door panels and such. The solder is very easy to bend into shape and glues down easily. A roll of solder from Radio Shack lasts a long time, plus you can solder stuff together with it, too!

Thanks for the responses!

Man, this is neat-- they aren't advertising a Superbird for sale, they are advertising Superbirds (plural) for sale!

This applies to the scratchbuilders: Lesson #19: After you've finished scratchbuilding a part and you look at another picture of the real thing, you will immediately see something that you did wrong on your version.