Harry P.

I find it far easier to lay the decal sheet on my cutting mat and cut the decal out with my X-acto. I get much better control that way rather than trying to navigate around the decal with scissors.

I agree with Mark regarding brushes. Those cheapo "value pack" brushes are cheap for a good reason: they're junk! They will actually make detail painting harder, not easier... because the brushes don't come to a fine point, they won't hold a point, and the bristles don't have the right "spring" to them. Don't cheap out when it comes to brushes. Get a few good quality artist's sable brushes. They really are cheaper in the long run than the bargain-basement stuff, you'll get far better results, and if you take care of them correctly they will last for years. And they really aren't that expensive, depending on the brand name. Hobbytown USA sells a nice selection that cost roughly $4-5 bucks a piece. Money well spent, IMO. As far as Testors enamels for detail painting... that's a personal preference. My personal preference is Model Master acrylics. Faster drying, cleanup with soap and water, no chemical thinners necessary (if thinning is ever needed a drop or two of plain old water works just fine). Just a couple of tips from a guy who's been building models for a while now...

Can't argue with you on that point. The odds of getting it right definitely improve dramatically after you've seen the answer!

I say real late...

You guys got it! Final vote: 37 REAL, 10 MODEL. It's real!

No, no poll. It's just me wondering what the result would be. But I know Gregg wants to keep the forum free, a pay site isn't going to happen.

Very cool! I agree w/Skip, the white car is too clean... maybe a black wash here and there? How about that driver figure? Will he get painted and detailed? He looks right at home in the car, apart from the fact that he's all gray!

I agree with Ralph 100%! Scratchbuilding is model building in its purest form. Very impressive work so far... keep it coming!

Yeah... but that would mean adding a new dedicated high-speed connection, running the server 24/7/365, etc. I doubt Gregg would want to physically host the site out of his home. We'll just have to wait and see what he decides to do.

How about some shots of the engine compartment? Windshield wipers???

That seam is on the real car. And I have photographic proof! BTW... I've cleaned up a lot of little things on the model that I really didn't even notice until I looked at the photos. The camera shows every tiny flaw and makes it look even worse... it sees more than my eyes do! I've gone back and fixed the foil on the hose clamps, touched up the paint in certain areas, etc.

I sprayed the floor with Testors Transparent black window tint. Here's a shot of the wheel that I was using:

A few more details... The flange where the exhaust header connects to the exhaust pipe is molded as a separate piece (I have no idea why!). So to make the connection a little more realistic, I took a razor saw and cut a groove around the flange to simulate the two parts of the flange–the top half that would be part of the exhaust header, and the bottom half that would be part of the exhaust pipe. Then I painted the two "halves" to match the part they are supposed to be a part of: At first I wasn't going to wrap the steering wheel, but I changed my mind. I used the same thread that I wrapped the springs with, then painted it with a brownish wash, then rubbed pencil graphite into the wrapping to "dirty" it up a little. It's impossible to wrap the wheel neatly, because the finger grips on the back of the wheel force the wrap to jump into the grooves, so the wrap has gaps and unevenness in the front. But since the photos of the real cars show the wrap also being pretty sloppy, I guess it's "realistic!"

Amazing detail in that interior!

You really do need to get your eyes checked! MCM offers 8 page plastic how-to's all the time! In fact in the August issue we have a 10 page plastic how-to coming.

What a sadist you are!

The name "Super Bee" was actually a pretty clever pun. The cars that got the "Super Bee" name were B-platform cars. Get it? Super B?

I don't know, John... it's not so much that I know my stuff... it's more a matter of trying to duplicate what I see in my reference photos. Remember, at first I had to ask what some of the gizmos on the dash were for; I didn't have a clue!

I'm still trying to decide if I want a "factory new" look or a used look.

I'm not a computer guy, so my answer is: I don't know. But Gregg (and hopefully the tech guy Dave) will figure out something... because what we have now isn't cutting it.

I talked to Gregg about it yesterday. He's trying to Skype Dave, no luck yet. The way Gregg explained it, the site has become too big for the current server to handle reliably... so he's shopping around for a new server/host. The problem is, to upgrade the site will cost $$$... and seeing as how this site is provided to you guys for free (Gregg pays for it out of his own pocket), I can see why he's hesitant to shell out big bucks to upgrade. It would be very interesting to see how many forum members would be willing to pay a modest yearly fee to join the forum in exchange for a server/host upgrade... Wait, I can hear it already.... no fee, keep it free! No fee, keep it free! Well, remember that old saying: You get what you pay for...

I don't know what that is over the horns. I don't see any mesh, it almost looks like a piece of cloth. I was just going to paint it sort of a grayish color like in these photos.

There has also been some progress on the other end of the car.. Like I said earlier, based on all the reference photos of this car that I found, no two are exactly alike. So the particular details of mine are sort of an "average" of all the photos I have. For example, the strap between the horns is mounted in different places on different cars; I did mine this way. (the strap itself is more of that leftover PE "sprue"... very handy stuff! ). The carb stone guard was made with more of the leftover PE strips, and the mesh itself is the same fiberglass window screen that I used for the mesh on the gas tank. In the case of the stone guard the mesh is a bit large for scale, but close enough for me. (BTW, this stone guard is completely missing from the kit): Another angle. The license plate is a satin chrome plated piece; I just added the black background with a fine brush and a lot of patience! And finally, the kit is also missing the brake lever adjusment mechanism, so I added that detail with various bits of brass rod, Plastruct tube, wire, etc: More photos as they become available...

It's the same for me. This site is acting weird way too often. I PM'd Dave Ambrose the other day, but so far no answer.

WHAT???!!!