Ramfins59

No reason at all for anyone to bash you for anything Jonathan. You're only putting your 2 cents in. And I 'm sure that A LOT of members here will agree with you as I do. We all have a right here to express our opinions on the hobby without having to bash anyone for theirs.

I think it's like the people who join a model club and don't participate in anything other than showing up at an occasional Club meeting and the annual Christmas Party. Some can't take part more due to either health issues, job or family responsibilities or just plain apathy. I may be in the minority here, but differences in scale (1/24 & 1/25) don't bother me. Neither do the inaccuracies of kits like the AMT '58 Plymouth Belvedere kit (as an example)... (And PLEASE don't jump down my throat for saying that). I'm happy to just be able to have a reasonably accurate kit of that car. Remember that it's only a Hobby and NOT the end of the world if the kit is not PERFECT..!! (And PLEASE don't jump down my throat for saying THAT either.) I'm NOT trying to start an argument or ruffle anyone's feathers here. I'm just putting in my 2 cents.

Try either Micro Sol or Micro Set which should be available from your local, well-stocked LHS. Those should solve your problems.

John, that "Wild Cad" car looks awesome. I can't wait to see the work you do on building that model. I LOVE the color Purple it was painted by Winfield.

Richard you could try applying license plate decals to aluminum foil, then cutting them out and either bending or denting them, plus putting the screw holes in them, and then mounting them to either a wall or onto a model. Just a hint.

Andrey I've had issues with a Pro Modeler kit of a '57 Chevy. I built the kit, painted it Black (probably the BEST Black paint job I've ever done) and BMF'd it (again one of the BEST I've done) but on final assembly I couldn't get the body/frame assembly to come together properly. Each time I tried either the inner fenderwells would break loose, or the front wheel/tie rod assembly would come off. Plus, when I originally started the model I painted the engine compartment pieces (firewall, inner fenderwells) Chevy Engine Orange because I thought I wanted to paint the whole car that color. Then I changed my mind and painted the car Black with a silver and black interior...... now the engine compartment doesn't look right in a black car..!! Plus, the hood and trunk lid are separate pieces and I didn't make working hinges for them, so I'd have to display them off the car to show the work on the engine compartment and trunk. The model has been back in the box for about 4 years now..!!

Thanks John and David. John I've been amazing myself with how fast I've been able to crank out my models lately. As I've said, I've fortunately (since I am retired) been able to put in about 4 to 5 good hours each day on my builds which gets the work done pretty quickly. While I seem to get a lot done quickly (like YOU seem to do also) I give everything time to either let the glue, or flocking, or paint to dry so I don't screw things up by rushing things. I've learned to develop patience in building as I've gotten older so at a point each day I'll sit back and look at what I've done and say "Good progress today Dad." Then I'll shut off the lights and go back upstairs... Tomorrow is another day and doing all the assemblies and painting chores, etc. in the proper sequence, without rushing it, has seemed to get the job done right for me so far. That seems to work for you too..!!

Thanks a lot Dan. Once I received it I couldn't wait to dive into it. Many, many thanks for adding to my '58 madness..!!

John, as I've probably mentioned previously on your other builds......You are a SICK MAN......!!! In a GOOD way of course. Absolutely insane work to even TRY to replicate this NUTSO vehicle. You are OVER THE TOP man..!!

Bruce that is a great looking model. The plain Jane look is dynamite. Good job.

So after I painted the '58 Edsel body I've been working on, and had nothing to do, I opened the '58 Cadillac Eldorado that I got in a Trade from Dan Helferich (Thanks Dan) and started in on it... Yeah it's another 1958 car...!! I've been saying that "I'm on a mission" to build as many cars from 1958 that I can and so far I'm sticking to my plan. The scale difference (this is a 1/24 scale kit) doesn't really bother me. I sanded off the mold lines on the body... and painted the chassis dark gray... i'll do the chassis rails in semi-gloss black and metalizers on some of the other parts. The box art shows whitewall tires but the kit tires are blackwalls and since it's a 1/24 scale I really can't use 1/25 scale tires with whitewall inserts. I'll have to paint on whitewalls with white acrylic paint (happy happy joy joy..!!) and I glued together the engine block... I'm thinking Gold valve covers and air cleaner... I think my plan for this car is to keep it pretty much Stock, as it kind of looks a little Custom to start with. I'm thinking Duplicolor Champagne Gold color for the body. A friend told me about a '58 Eldo that he saw on an Overhaulin' show that was done in Gold, with an Orange (tuck & roll) and Cream colored interior. I've never seen that episode of Overhaulin' but that actually sounds pretty cool. The kit seats are molded with a tuck & roll pattern on them. I'll have to spray the interior pieces with a good primer/sealer coat because they are all molded in a turquoise color plastic and I don't want that to "bleed through" whatever paint I use. I'm also thinking that Brown carpet would look pretty good with the body and interior colors. Here we go again. This is odd for me because I usually don't start another model until I completely finish the one in progress. I guess an old dog CAN learn new tricks. Thanks for looking in on this new ride. All comments and/or suggestions are always welcome and appreciated.

I got the Edsel body in paint today with the Duplicolor Dark Green Metallic. Tomorrow I'll peel off the masking tape (Frog Tape... great stuff..!!) from the roof and side coves and hopefully there won't be any touchups needed. Then I can put on a clearcoat and give that a day or two to dry and do any needed polishing. Of course, after I painted the body on the Edsel I had nothing to do so I tore open the '58 Cadillac Eldorado kit that I got in a trade from Dan Helferich and started in on that. You can see that in a NEW W.I.P. I started...!!! I am just whippin' them out these days...

Thanks Matti, "Gramps" & Tom. Yeah Tom retirement is OK so far. I'd probably be bored without my models though.

Thank you James. I appreciate your encouraging words. I'll be spraying the Green on the body this weekend. Looks like I'm close to the home stretch on this build. I'm ready to start the NEXT one in line for '58. I received an IMEX '58 Caddy in a Trade with Forum member Dan Helferich. I'll most likely be checking that out while waiting for the paint to dry on the Edsel.

Great looking model Ron. Good job.

I just got my end of a trade with Dan Helferich in today's mail delivery. Dan should get my shipment on Monday. Thanks a bunch Dan.

OK Daniel... Now show us pictures of the model... The real thing in the pictures looks great...!!!

Nice article Joe. Thanks for the link to it.

Thank you very much Grant, Carl and Don. I appreciate your encouraging comments.

Thanks John and Dan. I've been lovin' doing model interiors for almost 18 years. I learned the use of flocking from a LIARS Club member named Ron Minn. Ron used to say that you can't use more than one color of flocking or the colors will run together. I proved him wrong many times. I always try to get good reference pictures by Googling the particular car I'm working on, unless I'm doing a Custom or a Street Rod, then I just go with what I think looks good together. Obviously you have to do all your painting and BMF work on the interiors BEFORE applying the flocking, and of course let the paint fully dry first.

Yeah I'll be getting another one of these when I get around to working on all the '53 cars that I can find. Or I can redo the one I built about 20 years ago. The scale thing is really not an issue for me.

150% agreement with ALL of the above. Like my friend Tom says about the magazine's delivery to subscribers, (and I know not all will agree with this, and if you don't, keep it to yourselves PLEASE). "We pay for 9 issues per year...... We get 9 issues per year... Why does it matter WHEN we get them..??" Yes deliveries could be more timely sometimes, but deal with it already..!! The Publisher will eventually get it worked out. This Forum has helped so very many of us, if not ALL of us, to learn more about our hobby and to build better models. Negative comments, snarky remarks and personal attacks could ruin this place for ALL of us. Please, please, please do NOT let that happen. It has been said by more than a few people here that if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything. Let's ALL play by the rules here. Be nice and "share the Blue crayon". Gregg's rules are common sense rules. Besides, it's HIS ball so we "play by HIS rules". If you don't like the rules of THIS game, go find another one.

Welcome to our mad little plastic world Blair.

Thanks again for all the great comments everyone. Christopher, no I don't have an airbrush. To me they are like too much extra work, plus I'd have to get a decent compressor, etc. It's easier and quicker for me to just use rattle cans. Like I said though, I'm DONE with the Testors One Coat paints and will stick with Duplicolor which never lets me down (so far anyway...). Johnny, tell your wife that if you could spend 4 to 5 hours each day at your workbench, you too could probably knock them out quicker too. Good for you Troy. It's great being able to spend all the time you need or want to at the workbench. You're right Bob, it won't be too long and it will be time for the BMF chores... and yes I will be using the Optivisor. No need to test it... it works GREAT..!! John, stick around man. Here are pictures of the finished interior that I put together today. Yeah I'm thinking that I'll probably be bringing it to the NNL along with about 6 other models that I've finished since last years NNL. You've GOT to finish SOMETHING to show at the NNL John...!!! Thanks a lot Harry. Thanks to the Optivisor I was able to do a pretty decent job on it. Thank you Codie. OK gang, here are pics of the completed interior... Now I'm just waiting for the White paint to fully dry on the body so I can mask it off and shoot the Green. All the paint work should be done by this weekend. We're supposed to be having nice, 50 degree weather here Saturday and Sunday so I have my fingers crossed for good painting weather.

My wife shows no interest in the hobby herself, although she is my BEST critic. She completely appreciates the time, effort and skills that go into what I build and gets upset with me if I am NOT building. She looks over my finished builds and can and does point out the little flaw that I may have missed or just didn't or couldn't fix. She takes me to local shows since I don't drive any more. (Partial vision loss after a stroke back in 2000). She has absolutely no problem with whatever or how much I spend on the hobby, and is very supportive. I did get both of my daughters to each build ONE model about 16 or 17 years ago but that was it. One is now 32, married with one son and a good career, and the other is 30, soon to be married and working on her career. They have no interest in the hobby other than being supportive of me. I'm hoping to get my one grandson involved in the hobby at some point. He'll be 2 in May and he DOES like cars. I gave him a couple of built SnapFast Slammers to play with last year and they have been his favorite toys for awhile.