Gluhead

Thanks, Jim. I appreciate it. Let there be light! Okay, well...at least something for light to shine from... I took a bunch of pics while I was making the shade, but managed to do so with the memory card sitting in the computer instead of the camera. Doh! I annealed aluminum printing plate and mini-metal-worked it out. It's got a good many slight imperfections...which are fine with me. Gives it a nice worn-in look. Next I'm at the lhs, I'll pick up a bulb for it.

Thanks, Mark! I'm using Jo-Ann Fabrics brand craft acrylics. I was skeptical as they are only .59, but they've proven to be pretty decent, both on the brush and airbrush. I used their burgundy with just a couple drops of brown for the base color, then once that was dry I set up a palette of half a dozen other colors (red, purple, yellow, green and more burgundy and brown) and just mixed up random shades as I went over the walls hitting random bricks. Some bricks got wetter, thicker coats but for most of them I just kinda grazed over the brick enough to color the whole thing. Finally, I went over the whole of it all with a pretty dry brush of the brown. The flour mortar treatment also helped give some variety. Play around with it...I bet you can get some great looks going within just a few minutes.

Some progress on the electrical stuff. The switch was pretty fun to figure out and make.

Actually, it is commonly necessary, or at least more productive, to revert to previous versions until all applications and add-ons are on the same page. There's a reason that there are sites all over the net providing backdated versions. Type "revert to version" into your search engine and see for yourself how many thousands of instances you are able to find. I haven't had any issues recently, nor do I use photobucket or a mac, but in the last year I can think of at least 4 times where I've needed to revert to previous versions of Flash, Chrome, FF, and Skype. To tell people they should never do it is simply false. Sometimes doing so is the only option that works.

No doubt, Brad...I definitely need to build one. Probably not for this display, but absolutely for the big build. I grew up in a small auto body shop, so the ticks and purrs of these suckers is firmly embedded. Is there a thread for your shop that I can dig up? The search can be a bit on the funky side here.

The door hardware was just painted with acrylic black, shook up in a bag of real rust dust while still a bit wet, then given a blackwash to knock back the bright orange. I'm working on the electrical stuff now, on which I'm pretty sure I'll use oven cleaner and a wash or two. Give it a go...they're really fun. The techniques are pretty easy once you get your head around them...although some steps are time consuming. I'd recommend going just a little bigger than this one, which is 12x7.5. A couple more inches each way would allow for a lot more flexibility with the photo angles. Once I go back and wrap up a couple vehicle projects, I'm going to do another one of these for an exterior setting.

I use them myself, but be aware that those 1/8 shank bits are very, very brittle. They're designed for use with CNC machines, where they move into and out of the working piece with high precision...not our human levels of motion where we bind our bits up just about every time we use them. Some days you'll swear that they snap just from being looked at funny. That said, they are very handy...when they stay together. Also, Harbor Freight sells variety packs for I think around $7 for 20.

Moving slow this week...anyone have any bets on when those 3d printers will be high tech enough to just print us out a new body? I could use one...or at least a replacement spine. Heheh. Anyway, finally felt well enough to make some progress overnight. I may be able to keep going and get the basic electrical stuff knocked out, with some luck. I'd asked elsewhere on the forum about weathering the wood door, and was offered some great examples. However, I really wanted to keep it subtle on this piece - used but not forgotten...something like that anyway. The whole thing already being stained helped that a good bit. The alky/ink bath didn't penetrate all that much...but just enough, I think. I wanted a little more in the lower parts, so I rubbed cig ashes into it then pulled the whole thing together with another wash. Finally, I dirtied them up where workin' hands and boots would have been grabbin' and kickin' at them day in and day out. Then I went to work on the hardware, that I'd been picking away at over the last couple days. It's all shaped out of aluminum printing plate, drilled for rivets and attached with stretched sprue heated on each end to form a rivet head.

I had no idea it was still on, so I'm double surprised.

It sounds like there are a few chunks of the story missing. I guess for me, the bottom line is what do the owners of the old shop have to say about it? If they aren't irked by it, then I don't see why I would be. If the new shop owners are making false claims then yes, I'd approach with caution...but depending on the extent of the claims I would probably give them a chance. New hobby shops definitely do not grow on trees these days. Bear in mind this is coming from the perspective of someone who for years had a dozen hobby shops within "honey, I'm going to make a quick trip to the hobby shop" distance...but now suffers along with only two which are each a town over and more often than not do not stock what I happen to need that day...so I may be a little more open minded.

Thanks, guys. These are all great looking examples (Chuck Doan...Diorama God...good grief lol). I'm going to try out the alky/india ink deal tonight. I'm really after a more subtle effect on this particular piece, so hopefully I can find a sweet spot with duration, etc.

Wicked! Love the Ponch 4 in there. That thing would be scary fun.

Hey guys, First, I need solutions to these problems that don't involve a specialty product made for the job. My modeling budget is about as close to zero as it can get, so I need solutions that come from typical household items, if at all possible. Really cheap and available about anywhere may also work in a pinch. Problem 1 - I need a way to weather wood. I'd prefer that the effect was more subtle than extreme. Problem 2 - I'm looking for a way to blacken aluminum without having to paint it or anodize it...some type of chemical reaction that darkens it rather than lightens. Thanks in advance

Thanks, guys. Glad you like it. Andrew, you're going to laugh at the simplicity. I shook flour onto the walls and rubbed it in...then tapped on the back to get rid of the excess. I also whisked more away in some places with an old brush, but it really was just that simple. Richard, your shop build is really cool, too. I may have to rob a few of your ideas on my next one.

Lookin' good, G!

Thanks, guys. Brad, the new bricks are done. I have a handle/latch made but it doesn't really fit the look and feel of the rest of the piece now. So if my hands will cooperate today I'm hoping to tackle the door hardware, and install some conduit. The printing plate sheet will be shrinking a bit on this one. I need to play around with different lighting to make sure that my camera is able to do it's job right. Here's a shot that shows what I mean - if I go too bright then I lose the "look" but I also need enough that the camera has enough to take a clear image (which this certainly isn't all that clear). I'll figure it out, I think. Also played around with some low light. If I can get these to be clearer, I think I'll be able to get some pretty interesting shots. Yesterday, I scratched an itch on a new (to me) trick - using that floppy craft foam that comes in 2mm thick letter size sheets. I'd like to avoid the typical scene where it's a typical car guy garage, but it sure does need some clutter of some kind. So I decided I'd make up some guitar gear. This is the first attempt, and honestly it's not a very good one. lol. But, it gave me some good mistakes. The next one will be much better, I think.

Heheh...cool...nice twist.

Very nice work.

Radliness.

Beauty!

Nice wagon.

You have a knack for picking projects that interest the heck out of me. Love that you're backdating to the non-supercharged version...so sleek. I'll be watching this one closely, too. My attempt (cough) on this kit was rather abysmal, but that was a long time ago now. I'm looking forward to taking another stab at it with it being reissued again. I have this nagging urge to model it in bare aluminum.

Good Gods, Bill! I'm already almost to the point where I'd give up my right for a lathe, and you have to go and add to the angst with this... [putters off cursing Bill]

Nice gold.

I'm a very good fecal maker. Sorry. Someone had to do it.