CadillacPat

I think I mentioned these in another thread, Milliput White, Apoxie Sculpt, QuikSteel CadillacPat

"Farm To Market" MatchBox 1957 GMC PickUp " Farm Fresh " Here's the first of my MBox 1957 GMC PickUps. The key to this paint scheme is a meticulous job of taping with Tamiya Tape. Stripped with KleanStrip AirCraft Remover followed with quite a bit of filing and sanding to remove casting seams, then rubbed down with #3 Steel Wool. The simulated wood bed liner, interior, and rear portion of cab are all a one piece plastic which had to be painted and taped in 8 steps, 3 different colors. First sprayed with Adhesion Promoter the bed is then taped and the front portion is shot Shimrin White. Then the front interior is taped and the center rear portion of the cab is shot Lemon Yellow, same as the body, then Urethane cleared. Tape is all removed and the bed is hand painted with a thinned down Brown Createx wash, then Intercoat Cleared to protect. Body is Primered, then shot Shimrin White and InterCoat Cleared. Rear Fender tops are shot Lemon Yellow using one of my finer needle Iwata's. The Fender Tops are then InterCoat Cleared and taped. Back to some more Shimrin White to cover any surrounding Yellow overspray. Hood is taped off as are Roof Pillars and Bed, and the whole body is shot Lemon Yellow. Factory Headlights are drilled out for a perfect fit for 3mm Rhinestone inserts. Details and Decals go on. Custom Wheels from Racing Champion Mint Series around 1997. For my Farm Fresh decals I chose a small picture of a 50's PickUp, In PhotoShop I filled the bed with veggies, changed the color of the PickUp, added some grass and typed in the words "Farm Fresh", then created mirror images for the left and right doors. Cleared with HOK Urethane Enamel Clear. All Products Used Are Exclusively House Of Kolor, Of Course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The bright Lemon Yellow and bright Shimrin White are representative of the colors, especially on Chevy's, in the mid to late 50's. I'll be doing a Seafoam Green one of these trucks but I wanted the first one to be starkly in contrast to the factory issued paintjob. First off here's a pic of Before and After to show how much the casting changed and what it is capable of looking like. The Rhinestone Headlights knock it out of the park. This shot shows how important it is to paint that plastic rear center portion of the cab to match. Now if I can just find some 3/16" beads painted like Watermelons to fill the bed. The factory issued truck is great for a buck, but this casting has huge potential for becoming a thing of beauty. MBox and HW's both need to produce more trucks like this. Stay tuned for this casting as my "Louisiana SeaFood" delivery truck in either SeaFoam Green or Molly Orange. --CadillacPat the UnCustomizer--

Thanks Jim, I like a ShowRoom look, CadillacPat

I'm a Mod on an AirBrush site, The AirBrush Forum, and we have a lot of Members who do Models, DieCast, Figures, etc. all in the interest of AirBrushing. Techniques, procedures, guns, paint etc. I think the only thing I would never think about building are those Gundam things. I don't even know what a gundam Gundam really is. CadillacPat

JB Weld, JB Qwik, QuikSteel, Milliput White, Apoxie Sculpt, All will work fine with DieCast. CadillacPat

I have friends around the U.S. who gather up specific HotWheels, MBox, and Jada castings for me to make runs with of Promotional Customs. I always like to read the newspaper they use to pack the boxes with. Never boring it always gives a view into someone else's local world. I subscribe to the Houston Chronicle (only a shadow of its former self) and the New Orleans Times Picayune arrives in the mail every day. Now mostly advertising the Houston Chronicle has cut back so much staff that I've noticed an abundance of typos and grammatical errors. They must have fired all the copy readers. CadillacPat

Stay Tuned for an upcoming Jada Route 66 HighWay Patrol '47 Chevy Sedan CadillacPat the UnCustomizer Not just All Paint but All House Of Kolor Paint, Of Course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

" MatchBox Route66 SWAT HighWay Patrol VW Camper Van " This is a great casting for my Promotional Customs. A perfect canvas with lots of room for high resolution graphics and custom paint. Watch for more in my series of Route 66 SWAT and HighWay Patrol Customs. See more of my Route 66 Customs at my ROUTE66CUSTOMS.COM http://route66customs.com/ http://purplepassioncustoms.com/ Even the SWAT Teams like to travel in style. What better way than in a 1970 VW Camper Van with WoodGrain Graphics and Custom interior. The body is Stripped and then undergoes a lot of filing and sanding to clean out and smooth all the window openings and the wheel wells. A few casting ridges along the body must be filed down and sanded and then the existing factory headlights are drilled out for my signature RhineStone inlay. Casting is then rubbed down with #3 Steel Wool for a nice overall surface consistency and then on to Primer. Primered and then shot Shimrin White and then SnowWhite Pearl. Decals go on the body and the roof insert, roof insert is secured into the body, and all images are masked off with liquid mask. The whole thing is shot Black, mask is removed and HOK Candy Pagan Gold goes on, then HOK Urethane ClearCoat with a heavy dose of Aztec Gold Pearl Powder Additive. Plastic base bumpers are sanded smooth and then it's shot with Adhesion Promoter. It's then shot Black and then ClearCoated with HOK Urethane Clear with Black Pearl Powder Additive. Interior is airbrushed with Adhesion Promoter, then shot Shimrin White, then a special Green mix and then ClearCoated. Everything is assembled and Riveted together for a nice permanent professional job. The color changes from Black to Glossy Brown and explodes with colors in direct sunlight. I have a Tutorial coming up about Pearl Powders. Anyone using Pearls for their Paintjobs needs to know that the only way you can see the full effect of Peral Powders is to take the Model out into full direct sunlight. It becomes an entirely new and different car. All Products Used Are Exclusively House Of Kolor, Of Course!!!!!!!!!!!! High Resolution Decals are printed on Clear InkJet Decal Paper from Papilio.com Scroll down for one more picture,

Even if you don't sell what you make there's plenty of motivation to do the best you can do. To outdo yourself. That's always the reason for building anything. CadillacPat

Today Car subjects are my main interest because that is what other people want done. But, I've built all the Monster Models (Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein, Creature) airplanes, subs, Visible Man, etc., because I always wanted the next build to be more difficult than the last. CadilacPat

Harry, They've got the quick charges already. It's the dollars that just don't work. What do you think it would cost that station Owner who just paid $200,000 to replace old tanks, to also put in electric car "pumps"???? Yes, some refueling stations will be built, some. And, some electric cars will be sold, some. But, the table has tipped way too far for any of this to mean anything before everything collapses. Economy, social unrest, debt, lack of jobs, and on and on. Like Swayze said in "Next Of Kin", "You ain't seen bad, but it's coming"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CadillacPat

The electric car is comparable to putting a band-aid on a shotgun wound. Not much use and way too late to help. The Interstate Hwy system, which many of us watched being built as kids in the early 60's, still dominates the way our cities are designed. Were the Hwy's and urban streets manufactured with an electric infrastructure, then cars (again, modes of transportation nowadays) could be built like simple slot cars without the need for expensive batteries. Even the Segway is useless the way our cities are built. CadillacPat

That's a real good looking Model you made there. CadillacPat

Very simple, Lamborghini-----To drive the heck out of, Faberge Egg------To invest or just to collect, Yacht-------To party on When you can afford them you don't have to have a point, that's the point!!!!!!!! Capitalism, enjoy the heck out of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CadillacPat

That's not at all true. Many artists create work commissioned by someone else and sink large amounts of artistic expression in the job. I do this all the time and believe me, profit is a huge motivation coupled with the challenge of working in unfamiliar territory. CadillacPat

The whole point to being rich is so you never have to think about buying an electric car. Like ZZ Topp says," You can have yours just gimme mine." CadillacPat

Thanks RMVW Guy, I put a forward slant to both left and ride side panel window logo's. Thanks George, Unless I say different everything I work with is usually 1/64. Yes, most all my projects are metal (Zamac) DieCast. HotWheels Collectors are crazy for the Dairy Delivery and when Jada Toys came out with their line of DieCast they included these similar Divco Milk Truck versions to compete. Great casting. CadillacPat

Thanks DeathSkull, I'm looking for some In Progress pics to post. CadillacPat

" Route 66 Jada Divco Cruizer " With at least 2 more Customs on the drawing table for my ongoing Route 66 Series in Candy Pagan Gold and Limetime Pearl , here is piece #3, the Jada Divco Cruizer. First was the Jada Oil Tanker followed by the Jada Silverado Dualley PickUp, both in the same color scheme and Custom graphics seen here in the Divco. Stripped, filed free of all imperfections, sanded and rubbed down with #3 Steel Wool. Primed, the fenders are shot LimeTime Green and then Intercoat cleared and taped, Sides, edges of Hood and bottom rear doors are shot Zenith Gold, InterCoat Cleared and taped, Roof and upper rear doors are shot Black, InterCoat Cleared and taped, Middle of Hood is shot LimeTime Pearl, Intercoat Cleared and taped, Grille outline is shot Black, Except for the Roof all tape is removed and the whole thing is shot Candy Pagan Gold with Bright Yellow Pearl Powder. All Products Used Are Exclusively House Of Kolor, Of Course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Roof tape is removed, Details and Decals applied, Front of fenders and Hood are drilled out for Quad Rhinestone Crystal headlights. Quad Rhinestone Crystal Headlights for Taillights and Blinkers. Cleared with HOK Urethane Clear, a touch of Yellow Intensifier and Brilliant Gold Pearl Powder. Custom Decal Graphics printed on Clear InkJet Decal Paper from Papilio.com Custom Cut Chrome Center Caps dress out the Jada wheels. Stay Tuned for my Route 66 Jada Silverado Dualley PickUp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! --CadillacPat the UnCustomizer--

The final Custom in this 3 car Route66 set. This sub forum moves real quick so to see the other 2 Route66 Customs look back about 4 pages. "Route 66 Jada Dualley Silverado PickUp" Custom #2 in this Jada Route 66 Series 3 car set, This Jada body comes pretty clean when stripped, Still the necessary Filing, Sanding and Rubbing down with #3 Steel Wool gets done. Purple Power Degreaser removes the Dub City writing from the windows, Primed and the center side stripe gets shot Solar Gold, InterCoat Cleared and Taped, Body is shot LimeTime Pearl, InterCoat Cleared and Taped, Bed Cover, Cab and part of Hood gets shot Black, Intercoat Cleared and Taped, Tape is removed from the Green and Gold portions of the Body and it's shot Candy Pagan Gold with Bright Yellow Pearl Powder. Decals, Windshield Trim, and Taillights are applied, Then the whole thing is shot HOK Urethane Clear with a helping of Candy Pagan Gold Intensifier and Brilliant Gold Pearl Powder. All Products Used Are Exclusively House Of Kolor, Of Course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Car #3 coming up in this Route 66 Series is a Jada Divco Cruizer. Decals are made with Clear InkJet Decal Paper from Papilio.com --CadillacPat the UnCustomizer--

Badger's are great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've got 3 of them along with several Iwatas and Paasche's. The Anthem 155 and the LG 100 are perfect all around Guns that will do anything the Modeler/AirBrusher needs to do. The Guns are inexpensive built with precision and quality, Parts are very inexpensive. CadillacPat

You bet Doctor Cranky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've had these up on a couple of dozen DieCast sites but sadly most of the sites have bitten the dust largely due to infighting and backbiting by the Members. Perhaps these Tutorials will generate some activity here with metal DieCast of any scale. CadillacPat

" Custom Drill Bit Collar Stop " This Tutorial relates to my " Disassembly and Reassembly " Tutorial. Instructions here deal with procedures after you have removed the base from the casting. Here's a way to make a custom fit Drill Bit Collar to accurately control the depth your Drill Bit sinks into the Rivet post of your 1/64" Customs, when you are using the 1/16" bit or the 3/32" bit to tap the Rivet Post. Since this Tutorial will discuss assembling your Customs with 3/32" rivets the tubing you will need is 1/8" Brass Tubing for slipping over a 3/32" Drill Bit. Hobby and Hardware stores have small Copper, Aluminum and Brass tubing but Brass is the hardest making it more lasting for our purposes. If you can't find Brass then use Copper. Here's the tools you'll need to tap your Rivet posts for Rivet reassembly. Variable Speed Handdrill, 1/8" Brass Tubing ( I'm showing Aluminum Tubing in this picture because I'm out of Brass), Tubing Cutter or Razor Saw, Marker, File for fine tuning length of your Drill Bit Collar/Bit Stop. First, Remove the Rivet Cap holding the Base on the Body (see Disassembly and Reassembly Tutorial) with a 3/16" Pilot Point bit. I prefer a Variable Speed Handdrill since it only takes a few turns to peel off the mushroom cap of the Rivet. You are now ready to make your Drill Bit Collar. Seat your 3/32" Bit completely into the Chuck of your Drill. Now, lay your 1/8" tubing alongside the exposed length of the bit and mark the tubing the same length as that portion of the bit protruding from the Chuck. Use either a small Tubing Cutter or a Razor Saw to make your cut. Twist the short length of tubing down over the exposed portion of the Drill Bit. If necessary, file down the tubing so it is exactly the same length of the Bit. Now, lay one of your 3/32" Rivets up next to the end of the Bit and mark the length of the Set End of the Rivet on the Tubing. Remove the Tubing from the Drill Bit, make your cut and twist the tubing back down onto the Bit. Check for proper length by laying a Rivet up against the exposed end of the Drill Bit. That's all there is to it. You're finished and your Drill Bit Collar/Bit Stop will keep you from drilling too far and going through the Trunk or Hood of your Customs to be. As you've noticed I've made my marks the full length of the Set End of the replacement Rivet. Most casting's Rivet Posts are long enough to allow drilling them out at this depth. However, every now and then you will run into castings whose post's are short. Take a look at the next picture. You will see the Ball of the Rivet that pulls up into the sleeve which gives the Rivet it's strength. The diameter of this Ball can actually be subtracted from the depth you need to drill into the Rivet post. It doesn't look like a great deal of difference but trust me, it can make all the difference in the world So, for super short Rivet Posts keep this minute extra length (diameter of the ball) in mind when performing the steps of my Tutorial. You can make your marks the length of the Set End of the Rivet minus the small Ball on the end. Or, just back off a hair when drilling and don't allow the Drill Bit Collar to touch the Rivet post. Note: I check for correct depth (with one of the 3/32" Rivets) after tapping every one of my Rivet Posts whether I am drilling one casting for a single Customer or 1000 for a Convention or Event. It's best to be sure before you begin painting. I keep a small bottle cap of oil handy and dip the end of my bit into it before drilling each Rivet Post. It keeps the drill bit from loading up with molten metal. If you are using tiny sheet metal screws to reassemble your castings and are drilling 1/16" holes to do so, you can use 3/32" tubing for your Drill Bit Collar/Bit Stop on 1/16" drill bits. Two final notes. 1) I never hold castings in the palm of my hand when drilling them. I hold one end and lay the opposite end up against the edge of a wooden table. You can further pad the edge of the table using a folded towel. This keeps my hand at least two inches away from the drill bit and since I'm only using short light squeezes on the trigger of the Variable Speed Handdrill there is very, very little chance of an accident. I choose to drill out all my castings by hand and find it is much faster and easier, and more accurate than using a Drill Press. 2) Remember to file or grind away the sharp enlarged edge surrounding your Rivet Post after you have tapped it. See my " Disassembly and Reassembly " Tutorial. Have a good time, Your Drill Instructor, CadillacPat

Thanks Doctor Cranky, much more to come, The Caddy's you see being stripped here are the from a set of 125 that Jenna Jameson ordered for one of her Movie Premiere's. Stay Tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CadillacPat

Here's Part 2 of this series of CadillacPat's DieCast Customizing Tutorials!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STRIPPING YOUR CASTING: First make sure you have left no plastic parts attached to your disassembled casting body. Stripper melts plastic. Here’s an area where I stand my ground firmly for one and only one type of Paint Stripper. KleanStrip AirCraft Remover liquid in the can. Sold in quart and gallon quantities at AutoZone and Walmart. You will read on the Internet about people suggesting for you to use a myriad of second rate and third rate useless Paint Strippers. Lucky for you I have found the only product that works completely first time everytime. You’ll be told by some “How-To’s” to use Orange Juice, Diet Coke or 7-Up. They’ll suggest Transmission Fluid, Camel Urine, Carburetor Cleaner, Plumbers Helper and boiled Perrier water. They’ll tell you to strip your cars in the same water you bathe your dog in. Well now hear this, I only use one thing because it works completely First Time Everytime. I don’t use Pine-Sol, Simple Green, or Clorox, Lacquer Thinner or Acetone. When you read other suggestions of Paint Strippers a single phrase always lies at the end of their recommendation. These chilling words are, ”Whatever paint is left that the Stripper doesn’t remove can be picked out with a sharp knife or wire brush.” That’s enough to send a cold chill up the back of any Customizer. I mean, why use anything if it doesn’t do the job completely the first time. Just as with the other products and tools I suggest in my Tutorials, I have searched for the Holy Grail of PaintStrippers. I have discarded all but the ONE product that does the job completely and perfectly. I use and recommend nothing but KleanStrip AirCraft Remover. It works without failure First Time Everytime. I recommend always drilling out (tapping) the Rivet posts of your casting before proceeding to the Paint Stripping stage. This way if you accidentally drill off center and destroy the Rivet post or drill through the body of the car you can just toss it and try another before wasting Stripper. For the most part I usually strip several castings together for two reasons. First, it is not unusual to come up with different ideas for the same casting while working on the first one. Second, if I don’t strip anything for several days and the Stripper dries up into a paste, I have extra stripped castings to work on. Keeping the lid on your jar or can will allow the Stripper to remain fresh for several days. It can be reused over and over. However, the liquid will dry to a paste and need to be discarded and replaced eventually. For these reasons only pour enough Stripper in the jar to completely saturate the castings. The tools needed to strip your castings are simple. A medium glass jar, Pickle jar, Mayonnaise jar, or clean quart paint can from Home Depot (about 2 bucks). A bent coat hangar or stick with a bent nail in the end for safely retrieving stripped castings from their container. I use a gallon paint can because sometimes I strip as many as 25 castings at once. If you’re only stripping a couple of castings at a time I suggest the Mayonnaise or Pickle jar. You can purchase the KleanStrip AirCraft Remover in quart cans and if you only strip a casting or two at a time your Stripper will last you quite a while. Be sure the jar is glass with a metal top. The Stripper will melt any plastic. I strip my castings on the side of the house by the water hose. Drop a casting or two in your jar and pour in about 1 inch of KleanStrip AirCraft Remover. Screw on the lid and gently swirl the castings around so they are completely covered with liquid. Wait 5 or 10 minutes and holding the jar facing away from your body gently back off on the seal to allow the pressurized gases to slowly escape, then unscrew the lid. Cold weather will impede the speed with which AirCraft Remover works. In the warm Summertime it cuts paint like butter and when the weather turns cold it takes a little longer. Unscrew the jar slowly allowing expansion gases to escape. Do not inhale while doing this, and retrieve the castings with the stick and bent nail I mentioned or a bent coat hanger. Hold the casting over the jar for a minute to reclaim any excess Stripper dripping off the casting. Drop the casting on the ground and wash it good with a strong stream of water from the hose. Once it is soaked with water you can pick it up and hose it off inside and out, nice and clean. Be careful the water does not splash back at you. You may want to wear eye protection when doing this. Water deactivates the Stripper, so if you get any on your skin, and it won’t take long to tell if you do, you can just hose it off without harm. Is KleanStrip AirCraft Remover powerful? Yes it is, but common sense allows you to use it safely. After all it is sold in the store and is not on any Homeland Security list of controlled substances like uranium or plutonium. That was a joke. When you are not using the jar or can, keep it in a shady spot and not in the hot sun. This will lengthen the life of the Stripper. If you choose to use a paint can to strip your castings you will need to drill a 1/16” hole in the lid to equalize pressure. As the Stripper works, its dissolving action releases volatile gasses that expand and create pressure within the can. For this reason I drill a tiny hole in the lid if using a can or slowly unscrew the lid when opening if using a jar. So, the safety measurements required to use KleanStrip AirCraft Remover far outweigh the use of inferior products. I’ve used it for years now. Here are a few pics of how I strip my cars. The screen grate keeps the castings off the ground and out of the dirt while I hose them off. Tap water in many cities will leave a hard water scale on your stripped cars. It’s not harmful but it may hide any imperfections on the surface of your raw casting. You will want to brush them off with a soft fine wire brass brush before you start your process of filing, sanding and modifying. Stay Tuned for Part 3 CadillacPat