Bugatti Fan

Lovely model, and just goes to show how small the original Honda Civics were !

Ditto all the other congratulatory posts Rich !

Industrial shot blasting is done in a booth to save the granules for re use How these home use items work? They look similar to an air brush to use. Do you have to use them somewhere that the granules are able to disperse? As far as I can see they are a consumable, but unlike paint they are solids rather than vapour when used.

Nice kit to build by the looks of it. Talking of Tamiya, they did a 1/12th scale Lola many years ago that was a very nice kit. A bit surprised that they never did the GT40 in 1/12th scale way back. As far as I know only Trumpeter and whoever used their moulds under licence have done a plastic 1/12th scale kit of this car that seem to have had their critics. CMA (Creative Model Associates) has been developing a highly accurate 1/12th scale multi medium kit of this car that seems to be taking forever to realise. Certainly a mega money kit when it finally does become available. Not sure if MFH might ever do one. We will have to see !

The Harder as Steenbeck 2024 looks like a brilliant high quality airbrush and not overly expensive either. German engineering at its best. Paul Fitzmaurice's Little Tools who used to do the UK model show circuit normally had some H&S Airbrushes rigged up for demo on his stand and remember them being very good but also expensive. This new H&S 2024 Airbrush will be a good more affordable instrument now added to the range. I can see many buying this airbrush probably using it for life if it is a first time purchase.

Thanks for the feedback Ace and Trevor .

Ace. That flat Exacto Square of yours looks a useful bit of kit. I have some small normal engineers squares but not come across one of those before. Looked on the UK Exacto site and it's not marketed by them over here unfortunately.

Before reading this thread I had never heard of Vevor Airbrushes and equipment. Mind you there are so many different cheapo airbrushes around that I have never heard of it's difficult to keep track of them all. That is it I even bother to look ! As for spares I would be doubtful about them being readily available. So I will be sticking with my stalwarts, a couple of old Badgers that I have served me well for about 30 years now with no problems apart from odd replacement spares like nozzles and needles through normal use. If price is an issue that is swaying one towards a cheap airbrush, take a breather and look for a second hand quality airbrush that would suit your needs. Many users have upgraded and have good quality airbrushes that are no longer used, so this might be a good avenue to pursue by putting out feelers and looking at sites like Ebay.

The story goes that Steve Scott's car was based on an exaggerated cartoon drawing of a custom T and he saw it as a challenge to build it for real ! Whether true or just folklore who knows. However, back in the sixties it was a revolutionary show car. Perhaps someone reading this can throw some light on Steve Scott since he built the car. I understand that he was either at or just left high school when he built it. I heard rumours a few years back that he was going to produce model kits of the car that never materialised. From what I have heard he became quite reclusive and shunned enquiries about the car having hidden it away in storage.

The Aztec airbrush certainly was a departure from normal airbrush design ! Was it designed to take filled paint pouches you could click straight onto it as well as more conventional glass jars ? It 's been many years since I have seen one, but seem to remember that they brought one out made in metal a short time after their original plastic one ?

Looks like Paasche might be receptive to this very easy fix as a suggestion for an improvement.

Don't forget John that the airbrush was primarily designed initially for artwork, not model makers. Although having said that the model making market is now more of a prime target as airbrush type artwork is being done on computers these days. Badger sort of latched onto the modelling market in the early seventies and I think was the first airbrush manufacturer to aim at model makers.

A neat conversion for ease of use Greg. We don't see Paasche Airbrushes much over here in the UK although one of the oldest (if not the:oldest) quality airbrush manufacturers in the world. There may be a UK distributor, but if so they do not appear to push the brand like others. Question. Looking at how the nozzle and siphon are arranged is the Paasche H an external mix airbrush ?

Very interesting responses to my original post guys airbrushes The differing viewpoints about cheap airbrushes has made for a lively debate. Just shows how people's experiences of them varies. A good friend of mine only has one airbrush a single action Badger 200 that he has been using for over 30 years. He turns out models with a beautiful finish. I asked him recently about whether he had considered anything more up market. His reply was that what he already has served him well all those years, the quality of his airbrush is good, spares are readily available and said that there is not much a more sophisticated airbrush would do over what he does with what he already has. He sees no point in buying anything else !

There is an old adage 'You only get what you are prepared to pay for!' There appears to be a great void price wise between what are considered quality brands and the dead cheap airbrushes appearing all over the market place in recent years. Never used any thing apart from a couple of Badgers and Devilbiss Aerograph models to date that have proved very reliable, but initially expensive to buy. Would be interesting to read users and readers opinions, horror stories whatever about those cheapo air brushes ?

Zippi, just out of interest a father and son team Rod and Ian Knott used to do the UK Model Shows with their Motor Museum In Miniature. One of them actually converted the Anglia back into a standard factory stock road car. Have a look at their website for the Museum as there may be a picture somewhere in there. The site has lots of useful information on it for car model buildets generally too.

Sonny is right about a version being called the Pop short for Popular here in the UK. My dad had a light green Anglia version that shared the same body. Not sure what the difference was. Engine power maybe? Ford also made a model named the Prefect that appeared to have a pop rear end but different front end styling. The Pop and Anglia both became a great favourite with UK Rodders.

There are so many cheapo airbrushes on the market these days that it is very easy to seduced by the price for what looks like a well finished bargain bit of kit in the box. You only get what you pay for, and airbrushes in particular are no exception to this. Good airbrushes, even the more basic types are not cheap. They are precision made pieces of equipment made by Badger, Paasche, Iwata, Harder and Steenbeck, DeVilbiss who have been making high quality airbrushes for many years now. There are of course one of two newer quality makers on the block, but I have fallen back on the names of those I know. It seems like Alex appears to be fairly new to airbrushi use. There is a learning curve to go through when you first use one so don't be discouraged. It will come together with more practice and familiarity with the airbrush and mediums you will be spraying with it. Also thorough preparation of your surfaces is almost mandatory. The fish eye blemishes are probably some sort of surface contaminant rather than the spraying itself. My preparation method is rub all the main body parts down with a fine grade of Wet N Dry paper used wet. This will dull the surfaces and give them a first stage surface key for the paints. A good wash with a detergent washing up liquid gets rid of the rubbing down residue and also any traces of mould release agent that might still be present. After being left to dry, primer undercoat and finishes can then be applied. Hope this bit of info helps, but it new to airbrush use I would suggest looking out one of two good Books, CD Roms or Modelling Airbrush Tutorials to download.

Charlie . Thanks for coming back about the Argentinian's concept artwork that explains the T number. It's always interesting to see concept cars based on classics of the past. Lindbergh did a plastic kit of the Chrysler Atlantic concept car that had old Bugatti styling influences. Your model is well on the way to completion and it has made very interesting reading following your build. Model engineering in its truest form, and really looking forward to seeing it when completed.

Tim, your build article that you linked brought back memories of building that kit when it was first released. Don't know what colour you sprayed it, but it looks very similar to the AMT lacquer thaI I did mine in all those years ago. I'm sure that I have another build article for it in a folder taken from the old Model Car Science when the kit was current. Will have to look it out as I think it might be one of Don Emmons articles from way back.

Very satisfying work restoring old builds.

Lashing out 550 bucks is crazy just for an old Monogram plastic kit. Having built it first time around many years ago I don't really have the desire to build another. But it is a very good thing that someone has developed 3D printing files for it, as I appreciate that there are many modellers out there who would like to build a model of Steve Scott's old show car. The 3D printed parts that Zippi produced look really good, and probably better defined than the original Monogram kit. The wire wheels in particular. A few years ago there was also a resin kit that someone in Australia produced. Not sure who did it or if still available. I believe that the original full size car has been found after many years of neglect in storage, and is now being restored to go on to the show for circuit again.

Polystyrene plastic goes brittle due to deterioration when it gets old. Guess that's the problem you have. Sometimes, depending on the model, it can be rescued with a bit of scratch building of some parts where it is possible to do so. You may have to bite the bullet and call it a day if you find that are flogging a dead horse with this one ! Some of the older kits also had rubber tyres rather than vinyl that might perish after a number of years.

Like Les (Stitchup) I tend to use automotive acrylics. I have airbrushes that I can use competently but tend there days to go for auto acrylics used straight from an aerosol. Get good results from them plus auto paint suppliers can make up specific auto colour mixes in aerosols for most car types that are long gone. I guess I am just getting a bit too lazy to fiddle about with air brushes for overall spraying !

Sanding around individual rivets on this scale is virtually nigh on impossible if it is already an integral part of a built up old model that you are trying to restore. If there is a way of removing the rivet detailed item from the model I would suggest that immersing the removed part in a paint stripper that will not affect plastic may be the best route to follow to get the thing back to bare plastic without damaging the rivet detailing itself.