RobRus

Beautiful job on this one, it is... CLEAN!

That is a LOT of detail but you did a great job with it. It looks as though you were just a bit to close for you camera to focus. Next time you might try taking them a bit farther back and then crop the image in an editor. Other than the focus of the camera you did an outstanding job on it. And that last shot is a treat!

Greetings, This is the first plastic build I have done in 20 years. This was my real car back in 1972 that I saved my pennies for after having blown up the engine in my previous car street racing (that was a 65 Ford Galixey XL with a 427). An interesting story behind my Cougar that you may find amusing (I didn't at the time). After buying the car from a private owner who orderd the car without any of the Eliminator graphics or rear wing (what we use to call a sleeper). I had the car for about 3 months and was fully enjoying it when one day coming home from work I was about a half of a mile from home when I heard this horrible clatter. Nothing like I had ever heard before but I knew it was not good so I shut the key off and coasted as far as I could. I made it about 3 blocks from my apartment and coased to a stop. I got out and popped the hood... everything looked fine there so I looked under the car to see if it was leaking anything... there was nothing out of the ordinary. So I got my buddy and we pushed home. I worked in a body shop and one of my friends I worked with was a mechanic so I asked him to look at it. He was a serious motor head and had a 64 Buick Special that he raced on the weekends. So I hauled the car to him and in a few days he came to me with these little tiny pieces of what appeared to be a threaded bolt of some sort... It turned out the bold that holds the ram air on jiggled loose and dropped down into the carb. From there it went through one of the intake ports and broke up into 3 different pieces. Two of the pieces some how came back up through the intake valve and went into 2 other cylinders. Surprisingly the 3 pieces never touched any of the cylinder walls or did they break or bend the valves. Dan said he could not bieleve all it did was crack 2 pistons and beat the ###### out of the other. Fortunately I was smart enough to shut it down as soon as I heard it. I ended up letting him do a few modifications to the motor as much as my budget could handle. I had a race cam put in it as well as having the heads shaved, a new double pumper Holly carb, headers and a new coil. When all was said and done I was running the 1/4 mile in 11.60 at 115mph. So I found this model on Ebay and decided to make this my first build in almost 20 years. It is pretty much box stock except it didn't have a center consol in the kit (strange) so i built one up. The paint is automotive laquer and I started with a black base with a very light pearl over it. I then used Candy Apple Blue and over that I dusted some Flip Flop blue. The color in most of these shots really don't show off the flip flop and it actually appears lighter blue than it really is. This is also my first time playing with Alclad Chrome. All the chrome has been done with Alclad and I am pretty happy with how it came out (althought I had to redo them 3 times) You can see that I pinned the instructions on the wall behind the car so you can see how smooth it is. I did this pretty much how I use to do my custom paint jobs. Prime and block, Color and block. Clear and block and then rubbed it out with ultra fine compound and then a final rub out with toothpaste and then a rub out with swirl mark remover. I hope you enjoy. Bob

SWEET! Very nice detail.

Excellent work Donn. I love how you took a simple concept and followed it through with clean execution. It is a skill to know how far to take an idea before it becomes overkill. Nice work.

I am a geek to the core but I do not (or will not) carry a phone so I don't use one. I find it extremely rude to be talking to someone in person and the next thing you know they are talking on the phone or worse texting someone. I have 3 pc's on my desk 2 Linux boxes (one is a laptop) and a Windowz box. The Windows box is pretty much used only for working in 3D Studio which will not run under Linux (yet). As far as visiting forums on a mobil device, my wife has a Kindle and I have used it to get to the forums I frequent when we are visiting her parents but I don't care too much for the small screen. It works just great but these old eyes don't see as well as they use to. And forget about trying to type on it with my fat fingers.

Looks like this is going to be sweet. Are you planning on laying frame like in the photo? Low And Slow is the way to Go...

What a talent! This is going to be a showstopper when it is done. I will be following this one for sure. I can see the diaorama for this in my mind already...

Thanks Harry, I know there is the ignore button but I don't think that is nessesary at this point. Pat, I wasn't trolling for an argument and that is the last thing I want being a new member here. But as you found out I am not afraid of one either. As far as I can see the issue is over. I am really the kind of guy that does not hold a grudge and I do try to get along with people so lets just call off the junk yard dogs and move on. I think I have a lot to contribute to this forum as well as a lot to learn so I am not going anywhere and hope you accept that. If not then we can use that Ignore button and "never the twain shall meet" Cheers, Bob

Pat, I guess you really can't read... And I didn't call you a name did I? If you mean the Jerk reference, that isn't anything that has not been proven out in this thread. I am not going to wast another keystroke on someone like you. @ Jantrix, You are exactly correct, I do need to lighten up, I just closed my own 3d modeling forum down becasue of guys like this Cadillac Pat. I came back into plasitc modeling after 12 years only to find more of the same here. I guess you just can't get away from them... I apologise for showing my frustration I usually keep it in check but some times..... And yes. I was explaining from experience what spray booth dust will do and that it is actually much more dangerous than the fumes as far as igniting a fire. I actually am on the side of building your own. My booth is home built and it works pretty well. The main trick in creating a good booth is not to have to little or too much airflow. Too little and you will smell it and too much and you will see it in your paint jobs. I would suggest you do a search on the internet for designing your own booth. There are a lot of ideas and good info out there along with the formula to calculate the CFM for the size of area you are working with. A good nights sleep and a fresh outlook is all I needed. Cheers, Bob

First. @ Cadillac Pat, I was mistaken that you started this thread about spray booths when in fact it was geordie. I do know a lot about the subject so I do have valuable info to give. He wanted a discussion about spray booths and this is exactly what he got. You may not like the fact that other people are safety conscious (which clearly you are not) but that is part of the topic that geordie started. The reason you make or buy a spray booth is to control the overspray so you don't breath it in, that is what the other part of this discussion is about. All important info about spray booths. You said: NO I did not say that. You should re-read what I said. I didn't blow up anything. We had a ductwork fire in our booth that was big enough to put two tractors end to end... (not the trailers and there was nothing in the booth thank god). The fire was caused by a body man flicking his ash from a cigarette into the ductwork and igniting the dust. My whole point of passing that info on was because it isn't the vapor that will cause a fire. IT IS THE DUST!!! Clearly something you don't have a clue about since your booth is so dirty I am surprised you have not already burned your house down. The size of the booth makes no difference, if you have a fire it will burn and burn very fast. And it only takes one little spark. No one has ever said "Oh yea, my house burned to the ground.... but it was only a small fire. This information IS relevant to the topic whether you like it or not. Just because you have been using your booth for 15 years and not had a fire does not mean that everyone should forget about safety. Either breathing in the dust or setting it ablaze it is all about what a spray booth is about. So nothing here was "Off topic" as you tried to point out. Maybe you are upset because everyone didn't say "Wow... that Cadillac Pat is a really smart guy and if he is not worried about safety then no one else should be... That is a really bad advice to give anyone. Safety should be the very first thing someone thinks about when installing or building a spray booth. Notice I am not taking sides on home made or purchased booths, both can be very good, and both are subject to dust buildup which will burn. After a number of PM's from some nice guys on this forum I am not going to leave. I won't let a few jerks drive me away. I am not trying to cause a fight with you but if you take that attitude with people, there are some of us that can give it back and this is one argument you can not win... How can you tell people not to think about safety? Yea... maybe you should take your own advice.... Just the Facts Man....

Thats it. only 27 posts and I am done here. This seemed like a friendly forum but after being told off two times for just trying to contribute to threads it is clear this is not the place for me. I guess I am too stupid to find the "Delete my account" button. So if any moderators read this please delete my account or tell me how. Too bad, I thought this was a great forum.

Sorry the discussion doesn't conform to what you started the thread for. This is the second time I have been put down on this forum and I only have 27 posts. I am not giving mis-infomation and I can tell you from experience, fire is nothing to take lightly. I do not make things up and what I posted in my above post really did happen.. You can beileve it or not. I get it guys... only the "old timers" can post here. I will find another more friendly forum to visit. See ya. Bob P.S. To the moderators. You can delete my ID here I don't feel very welcome.

Art, I would respectfully disagree. You may not think you need one because you can't smell the paint but again, the dry dust is just as harmfull as the vapor. I very rarely did anything without at least a good particle mask. For the cheap cost of disposable masks it should be the first thing you do when you work with paint dust and overspray. The way I see it, the cost of a box of masks is worth the peace of mind I get (and the fact that I am almost 60 years old and can still ride my mountan bike 30 miles without stopping). But then again a lot of the painters I worked with took your point of view and I am sure most of them never had any breathing problems.

That is a pretty good deal. And Corvair's are cool cars (be damned Ralf Nader). I can think of a couple of cool custom builds that could be done with that car. I always wanted to see a Corvair Nomad wagon. A few weeks ago I scored 4 complete kits on Ebay for $42 including shipping.. I thought that was a good deal. I got a 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, a 41 Ford Woody, 34 Ford Street Rod and a 37 Chevy Cabriolet. It is always a good feeling when you strike that great deal.

Hey guys, I was a 1:1 car painter for about 20 years and have used everything from a house fan in the wall to a water filtered, downdraft spray-bake booth and I have seen a few spray booth fires in my time. The thing you have to worry about is not the fumes but the paint dust collecting in the booth, fan and ductwork. A very small spark will turn your booth into a fire that even a large fire extingusiher will not put out. What you end up with is a jet like ignition with the air feeding the flame. I witnessed one massive fire in the exhaust system of a booth that would hold 2 semi truck tractors end to end. We dumped about 8 large fire extinguishers into the exhaust and still couldn't get it out. The fan motors finally burned out and the whole booth went up in flames. By the time the fire department got there one wall and the roof were fully engulfed. I have seen 3 booth fires and one of them was a $15,000 DeVilbiss booth so home made or commercial makes no difference if you do not clean out the overspray dust. Any spark (not just from the fan motor) will set paint dust into a blazing inferno. Trust me, this is a very scary thing to be around and you do not want to have one in your house, it isn't just a little fire that you can put out easily so do yourself a favor and take the time to clean your booth on a regular basis and don't be lax about it. I have worked in a lot of different booths and some of the best ones I have used were nothing more than a cement block room with a fan in the wall. Although the downdraft, water filtered spray bake booth was by far the best I have ever used. The water filter literally extracts any dust that would normally go through the ductwork and fan so there is no need to have to clean out the dust. So it isn't the fan motor or the fumes you have to worry about or wether you buy an expensive booth or make it yourself, it is how clean you keep it that is a direct relation to having a fire. One word of warning... If you do have a fire do NOT shut off your fan, try to get it under control while the fan is still sucking the fire out of your house. If you shut the fan off the fire will be inside your house. And, Always use metal ductwork, anything else will burn through and start your room on fire. Seriously, you do not want to find out how scary a booth fire really is. Take the time and watch this video segment on 60 Minutes. http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A2KLqIH77IZPMW0AQ9f7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBncGdyMzQ0BHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEdnRpZAM-?p=paint+dust+fire&fr=yfp-t-701&ei=utf-8&fr2=piv-web&n=21&tnr=21

This is the gun I use most of the time for small jobs. It is a DeVilbiss EGA-503-390F Touch up gun. I use to do a lot of 1:1 custom painting and this was my gun of choice for even small details. Mine is an older model but is identical to this one. I have 3 tips that range from about 6" down to about 2" fan. The beauty of this gun is the knob in the back controls the paint flow and the side knob controls the fan so with my small tip and needle I can get down to almost the same pattern as my Paasche with the large tip and needel. If what you have is anything close to this one I think you will love it and your airbrush will only get used when you want very fine detail.

This is fricking wild! I am not a Ferrari fanboy so I love the idea of carving it up. Great job so far.

VERY NICE! All my friends know the low rider The low rider is a little higher Low rider drives a little slower Low rider is a real goer My favorite song by War. Keep it going

This should be a great project to keep an eye on. I love Low... My real car is a 97 Dodge Ram lowered 9" in the rear and 7" in the front with airbags all around. It doesn't quite lay frame but when it is down it is only a couple of inches off the pavement. I don't particularly care for the small wheels on some low riders but that is a look to go for. My preference is larger wheels and tires stuffed way up in the wheelwells but this should still be a great build. Yes, the Dr is right... That is a great canvas for paint. Keep it up. Bob

I actually built this model when I was a kid and I remember watching the show every week. Something about a talking car that grabbed me. One that I always wanted to build was the Mako Shark. I remember drooling over the box every time I went to the hobby shop and asking my mom to buy it for me. Never did get it but it could be a good project to build up from a stock one.

I would suggest looking at Dupli-Color. They make touch up paint for cars. They have a wide variety of colors to choose from. Some automotive paint stores may carry Dupli-Color so they could cross reference the paint code. If not you may be able to ask them if you can take the page from their color book so you can match it up (they may charge you a deposit to make sure you bring it back). If you go that route you will want to do a bit of research on spraying lacquer on plastic (light coats only and give plenty of dry time between coats) Hope this helps and good luck with reproducing your dads car. Bob

@ Dr Cranky, Thanks for posting these pic's of Don's @ Don, You do some fantastic paint jobs Don, If I may ask... Most of what I have seen you do is using Testors enamels with pearl (or pearl-like) effects which would require a clear coat. What clear do you use? And are you wet sanding and rubbing it out or do you leave the natural gloss? I know that pictures do not do paint justice since a lot of the depth and subtle colors get lost but your finishes are stunning. Keep those pics coming and thanks for sharing your work with us. Bob

Urethane is a 2 part paint, part 1 is the paint and part2 is a hardner. You usually have about an hour to spray it and clean your gun before it starts to set. It cures (instead of drying) to a hard and very glossy finish. The most common way it is used is as a clear coat over a color base but you can also get it in colors. Real 1:1 aircraft are painted in urethanes because they are very tough paint. Kit Basher is correct, Thinning enamels with laquer thinners is still spraying enamel so a good filtered respirator should be used. Just make sure your respirator is classified for paint and not dust. Bob

Having worked in a body shop as a painter for about 20 years I can tell you from experience you do not want to inhale paint. To answer your question from my perspective it all depends what you are spraying. Lacquers dry very fast so most of the overspray you see in the air is dust. The very least I wear a disposable 3M particle mask such as on this site. http://3mcollision.com/products/safety/masks-and-respirators/maintenance-free-disposable-masks Enamels are much different in the overspray stays wet for a lot longer. So what you see in the air is actually wet paint and you do not want that in your lungs. You should wear a rubber charcoal filter mask that makes a good seal on your face. Full face is also an option but they have a tendicy to steam up. Urethane is another cirtter all in itself. This is very dangerous stuff and you should wear full protection from any contact with it. This is where you see painters wearing full bio-hazard suits with fresh air being pumped into their mask. Spraying this is like spraying honey.. It will stick to everything including your skin. It should be used with caution and do not spray it in your house or around anyone who is not protected. I actually quit working in the industry shortly after urethanes were introduced. I figured if I had to wear a bio-hazard suit with pumped in air I wasn't going to risk my health. I always wear the appropiate respirator for the job and I always try to wet sand if I can.