Zoom Zoom

Just recently revisited a favorite model from when I was about 15. The dead-simple Monogram Porsche Carrera circa 1976. First model that I had spray painted and clear coated, came out so good I got another one and built it. Have no idea where they ended up. Found the kit for a very reasonable price at a show, combined it w/parts from a couple Fujimi 911 parts boxes that lay dormant for about 30 years, such as fog lights, wheels, tires, front turn signal lenses, side and interior mirrors. It went from 26 total pieces to 36. Really happy how it turned out. Revised the headlight lenses/buckets since photos after seeing several one day at Caffeine & Octane.

I looked at my built DBS earlier, there's enough space under the hood corners that you can do a reinforced repair w/a bit more thickness underneath than the hood itself which is very thin.

Looks superb, and personally I like the look of the '64 over the '63 with the big swath of trim down the middle of the body, looks much better on the lower body. Never knew this resin existed!

Very nice! I have the same kit, but really would rather build the quad-headlight DS21 that should have been out in November but still MIA...

Easily the nicest builds I've ever seen of the '69 Riviera, great work!

That's amazing, tons of character!

Are lenses clear or is the entire piece plated? If so, get red Sharpie Twin Tip and use the ultra-fine tip in the corners/edges, fine tip to fill out the rest.

You'll get similar results w/a red Sharpie (thin and translucent) or bottled Tamiya acrylic transparent red if you don't already have the glass stain which I don't know will work or not.

I watch enough Youtube videos that I'm not sure that's a typo...

Yep, filler, sanding, rescribing required. Can't be unseen.

Eric, that turned out amazing! Love it. Between this Manx and Randy Derr's replica of the Derek Jenkins Manx, I have a ton of inspiration for whenever I do mine. I was going to do the same one Randy did, but since he blazed the trail first I feel less of a need for a replica and can do it more as a tribute w/my own touches...and maybe a little less stress

That model looks great, your Dad will be proud! Don't you love/hate it when a model fights you tooth and nail and the finished product ends up so nice that nobody would believe it took some serious work/pain to get there?

Happened on this thread just now. I hit refresh and it opened properly; as have a few other threads that have the same intermittent issue.

Yes, always a great/fun show, will be there with an ACME contingent as usual. I hear they are going to expand the room size there as well this year. Looking forward to it!

Thanks for sharing; I have the same kit on the slow registered SAL boat, should land in a couple weeks. Fun subject, surprised it took this long to have a model of it. Looks like the body parts breakdown mostly eliminates visible mold seam lines like the Hustler/Flair duo?

Done. Hope it helps!

This reminds me (again after you told me about this earlier...CRS is a wonderful affliction ), I need to order some new Spaz Stix clear and revisit the Molotow w/clear subject. My old jar of Spaz Stix clear worked almost perfectly on airbrushed Molotow, results were startlingly good. I hope they didn't mess with the formula. Cliff's Notes for others: I airbrush the Molotow chrome in WET coats at about 20 psi, and the clear is also applied in similarly wet coats. Forget the term "mist coats", this isn't like other paints and techniques, Molotow and the clear need to be shot wet! And let the Molotow dry thoroughly before using clear. Another hint for Molotow drying: don't put it in a dehydrator for at least a few hours, better to wait overnight. I had some hubcaps that looked like great satin chrome after they were placed in the dehydrator right after spraying. I reshot those again (wet...), and waited for about 3 hours, then put in dehydrator with no loss of gloss. I had witnesses! Was working on this w/a group of friends that regularly get together to work on our model projects. Molotow dries slowly, so the more time you let it dry at ambient temperature the better, especially if you are not going to put a clear protector film on it. That's where I'd just put it aside for a couple weeks and handle w/kid gloves. It's still far more durable then than any Alclad or Spaz Stix chrome.

That's a beauty, turned out great, love that color too.

Tamiya has been selling their own lacquer thinner here in the US for quite some time, it's very similar to Mr. Hobby Mr. Color Thinner, and what's nice is that it also plays well with Tamiya's aqueous acrylics. It will thin decanted TS paints and the new LP jar paint, but from what I hear it was developed primarily to satisfy airbrush painters who desired their acrylic paints to lay down as smoothly as lacquers without the acrylic's tendency to seem thinner, pool up if applied slightly too wet, sometime have surface tension resistance to plastic, and dry slower. In that respect it works quite well, I just shot some racing seats w/Tamiya X-6 orange thinned w/the lacquer thinner, the paint laid down just like a lacquer and will a bit less gloss. I did still have to go over that w/satin clear to kill the remaining gloss, but now I don't avoid spraying Tamiya acrylics like I used to.

Thes LP paints are a new product, it is not the old acrylics. It's not readily available in the US at this time, and it's going to be a slow rollout. Tamiya has a whole line of bottled enamels for other countries that have been available for decades. Not sold in the US.

Thanks! One of the 4 Welly colors is like a pearl highlighter yellow, it's not at all dull and lifeless aside from all the black plastic on the chassis, interior, and ground effects. The model comes apart in about 30 seconds, the seats are gorgeous and snap in/out with relative ease, so no problem changing the color scheme. I need to order the Porsche GT3RS and the AMG GTR, both of which are only available for now in Europe but both look typically good.

Recently got this beautiful Welly 675LT, but it lacked color: So I took it apart and did some detailing; painted the outer parts of the seats orange and did ground effects stripes in the same color. Also detailed the headlights. No kit? No problem here!

The Gunze thinner certainly made my Cobra Colors clear much less hot; it made it (finally) shoot as smooth as enamel and it stopped ghosting the underlying bodywork. That was 15 or more years ago after foggily remembering that Gunze thinner was the best for thinning HOK lacquers. It's my go-to thinner of choice, but if I try it w/a new brand I always do a jar test w/a bit of paint to see how it reacts. My friend told me he had excellent results recently w/Gunze thinner w/Zero paints.

I don't have any exact references; I paint by feel. Mix, test spray, adjust, and go. Every paint is different. Keep your thinner nearby w/some pipettes to add enough thinner to adjust paint flow if it needs to be smoother; if it's too runny add more paint. The best thing instead of focusing too much on theoretical numbers is to get acquainted with your paints by testing them out. I never thin Alclad, it sprays perfectly through my airbrush. Decanted Tamiya, maybe 1 part thinner to 10 parts paint. I just shot some Tamiya acrylic that was maybe 1/3 thinner, 2/3 paint.

Thanks! I use the same ratio as any thinner, no exact number. Enough to thin the paint to a consistency roughly similar to 2% milk so it flows smoothly. Sometimes pre-thinned paints need a few drops, unthinned paint often needs roughly 1 part paint to 1 part thinner. Often I use more thinner for the wetter layers of clear. Your mileage may vary.