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Zoom Zoom

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Everything posted by Zoom Zoom

  1. Gunze and Tamiya lacquer thinners are awesome! I use Gunze (Mr. Hobby Mr. Color Thinner, sometimes Mr. Leveling Thinner if blushing conditions warrant) with a variety of the "aftermarket" model car paints. I learned 25 or so years ago when LMG productions was selling the line of House of Kolors candy lacquers and bases that Gunze thinner was their suggested thinner of choice. Roughly 15 years ago I was fighting ghost lines on a model painted w/Black Gold's HOK paints and Cobra Colors clear; it suddenly dawned on me the old recommendation about using Gunze thinner. Suddenly my clearcoats were going down smooth as enamel and not causing the previous ghosting issues that plagued the paint job every time I applied clear. Problem solved. I used Mr. Color Thinner this past week on this vintage (from '76) Monogram Porsche 911 Carrera that was molded in yellow. Prepped the sanded mold lines with liquid cement to prevent ghosting, used hobby primers (Tamiya and Mr. Surfacer) and a mix of some automotivetouchup.com's (Pontiac) Atlantis Blue w/some vintage Cobra Colors Porsche Polar Silver got me the desired shade of blue. It thinned the mixture of both colors perfectly. I use Mr. Color Thinner on nearly of all my builds; whether automotive based or Tamiya or Mr. Hobby lacquers decanted or from a jar. Tamiya lacquer thinner should work as well, but with either it's good to test a bit in a mixing cup w/color of choice to make sure it mixes and doesn't clump up into a glob of gel. Hardware store thinners are great for cleaning my airbrush, I don't mind paying a bit more $ for quality reducers for my colors and clear. In the long run it pays off.
  2. Welly McLaren 675LT, another nice one from them. Will likely liven up the interior w/some color, this is straight out of the box:
  3. Nice job, also love ND Miatas. This is one of Tamiya's best kits and engineered to perfection, so it's a really fun build.
  4. One of my friends had a call yesterday from Joe Vondracek from Quick Skins. Joe told him that his home miraculously survived the fire, one of 14% of homes in Paradise that didn't burn. However he's still not allowed to go back yet, his area is still cordoned off by authorities, but at least some good news for Joe.
  5. My paint stand has been fine but a couple friends have ones that just won't stay attached, and sometimes it's not obvious until it's too late. Some pop off, others just slide upwards until there's no more friction than gravity.
  6. If MPC had ever done a Cosworth Vega I would have already built a few. I have some gold decals from Keith Marks just in case I want to attempt one.
  7. Interesting; Mike Quarterman mentioned it was a phantom livery but I'm not worried either way as the boxart livery looks good to me. Brumos livery would be fun too...
  8. Personally I'm glad the 934 is coming in (phantom) Martini livery; never got the others as those liveries aren't my favorite. Molded in white is a big plus even if you don't use the Martini livery. Of course there will need to be the usual suspension surgery to fix the inexplicable "safari version" ride height these kits are afflicted with...
  9. Personally I'm surprised and delighted for this kit, even more so because it's Tamiya doing it. Totally out of left field, hope they do a new Mustang! If anyone is bothered because it doesn't have full engine detail, the new Revell LeMans version has a full engine/transmission. Kitbash away. Just saw the built engine/transmission by Sasha Muller on Facebook. Dave Thibodeau raved about how good the Revell kit is when he built a test shot last summer. Every Tamiya kit that I've built that has only visible top end detail looks complete to my eyes. I can't seem to get my 1/24th scale IPMS-grade mirrored lightscope down under the cylinder heads to find the freeze plug and pesky coolant leak... $54 MSRP is about $40 less than their similar Ferrari kits that have full engine detail. This GT should be popular enough the aftermarket can respond to any serious critics & super-detailers. I hope there's an accessory p/e set like Tamiya & others offer for most new-tool kits like this. I can't wait to get both GT kits on my bench. A couple of my built Revell GT snap kits and my extra Welly GT diecast are going to be re-homed during the holidays in anticipation.
  10. C'mon Chuck, how about a rant over it being 1/24th and not 1/25th scale and not a $5 gold box Walmart special...
  11. Paul and his wife Suzi had 20 mins. warning to get out. Both of them lost homes and jobs; Joe worked at the Ford dealer there and it's gone too. There's a Gofundme page that's been set up for Paul. I know someone who is going to set up a similar page for Joe. https://www.gofundme.com/paul-fisher-fire-relief?fbclid=IwAR0n3Vun0Isa_rLXxeAQHEIUUVA_GynGZbhy-B25oEHiUvIawkfZhOf8ibM
  12. My speculation is the new Supra, which is finally being debuted for actual real they say at the LA auto show. I'll believe it when I see it. There's been a "missing"/skipped over product number in the 1/24th lineup for awhile now, while Toyota has dragged their feet endlessly on debut of the (fugly) Supra. Some speculation elsewhere on Toyota TS-050 as well. I'd be pleased with LaFerrari Aperta & FXX-K Evo modified reissues. LC 500 would be fun...
  13. Thanks Len! We had a fun time as usual; sorry I only saw you very briefly! It was a busy day...
  14. Wish I could get another; I gave the model to my cousin years ago. He inherited it from my uncle when he passed away in the early 80's. I have tons of fond memories riding in the truck back when the public wouldn't call the police on you when you rode in the back of a PU truck on lawn chairs to and from the drive in movie! This truck still exists, it's been inherited by the grandson of the guy who bought it from my cousin way back when. It's been restored and painted black and sits on an S-10 chassis, though I haven't seen it or any photos.
  15. It turned out great!!
  16. Very cool idea and execution
  17. Oh boy, 1/16th scale!!!
  18. That's an amazing model, a true work of art!
  19. I don't know why Fujimi reissued this model (in 2015) w/all the parts but only instructions for curbside. It should be the exact model as before (all the parts trees look identical in all versions) and the above referenced instructions should help you build the complete model.
  20. I think those long, narrow transfers aren't the brightest way to utilize the technology. I'd have preferred the side trim to have been engraved and foiled. I didn't have trouble w/the emblems otherwise, and I think I soaked them w/a coat of Future after application for insurance. Same issue w/the Galaxie Ltd. Chevrolet kits, they were another case of "tail wagging the dog" design, using chrome transfers for fender trim when engraved/foiled would have been a better design choice. They were too flat w/o the 3D sculpting and they didn't fit/bend well around compound curves.
  21. Nice job; I built mine when it came out and I have a couple more in the stash. Everything mostly fell together though the chrome transfer side trim gave me nothing but trouble so I cheesed out and just carefully cut thin strips of foil to attempt to replicate. There wasn't enough adhesive on the transfers to stick to the paint. Not sure if later production runs had better trim.
  22. Nice work! I love the '71-'72 bodies. Will this be eventually poured in resin like the others? Don't worry over unsolicited comments about your workbench photos. They're fine as they are. It's not like people contributing their work here are paid entertainers.
  23. I wonder if Aoshima will do anything to address the 4X4 stance the MGB's have; they seemed to have designed the suspension around the rubber bumper era vs. the earlier. Would also be nice if they'd reissue the race versions and perhaps it's time for them to tool up the coupe body on their own? Seems for a lot smaller investment than all-new, they'd get a lot more life out of the MGB kits and the license.
  24. It was more than 20 years ago that I mastered it, probably closer to 25 years! I did the body, Dave Toups mastered the LHD dash for Norm. Always wondered why Aoshima had waited so long to reissue the MGB's, there are one or two obscure racing versions they did from the kit as well.
  25. I haven't set foot in a Rite Aid store in ages, I'll have to check them out. Welly makes some really good models of subjects the plastic kit manufacturers have not/will not. They make great gap-fillers and if you want to knock them down to repaint/customize, all the better. The trio I got earlier this summer via Ebay and free shipping are their new Ford GT in 2 colors and the C7 Z06. Revell seems to have abandoned doing any more variants of the C7 Corvette beyond bare-bones stock and the low-detail C7R, the Welly Z06 is a definite step up from the Maisto version, the only issue are red taillights instead of "clear" that both companies seemed to have missed. I'll be soon refinishing the Corvette. The Ford GT destroys Revell's "effort" in kiddie toy plastic. There is literally nothing in the Revell kit that is superior to the Welly model. Both subjects have steerable wheels, authentic brakes (rotor rotates inside of fixed caliper), tighter-fitting opening features than their competition. I look forward to later this year getting their new McLaren 675LT and 2016 Porsche GT3RS.
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