Zoom Zoom

Hey Craig! Good to see you here.

And there's a very good possibility the Monogram 308 is "the" 308 GTB that Revell of Germany is reissuing later this year. Nobody knows for sure (except perhaps people in Germany), but seems logical as the Monogram is a GTB and the old Revell/Airfix GTB seemed to become the Magnum PI GTS later on.

That's a great idea!

I too have had my share of models that have fought me tooth and nail, and they too turned out like this gorgeous Biscayne-nobody knows but the builder how bad it was because the model looks perfect to everyone else :roll: Nice work, don't let one sketchy/fussy resin model make you think they're all that way. Many fall together w/o any drama, some are better than your average plastic kit. Ask first before you buy; someone will likely have built model X before and give you some pointers. As I saw on another board, this Biscayne was an early piece for MCW and they've improved their game since this model. I always test-fit body/interior/chassis stack on every styrene and resin kit before painting so I know if I'll have to do much grinding. Doesn't fix every problem in final ass'y, but it sure helps. I'd rather know ahead of time I'll have problems than find them along the way.

Incredible work as usual Dave 8) I'll likely steal some of your wire and hose ideas, they seem necessary for the right appearance.

Is that $15 with or w/o shipping? One ended last night for $15/buy it now, w/$5 shipping and got no bids. One sold earlier in August for $8 bagged w/o box. They're out there if you look!

Looks like a killer project!! You should consider making it look like Automobile Magazine's photoshopped (aka fanstasy) Z07 :wink: http://www.automobilemag.com/future_cars/2...t_corvette_z07/

What's a decent price? They never seem to be very expensive, usually around $15 or so, though I've seen cheaper at shows. I found one at our show a couple years ago for $5 from one of our club members, I was about to buy it when Eric C walked up behind me, he looked interested in it-I asked if he wanted one to build, he said "yes" so I let him buy it instead of me. I wasn't going to let it get away to just anyone for $5 even if I had to buy it myself. It was in good hands and I didn't need another one anyway. You'd think he'd thank me by building it one of these days :wink:

I found pics of 3 of the 4 sets (all but the 16" Daytona rims). They're VIP wheels, only one (Fabulous Velis) looks suitable for a separate trim ring, not sure if it will or not. http://hobbyworld.aoshima-bk.co.jp/scripts...kue.aspx?mk=118

Great! Looking forward to it. Bill and Bob are coming down as well. Here's our website, click the NNL links. If our flyer isn't a PDF yet online, I'm going to smack our webmaster upside the head :roll: Done. Via Email. :shock: :roll: But the basic info you need is there. http://www.acme-ipms.com/

Len, this is a brand-new Revell USA kit. You must be thinking of the C5R. A friend also used Cobra Colors on his C6R and had no problems w/crazing, in fact he's done many "newfangled plastic" Revell kit's w/Cobra Colors and crazing hasn't been an issue for him. Cobra Colors VX primer is actually an excellent sealer, better than Moon Mud, but it's harder to build up a consistent color. VX looks a lot like Variprime, which is touted as a great sealer. I had a slight amount of crazing using Tamiya sprays on my new Z06, but only in the first primer coat. Subsequent coats were fine.

If the panel lines are too faint, I open them up with a pointed scribing tool, and dress them w/a triangular riffler file, then dress any nibs w/a piece of sandpaper. I go fancy w/my panel lines, at least on lighter colors like white,yellow, or silver. I apply black lines w/a .005 pigment liner pen, and paint a few color coats over that to get the panel lines to the right shade. This is always on a second color coat, which generally goes on smoother than the first. I looked at the white/yellow models in my collection and the black panel lines I used to be satisfied with look too bold. I didn't like the results I was getting with a panel line wash on my white/yellow cars, the color/shade was too inconsistent. I find myself doing much less cleanup w/my pen lines prior to repaint than I did with my washes prior to polishing out the excess. I would like to see if India Ink would "sandwich" between coats of paint like the pigment liners. This could solve the occasional problem when a panel line isn't accepting the pen due to the width or depth of the line. Overall I've adapted easily to this method and personally I find it quite easy and effective, though I admit my success w/it under Testors lacquers is spotty, the Testors lacquers are amazingly pigment-rich (very much unlike their enamels).

Depends on how accurate you want your chassis to look, perhaps from a contest perspective. I simply attach the brake rotors to the wheels and then glue those assemblies onto the suspension where they belong visually, not necessarily where Pin A fits into Slot B. Sometimes it requires a snip of a spindle or axle to narrow the track, or a small Evergreen shim to widen it. I set the car on business cards so that the wheels slip into place exactly where they look best. It's utterly simple once you get the hang of it, and nobody has yet gone all freaky (or even commented :wink: ) because my car's wheels aren't always centered on their axles. Or you can shorten the springs by cutting them, shortening, and then using brass pins to relocate them. More work, more chance of the car sitting with one wheel in the air. It's awfully nice when you build a model where you don't have to monkey with the ride height or stance. I used wider aftermarket wheels on my Mustang and I had to grind the living daylights out of the wheelwells to get them to sit inside the fenders. The stock kit tires are significantly narrower than most aftermarket wheels/tires, so beware if you go that route that you'll also be doing more than just adjusting ride height.

I cannot fathom living w/o a dehydrator. I would be lost without it! You will definitely benefit from it.

That's the other one I've used @ a friend's house (we had a veritable dehydrator farm going full-tilt when we had our 24 hour LeMans group build), the heavy lid is difficult to deal with when you've got one hand holding the model and the other trying to monkey w/the heavy lid/cord while not dropping the body. But it works just fine! They're all good at warming paint cans and bodies prior to painting. I also have a small handheld hairdryer at my spray desk/booth, for a quick "blow dry" to help speed-dry flat paints and primer between coats.

Though I've been using a dehydrator since the early 90's, I can't really recommend any of the ones that I see on the market now, I don't have experience w/them. If it does have a temp. control, that may help. My dehydrator is very simple, like a Ronco unit, but it's a cheap knockoff that I got at Big Lots for $12. One simple coil at the bottom, rotating vents on the base and lid provide some temperature control. Interior gets up to about 110 degrees. I cut out the bottom part of several trays, to make them into spacers. You can do this with any of the units. A friend has one that the fan motor is in either the base or the lid, and it's good, but it's a pain to use-the lid is heavy if it's got the fan in it. It does have a temperature control. There's a unit w/a fan and a motor that rotates the trays. It works okay, but has hot spots and the trays are very shallow. It's best to just keep the lid off it, and set the bodies/parts on the top tray and turn off the rotation. I think they got it at Bass Pro Shops for about $20 or so.

I have the same problem, I usually tape fascias in place when painting so they match the body, unless I know I can glue them ahead of time and still get the chassis to fit. Separate hoods are even worse to get to match, I always paint the underside and underhood area first then loosely (but securely, just don't want the paint to "glue" it in place) attach the hood in place for the rest of the color coats so everything matches.

One thing I don't like about the pens is the very short working tip; sometimes a panel line is so tight to get the tip in there and the ink to flow. Sometimes you have to go back and forth w/the pen to get the ink to flow. While I say it's easy; I do tend to go over the spot several times to get the line as uniform as possible. In general I make three passes; one perpendicular (and to make sure the line is complete), one at an angle facing one of the panels, another facing the opposite panel. This gives good coverage and a uniform line when viewed at different angles. Another option is to do the panel lines w/a brush and a black wash before the second round of paint. The panel lines need to be pretty black for the effect to work underneath the final layers of color. With a bit of practice I've had nearly perfect luck w/the pens, and definitely find it easier than mixing a colored wash. I don't like black panel lines on light-color models, too harsh, too much contrast, and as I said before yellow models are especially hard to mix a darker yellow wash that looks convincing, and white isn't easy either.

Color looks great on it! If you are layering color coats and still planning to add more, I can suggest a trick that helps the final appearance. I generally lay down color coats in two steps; I get the color up to the level you show now; I Micromesh w/3200/3600, and then apply panel lines w/a Pigma Micron pigment liner, a black pen sized .005. It's relatively clean, any excess cleans w/a damp towel or swab, and then you lay on a few more color coats. The "sandwiched" black panel lines become a darker tone of the surrounding area. Works very well w/Cobra Colors (and Tamiya, and Testors..but the Testors lacquers are pretty color-dense). I find it easier than doing an acrylic panel line wash after the paintjob is finished, but sometimes I still do that. The "sandwiched" panel line trick is nice and subtle, and eliminates mixing some odd colors...yellow and white cars are the most difficult to do panel lines w/ a color wash. The sandwich technique is ideal on lighter colors.

Be very afraid. You haven't seen his 1/12 Tamiya Martini Porsche 935 yet :wink:

Just gorgeous 8) It reminds me how good Monte Carlos were, and how grotesque GM let it become :roll:

Question about the lenses as they relate to the lights on the model: Each of the three lights on each door of the car is an array of three very bright green LED's; therefore there are a total of 18 lamps per car; 9 per side. Are these MV's that small, that you can use three of them for each lamp? Or is it a bit of artistic license to use one MV lense per "disc" to replicate the lamps? The lights on the car are slightly raised over the surface, the surface of the black disc that contains the array of three lamps is flush, and each of the three LED's appears gray/silver unless it is lit. I'm probably going to do the light clusters as small decals w/three clear openings for the lamps, and paint the recesses in the doors either silver (for lamps that are off) or flourescent green (for the lamps that are on). Of course if the model is a static display (car is off), the green would never be seen. I'm also going to spend the time making vented side glass, a rather significant omission by Revell. Or maybe I'll wait to see if the aftermarket steps up w/some goodies for this kit. It's a good enough kit that I hope the aftermarket responds to satisfy the detail hounds. Thanks for the MV info!

Eric, glad you joined the fray here and the new model is awesome 8) I hope to see it next weekend at the park :wink: You need to post pictures of your 935...

The photo isn't of a model; it is an Automobile Magazine photoshop fantasy combining a Z06 with a C6R with a stock Z06 interior. While it looks like it would make a killer model, this is only a "what if". Pics of the real car are not public yet. I like it, a lot. Though the front splitter is awful, and I'd change out the OZ wheels for the more current BBS style. Will be interesting to see what the real car ends up looking like, and how many ponies under the hood. I'd build my kit in jet black :wink:

Thanks!