Zoom Zoom

Cool. I have a very derelict built original that's reaaaaly nasty that will now donate it's dash to my reissue. I looked at it for years and wondered what the heck was I thinking when I bought it...even I can't fix that turd :shock:

Hemi 'n whitewalls. Cool 8) I need some Keith Marks decals for my reissue.

Love that Mustang 8) Nice job getting the wheels into the wheelwells, I know what it takes to get wider rolling stock in the Mustang's ultra-narrow wheelwells. I had mine built w/in 36 hours of getting it when it hit. Call it pent-up demand :wink: Did you grind like crazy or narrow the wheels/tires? Please, by all means feel free to join in and share more! Great stuff. "C'mon in, the water is just fine".

John, I think Dan's screenname should be BIOP Dan, glad you mastered the double-secret handshake so you could come in and join the fun :wink:

I'm far from being an Alclad expert, I haven't used it enough to get good at it. You all know what I build most often, so you will realize that I'm not in need of fresh chrome with any regularity :wink: I have an unfinished resin '70 AMX that I "Alcladded" the bumpers as prescribed, and they aren't to my satisfaction yet. They look okay, but I may need to actually go over them w/a polishing cloth and just barely mist another coat on; in the right light there's still a bit of black "speckling" noticeable. So close, but so far..and on another car I restored the Alclad didn't hold up to my handling as I built it, it rubbed off like bad '70's AMT chrome but careful work w/BMF worked very well in conjunction w/the Alclad. How wet do you guys spray Alclad? I mist it on delicately, almost like I'm sneaking up on it, I'm afraid to spray it wet as it seems to lose that killer reflectivity in a nanosecond when you spray it too long. Maybe I'm spraying it too carefully?? Guess I need to heed my own advice...practice, practice, and then more practice. And then clean the airbrush :wink:

Alclad has never worked well for me; even over gloss black enamel it just doesn't have any durability. Maybe I do need Humbrol and not Testors. I've gotten a wonderful look to it but can't touch it! And contrary to what some have said, mild clears like Future do affect the reflectivity. I've tried it. Actually I like a similar chrome by Spaz Stix even better than Alclad II chrome, but still haven't really put it to the test. It seems to be able to take Future w/o affecting the shine, but I don't use chrome that often and haven't had time to mess with it more. Spaz Stix is in the R/C section of Hobbytown. Alsacorp's Mirrachrome looks very promising, because it's also highly reflective, perhaps better than Alclad, and it is meant to be clearcoated with "a clear with few solvents" as they said on the phone. They recommend 2-component urethane. I'm hoping not to have to use that, my lungs are already compromised and I don't feel like using a space suit to paint There's a $60 hobby kit that gives you 2 oz. of it, enough to do 1 square foot. Also included is gloss black base and 2-component urethane clear. But there is a new line of spray cans coming from them in early August called Killer Chrome; and the Killer Chrome is Mirrachrome in a spray can, and it's enough to coat 25 square feet, and the can is $30. They said that you don't have to use any special gloss black, but did say that the clear needs to be as solvent-free as possible. I'm going in w/3 others to test it when it comes out. We'll try Future, clear Acryl, and maybe 2-component urethane clear. But we want to see if any of the acrylic hobby clears will mess w/the reflectivity. There's hope...I find replated chrome to look a bit too bright; and I admire Steve Boutte's Alclad work as it looks very nice and in scale. I simply have not been able to get it to work for me. More on this in August...

Nice work. Restorations like this are some of the most rewarding kind of modeling I've experienced. Can't say I've done one this involved, but I've taken some pitifully damaged promos in my life (of cars that are hard enough to find in kit form) and brought them back w/a modeler's touch. They were too far gone for anything other than parts, and I don't worry over potential paper value as they're my models and not intended for resale.

Preachin' to the choir! At once it's frustrating that they don't seem to listen, and it also must be just as frustrating on the inside w/the way sales have been; so they take the high road and avoid all semblance of risk. One can only hope that we'll eventually end up w/a nice kit of the Cobra Daytona w/o spending lotto winnings to get it.

Hallelujah Seeing the pink photoshopped "Hello Kitty" 512 TR was bad enough. http://images.google.com/images?q=hello+ki...rrari&hl=en

Probably just a sliver or two off the top edge of the door panel. You can do a dry-fit of the body/chassis/interior and side panels/glass to see how much interference you run into. I had no problems, but a couple of friends mentioned it being a minor issue. Other than that it's pretty much a shake 'n bake. I'll email Brian Venable to see if he remembers his fix for it.

Of all of those, the Tamiya 360 Spider is the class of the field. Don't let it's full-detail scare you off, it's a beautifully engineered kit that practically falls together, including the engine and suspension/chassis. Far less cleanup work on the body and ancillary parts vs. Revell's 360. It's one of the best kits I have ever built-great crisp detail; painless from beginning to end. Some people have been practically stealing them from Hobby Lobby lately for about 7 bucks. Best kit buy of the century. Second favorite of mine would be the Fujimi 550 Maranello; with a few caveats. They shared parts of the interior w/their 575, so the door panels aren't prototypical (there is a proper 550 dash). The seat engraving is pretty weak and rudimentary. Otherwise it's a great kit, and if you don't care about the interior design that much it will be just fine OOB. I had a lot of fun building mine, but I did upgrade the interior. Don't tell anyone, but I kitbashed the plastic bits (door panels/seats) from a Burago diecast 550 to upgrade it :wink: I also did the unthinkable and painted it a Nissan green :shock: If you do go w/stock door panels, watch for the fit under the kit glass which might complicate final assembly. A bit of trimming may be necessary. My kitbashed parts were an easy and perfect fit. I've built a Revell 612, it's really good but a bit ornery to work with in final assembly. I also did many custom tricks to mine because I wanted it to look more aggressive. I've seen Revell's 430 up close last weekend and it looks really good for the $$, and I've seen them built. I can't comment on the user-friendly aspect, but the few I've seen built looked good. Shortcomings are undersized wheels; lowering helps. I'm working on a Fujimi F430 Challenge, I have seen one built on another board and the builder was glowing at how good it was (especially for a 4-day OOB buildup); and it looks marvellous finished. It's definitely a step above their other F430's and their Maranellos. I wasn't too happy w/Revell's 360. Ended up being a parts kit. It was cheap so that didn't matter. The body is pretty messy w/tons of prep work needed for a good finish. Seats seem 1/20 scale. Mirrors are too big and sit too tall. Yet good modeling techniques will yield a good finish so it's not at all hopeless. But after the Tamiya it's a stinkeroo.

Thanks for the link; those are all really great models! Great subject matter.

I have used both black and white and color laser printers for my homemade decals; you do need to seal them. I've used the brush-on stuff by Microscale; though I have a new can of the Testors stuff to try. Decals are tricky; you never really know for sure if a clearcoat will harm them. I had Future make a minor mess (mottled the color) of a couple of my color laser decals after they were sealed/applied to the model; I don't think I'd want to risk spraying a clearcoat over the decals after application. I'd clearcoat the model first anyway since you need to apply the decals over the smoothest/glossiest (polished maybe but not waxed) surface. I'm hoping the Testors sealer is glossy enough. I have some custom Alps decals done for a club group project that have an awesome glossy finish coat, no need at all for them to be cleared over. I need to ask the artist what he used to seal them. I know he double-printed the white areas, they are incredibly opaque. Unfortunately he is so swamped now that he won't take any more custom orders...

Don't forget I did say "us" How cool would it be if it did happen? And I agree about AM...lots of potential, hope they get 'em done, and done right. I like Cobra 289's more than 427's anyway :wink:

Man this thing looks awesome 8) Can't wait to see more. Never enough 'Vettes IMHO

Hey Terry, glad to see you here!

Wal Mart? Who me?? I hate that place. But I still get sucked in from time to time :roll: They've got an awful kit selection usually. Only kit I've bought from them in ages was a price-cut (8 bucks) Revell Subaru WRX diecast kit that I snagged the wheels and engine for other projects. I did buy a D-Rodz cabover rollback from them. Oh no!! I'm killing our hobby!! :shock: Anyone else wanna fess up that they have abused the living daylights out of Hobby Lobby's frequent sales? They have a great selection for a chain store. 90% of the domestic stuff I've bought (and both my Trumpeter kits) came from them. 1/2 off a lot of times, sometimes a store reduces the price 80%...just got a $6 Tamiya kit and a $4 AMT '66 Mercury in the past month. I feel so :oops: that I should actually go in sometime and pay full price for a model kit :wink:

Is this the Model Factory Hiro kit that's not as good? For $233+ it better be! Brad's sure is nice, I can't see spending more for the Japanese kit, and I do rather despise the white metal components that MFH seems to rely on a bit too much. I guess those of us skinflints who pine for an $11 Cobra Daytona coupe by Revell aren't going to be happy any time soon

Great to see you here Lee! Today is almost like a reunion! I know a 1:1 car you can post in a little over a week :wink:

Welcome Len! Lots of refugees lately. Neat model!

Hey Ken! Welcome and glad to see you here.

Why not just use glue that doesn't cause clear parts to fog? I apply Formula 560 canopy glue to lenses and kit glass to apply, no fogging, dries very strong and clear. Cleans up with water if you have an "oops" before it dries. Superglue is pretty harsh stuff for delicate parts like clear lenses and glass. Micro Krystal Klear is basically the same stuff, and some people use watch crystal cement or a Testors cement made for clear parts. 5 minute epoxy is okay but yellows with age. Every time I had glass fog from superglue fumes it was just a powdery residue that easily wiped or polished away, as long as it wasn't sealed in place where you couldn't reach it.

The weathering makes this model! Gives it so much character to go along with the modifications and diorama. Nice work 8)

Nice work Ismael! I wish I had shot interior photos of mine. Got distracted during final assembly :roll: Jeff, the gauges come w/the kit and mount behind a clear gauge cover. It looks really good. I just cut out the decal and glued it to the gauge cover, no dunking in water w/white glue as Revell suggests. Testors Acryl has a great dark gray, IIRC it's Aircraft Interior Black or Dark Gray (sorry, my bottle is 25 miles away at this time), it's basically flat black that has a small amount of gray in it. Nice subtle look to it.

Thanks for the comments! I worked on the oil sump reservoir at lunch, was pretty easy to make. I used a leftover hub from XS Tuning wheels, the oil cap from the Z06 kit (it's there for use on the C6 LS6 kit so I used it), and a couple of wires to replicate the lines. Also used a tiny piece of styrene and P/E for the dipstick and tube. This is as good as it's going to get