Zoom Zoom

Nice work, congrats with the award. Now people are trading barbs over exotic cuisine here?

Certainly no beauty, but far better than the seriously fugly predecessor:

Thank you. You deserve a raise

Considering that it doesn't make me retch, it's amazing. Most people go way too far with "retro". Seeing what people are doing to the new Camaro to make it look like a '69, that's the kind of stupidity talent that makes me retch. Adding retro styling cues to a car like it's a Mr. Potatohead without any consideration of elegant proportions, well...so far they universally look amateur. I like most of it, but I don't like the middle of the car/bodysides. The character line bows upwards making the car look a bit "banana", they could have tightened up that line to be a bit more parallel to the ground; it's not fooling me, the car will never have the "Coke bottle" shape I think they were trying for. Everything else seems reasonably "professional" grade. I love the front end.

Bodywork & paint first. It's my most fun area, it needs time to cure while I take care of the guts below it, usually then done in rough order of the instructions. And those are usually done after I've separated parts not by area, but by color they will be painted. Some sub-assemblies get assembled prior to painting. Then I spend a good amount of time painting everything. Assembly in rough order of instructions is sort of the home-stretch for me.

And here I thought it was just the smell of "Ban" deodorant

Yup. Far more extreme & dramatic than necessary, but hey...it worked, the forum already smells better

One of these people intentionally chose the "nuclear option" and wants to be banned and said nasty things about this forum in a PM. I doubt they really have many friends that really matter, and if they do, they can all find a place more suitable for them than this. That's all we really need to know, no need to psychoanalyze something worth so little of anyone's valuable time. Too bad Gregg has to be badgered so frequently

Not the first time the stupid overflowed from that container

Honest, perhaps, but as we've learned unfortunately it's not necessarily keeping them civil. The latest post on Gregg's "Do Not Post Here or Else" test is one that I hope all moderators have forwarded to Gregg...

Such a mish-mash of various American car styling cues, I wonder how it compares in size? Looks like it might be a size smaller than the US cars that it vaguely resembles. Does anyone know if the Gilmore Museum in Kalamazoo still has the ZIL limousine on display, one of the few that is interactive and you can sit inside the car? I couldn't read the controls...

Since it's been mentioned, Jada Camaro: Jada Mustang: AMT's Camaro:

Well, until the day that production/shipping is cheaper here vs. there, it's not going to happen. China will eventually price themselves out of the market, and production will move to the next developing country that pays ultra-low wages. Unfortunately, as time goes by, that could end up being the US...

I've seen about a dozen SLS's, only one red, and it by far was my personal favorite. All the rest have been silver or beige...boring is as boring does. I don't build many black cars. If I go w/red, it won't be "just" red.

There are no production 2010 Camaros, only 2006 Concept Camaros. People tend to gloss over the Jada Camaro, it's actually a fine kit aside from the tubbed chassis for the oversized Jada-style wheels (and if you like that kind of thing, well...it's perfect). It's also 1/24, the body is much cleaner and crisper than either Revell and AMT, interior is very good, better than AMT, they didn't forget to engrave various panel lines like both Revell and AMT missed. I truly hope Revell does the production Camaro. The only fly in the ointment is that it's not so new/hot because the concept has been out for so long, at least on kit shelves, far longer than production Camaros have been on the street.

Wheels, front fascia (has a deeper chin splitter, fascia is now 3 pieces instead of one...rather disappointing since it requires filling ) and new decals are the only changes. It's a weird, neat, sometimes frustrating kit.

Thanks! I worked on it over the winter, I can't really remember. It was a fairly quick process with a lot of hours put in marathon sessions before it debuted at the Birmingham AL NNL in early March. Thanks! Like Ken has noticed, it's always been legal at the contests I know about. Hope you won't be too upset, but my recent McLaren SLR 722 is painted Grabber Orange Not sure when it will be published, but it's been submitted...you can find it in my Fotki album from the link in my signature. I can't wait for Revell's SLS gullwing. I don't know about black...it sure looks good in red.

You were honest and up front when you said you avoid the airbrush because it's "too much like work" and not as much fun for you as using spray cans. I totally get that. After that point, though, you're still not selling me, but I'm not here to blow holes in your defense of spray cans vs. airbrushes. I had a lot of fun for a few years when I painted the majority of my model bodies with Tamiya sprays straight from the spray can. I laughed at the irony, since I "wrote the book", but then again I have always been using my airbrush for other parts, so I wasn't saving that much "work". I'm always up for a better/faster/more fun way to get from point A to point B. It was when I started using Cobra Colors paint (making a ton of colors for modern models of modern cars that were right up my alley) that I started using my airbrush again for bodies and not just interior/engine/chassis colors. A desire to get a broader range of colors from my beloved Tamiya spray cans saw me get serious with the decanting. I haven't looked back. Benefits beyond color variations were realized and I'm exploiting them for all they are worth. I've used airbrushes for so long that they don't intimidate me or make me think that it's too much work to be fun. You may get ~80% as good a result using spray cans for certain colors/finishes vs. an airbrush, but chasing that last ~20% I've personally found more rewarding and fun than a lot of other tasks on models that other people make look easy. If that Grex outfit is just gathering dust in a corner, just send it this way I could trade you a bunch of kits that I thought I wanted 20 years ago that do nothing for me now I couldn't agree with you more!

Don't knock it until you've at least tried it. Once you've done it a few times, it is so easy even a caveman can do it. The work is worth it to me. I got by for the longest time with "the Tamiya spray can is good enough" mentality, but with familiarity I can practically dismantle/clean/re-assemble an airbrush blindfolded in about a minute. The ability to build up in much thinner layers, especially pearl colors and clear, is the biggest benefit. I like sneaking up on clear with the airbrush in thin layers, and one or two wet coats on top of that from the spray can. I mix a little clear with the last coat of color, which lessens any chance of the clear affecting the color...especially metallics and pearls. No more color pulling away from edges, no more inadvertent thin spots. Nice, crisp panel lines/detail remain, never filling the crevices & other finer details. Even Tamiya cans are like spraying paint through a firehose compared to shooting it through an airbrush. I don't like the amount of texture from Tamiya or especially Testors cans when not shooting a wet coat. I'm great at shooting the wettest coats possible our of a spray can w/o running, but the concept of "mist coats" from spray cans is a myth compared to real mist coats when applied from an airbrush. On the odd chance there's a defect in the paint, it's easy to spot repair without the need to repaint everything, or potentially start from scratch. I also am spending less time at the back end of the paint jobs now, since there's less (often times zero) wetsanding required before hitting it with compound. I can spray a nice, thin layer of transparent color as a midcoat before clear. Subtlety is the key, I'm not after a candy color. I can mix a couple colors together to make my own shade if there isn't one that's the right match. My cans of paint go remarkably further these days. I can apply what looks like a miles-deep clearcoat on 2-3 bodies from one can of TS-13. An almost-used-up can of clear is perfect for airbrushing the base layer of clear. It's amazing how far it will go when shot like that. The more familiar you get, the fast it gets, the less like "work" it becomes. Since paint is the biggest thing that meets the eye on a model, I want mine to be as good as possible w/the least effort. I'm getting fantastic results now, totally worth the effort IMHO. Your mileage may vary. Plumbint/wiring engines & chassis, using photoetch parts, detailing a vintage car with "who knows what quality this stuff will be today" BMF...now that is work

The Metalline colors were dropped when they were bought out by Testors. They were by far the finest metallic paints for brush painting details, nice finely-ground metallics, they covered extremely well, with hardly a brush stroke visible. Nothing else available now comes remotely close. My bottles are essentially all used up. By the time I realized what happened, I couldn't replace them. I would have bought multiple bottles of each had I known they would have been unceremoniously dropped. Thanks, Testors

Don't even think about decanting Silver Leaf and mixing it with any TS clear. It will clump up terribly. It's a different formula. I did shoot one or two cars w/Mica Silver (no airbrush) and noticed it was a little more forgiving. It's also a different shade of silver. Gloss Aluminum seems a better standard "German" silver. I did a couple models with out-of-the-can Gloss Aluminum w/clear. I didn't have any terrible problems, but the clear did try to react somewhat w/the silver. Somehow I dusted it just the right way (color and clear) before any wet clearcoats to get it all to settle properly. But since then I've gotten so familiar and comfortable decanting the paint that I prefer that method. Takes longer to apply, but I spend less time at the end since polishing rarely involves much wetsanding before the three compounds (often just minor scuffing w/4000 grit micromesh, I hardly ever touch 6-12K anymore). These were both shot w/o aid of the airbrush (and I've always shot clear almost immediately over color, even when I was shooting enamels during the 80's and 90's):

Total fake. Why do you think they didn't show the entire "roll" without changing cameras/positions?

My first venture with Model Master auto lacquers was Big Bad Blue. It blew Big Bad junk all over my resin 70 AMX. I almost gave up. Had to decant/airbrush. A bad nozzle can ruin your day. First metallic I shot was the GM Artesian Turquoise. Looked like a silly bass boat. I decanted it and tried again. Bass boat city. No good. In the meantime, the non-metallic colors have been good to me, and someone mentioned using a black nozzle...it does help. I usually decant & airbrush. A week or two ago I finally did spoon tests of all the other metallic colors I got at the time I got the Artesian Turquoise. Wouldn't you know...they're all fine. Only the turquoise is bad. Still. To this day. In fact 20 mins. after I shot the spoon, I accidentally brushed the spoon...and it lifted the huge metallic flakes off the spoon, leaving behind a nice solid turquoise base. Weird...something's just flat screwed up w/that particular can. All the other colors were set and seemingly dry by that time. Live and learn...at least my Nassau Blue, Evening Orchid, Honduras Maroon, Bronze, Dark Cherry, etc. will all be just fine...but I tell you, Testors really tries to keep me from buying their products, considering my first experiences w/the lacquers (bad nozzle on Big Bad Blue and bad paint in the Artesian Turquoise). So far I've never had a bad can of Tamiya...and I've probably used hundreds of cans so far...

High-strength 91% or 99% isopropyl rubbing alcohol may do the trick. You might need to scuff the silver. If you get all the paint off, see if the plastic itself was affected. My SL was painted w/all Tamiya lacquers, zero issues w/paint compatibility. How thick is the coat of paint on there now? If it's still relatively thin, you could sand it smooth and then ditch the Testors paint and use all Tamiya on top of what you have. You might test a bumper or the hood to see if this would work before stripping everything down. Never heard of any issues like this before between Tamiya and Testors lacquers. I airbrush decanted Testors Model Master lacquers on Tamiya primer without any issue, and Tamiya clear over it with great results. Though I will admit I never use the "one coat" colors because the metallic/pearl pigments are far too large to be even close to "factory" stock. To me they're only good for custom work. If you get it clean whether through stripping or sanding, use Tamiya TS 17 gloss aluminum for a good, factory-looking Mercedes silver.

I started using it in 1981. Once applied it doesn't fall off. Polish it with the same stuff you polish paint if it ever gets dull/tarnished. It is a myth that it needs to be clearcoated to seal it. It might make it more durable if the builder is going to manhandle the model after it is built, and it might be good to foil before clear if you use a urethane clear, which has a far thicker film than other clear and often fills in along edges and panel lines a lot more than other types of paint.