Ace-Garageguy

Interesting blend of bits, for sure. Looks good though.

I kinda like the little van. Clever blend of retro US style and Asian efficient use of space.

And there's the rip-off "Furry Road"...

And since nobody has mentioned this, I will. I learned this doing high-end paint jobs ($10,000 and up) on real cars. Put your water trap as far from the compressor and as close to your airbrush as possible. Compressing air heats it considerably. Hot air holds more moisture as vapor than cooler air. If you put your water trap farther from the compressor, the air in the lines will cool, allowing more moisture to condense, making it easier for the water trap to do its job. Putting a water trap directly on the compressor outlet is pointless. Water vapor in the hot air will pass right through the trap, and on really bad days, I've seen it condense and form water droplets on the surface of the car along with the paint being sprayed. This, of course, ruins the work. For painting 1:1 cars and aircraft, I now pass my air through a modified AC condenser to cool it, followed by my oil and water traps. A pressure regulator at the gun or airbrush is ideal.

One very good thing about the design and execution of the flares on this model is that they enhance the original design, look like they belong there, and don't scream for attention. Raising the wheel arches on this car to allow for a lower stance is a natural, and you've done a fine job on the proportions and contours. FYI, this is similar to Chip Foose's design philosophy. He likes to do mods so that you see there's something different about his cars, but you don't quite know what...only that they look somehow...better. You've hit that golden spot with this model. Still instantly recognizable as what it is, but just a whole lot better...without any tacky overblown garbage.

If I remember correctly, HOK basecoats can be reduced with lacquer thinner and topcoated with lacquer clear, or reduced with acrylic urethane reducer, and topcoated with urethane clear. I don't have any idea what the "airbrush-ready" pre-reduced colors in the little bottles are cut (reduced, or "thinned") with. You might want to check into that, as HOK recommends that you don't use a lacquer clear over bases reduced with urethane reducers and vice versa.

Maybe...but all my friends tell me "once you go Mac, you'll never go back".

Which exact product? I see they have several in their line.

Even Microsoft acknowledges IE sucks. Regarding their new browser (2015 release) "Spartan" it is said by industry insiders "that Microsoft's new browser has similar performance to Google Chrome 41 and Mozilla Firefox 37". Hmmm. What's that tell ya??

IE is...it's...it's garbage; use a good one, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it...kinda like when you made the switch from dial-up to high-speed internet...if you ever did. Believe it or not, there are actually a very few sites remaining that can only be viewed correctly using IE. This isn't one of them.

Yes, excellent advice from Chris (Toner283). The baggie does indeed keep the stuff from drying out, and agitating it keeps fresh material in contact with the parts. The method also works well for stripping extremely stubborn paint from old parts too.

So do these...

Very nice work, especially the guts swap. Everything looks like it belongs...which is how it oughta look.

Looks better than a Nissan Juke, anyway...

This has been answered multiple times on this forum. I use EasyOff oven cleaner in the yellow can (TOXIC, use gloves and eye protection !!!), then thoroughly scrub with a toothbrush, Comet and hot water. Scotch Brite pads can damage fine details...if you care.

Pretty good stuff there, Greg. Especially useful if someone wants to model a particular car or era, but can't quite recall the car's name or builder.

Well then...

One such material is "Milliput", sold in hobby and craft stores and online. More info here: http://www.milliput.com/

If you look closely at the bottom car in post #24, you'll see she's sittin' on '32 Ford frame rails...(could very well be a P-shop job using the upper image in post #25, eh?)

We routinely use HOK colors for our 1:1 cars. The "solvent safe" bottles keep the material usable for about a year. I have one bottle on the shelf at the shop that we shot color-test panels from for a client, and it's been sealed tightly. It's now as thick as bondo. Because it's a single-component product (no catalyst in the colored base) it WILL come back when appropriately reduced. Remember, these colors ARE basecoats and REQUIRE a cleat topcoat. The "Technical Data Sheets" are available online. Read 'em. EXAMPLE: http://www.tcpglobal.com/hokpaint/techsheets/PBC.pdf IF YOU SPRAY ANY OF THIS STUFF, WEAR A RESPIRATOR. A "PAINT MASK" IS NOT SUFFICIENT PROTECTION.

et plus...

A whole mess of these...

Yup. Yup yup... or any of the similar PVA glues (polyvinyl acetate) work beautifully. They dry completely clear, and excess cleans up with a damp wipe. No crazing, no fuming, no hassle, no solvent damage, no little kid fingerprints, no BS. Get your clear parts to actually fit. Then tape or otherwise fixture them in position while the PVA glue sets up. The stuff is perfectly strong enough to keep windows, lenses, and other clear parts firmly affixed to a model that's handled by adults with brains, forever.