Ace-Garageguy

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.

Some things just shouldn't be messed with...

Great stuff. Junkman especially...thanks for all the historical info. These are some cars I knew virtually nothing about until now.

Nice clean little truck. If that DuPont is a 2K clear (I assume it is), you did a great job avoiding the dipped-in-syrup look some guys get.

Sorry...I don't know the answer to your question as to whether it will attack decals. And it may be safe for some, and wrinkle others. One thing I DO know is that 2K automotive clear has MUCH higher film build than the stuff made for models. You CAN get a scale-correct looking finish with 2K products, but a lot of guys end up with a dipped-in-syrup appearance that I don't particularly like.

I suppose it just depends on the level the "hobbyist" is operating at. I routinely use 1:1 products, materials and tools for model work. That's just me, but knowledge is power. I put info up. Nobody HAS to use it, but it might get ideas flowing. A "bake cycle" is pretty easy to arrange too, with a hair dryer blowing into a box, and a thermostatic control. Simple stuff.

And this looks like fun... http://archive.azcentral.com/travel/free/20130503racing-muscle-cars-vegas.html

This is a pretty common setup...

That's probably just as well, because the Webers fron the Z car kit are 40 DCOE SIDE-drafts, and most every bug you'll see is running DOWN-drafts. They're not the same, Mount a side-draft as a down-draft and all the gas runs out. Uh oh.

Just use photobucket and save a lot of hassle.

Hows 'bout the Dal Toro Italian Restaurant and exotic car gallery in the Palazzo??

You just missed Viva Las Vegas...hot cars, pinup girls and great rockabilly music. I've only been twice...and it was pretty cool. http://www.vivalasvegas.net/ PIX LINK https://www.flickr.com/photos/8328800@N03/sets/72157624041668992/

PPG and other real-car refinish-material manufacturers have several lines of water-borne products for VOC-strict markets like Cali and others. I have NOT tried any yet. http://master.ppgrefinish.com/en/about-us/news/2012/06/new-improved-d8186-waterborne-clearcoat/

Hey Dan...now THAT'S a camper. Man, that looks like fun.

Yes, you have. These irregularities are the result of uneven or jerky mold filling when the parts are being made. Trust me on this. It's true. When the solvents in the paint or primer hit these irregularities in plastic density, they amplify their appearance because they don't attack the entire surface exactly the same way. Really.

That's helpful. I've been meaning to do some back-to-back tests with PlastiKote and Duplicolor primers. Define "well-cured" please. A couple days? A week? more?

If you shoot your buffing metalizer slick, and polish it so it actually looks like polished metal instead of grainy silverish stuff, I guarantee 100% that the Testors "sealer" will RUIN the effect. After the "sealer" it simply looks like silver paint. I'm a real picky SOB when it comes to faux finishes. It's possible that a water-based clear could work over polished metalizer without destroying the effect, but I've tried just about every solvent-based clear I could think of, including hair spray and fixative for charcoal drawings. They all muddy it, so far.

I really like that. Looks like you did a superb job of laying out the gray primer without even a hint of orange peel. Very nice.

I'm not a Chevelle expert by any stretch of the imagination, but if you do a google image search for "'67 Chevelle", the majority of the cars have a ribbed bright-aluminum rocker panel molding.

In the real-car world, it would, of course, be entirely at the discretion of the individual builder. Some guys like to have stock-appearing trim intact, to give the car a more period, maybe "sleeper" look, while some guys prefer a more monochrome or no-chrome look. There's no right or wrong for the genre. Just a matter of personal taste and style. I personally kinda like to see a somewhat stock-appearing car that IS seriously bad without trying so hard to LOOK bad.