Ace-Garageguy

Most excellent. Congrats again.

Unless you have machine tools and want to do some serious scratch-building, I'd think the photoetch volume would be the most useful initially.

I THINK the Italeri 512S has also been boxed as Heller,Testors and Union kits. In general (and I'm pretty critical) I've been happy with offerings from all of them (I have several kits from each manufacturer in stock, but no 512S). Right off hand, I don't know who did the original tooling. Both Testors and Union are often re-issues of out of production kits from other manufacturers. Here's a look inside the Testors box (which I'm 99% certain is identical to the Italeri version). And here's a look at the engine / wheel / suspension trees in the Heller kit... They appear identical to me.

Great stuff ! Glad to see someone not afraid to use the old cars for what they were intended...to DRIVE places. Even far-away places. Excellent.

Welcome to the forum. Your post will probably be relocated to the questions / answers topic down in the Modeling How-Tos area...in case it goes missing. With enough work, you can make anything fit pretty much anything. But if I recall correctly, the 512 was an entirely different engine from that used in the P4 (as was the gearbox). One immediately obvious difference is that the fuel injectors are between the exhaust and intake cams on the 330 (and cant outwards somewhat), but are in the center of the engine between the heads on the 512 (and are vertical). There are many other visual differences as well. The rear chassis and suspension, while roughly similar in general layout, are also entirely different (IIRC). If you want to build an accurate model of the 512, the 330 guts won't cut it. BUT, if you want to build a car that could POSSIBLY have been put together from factory bits, then by all means, go for it. Part of the fun of this hobby (to me) is the "what if?" aspect, where you can put together cars that COULD have been built...but never were.

Looks like post 12302 was about 1:1 stuff.

The exact reference images you need are probably out there (Google or Bing), but might take you hours or searching. Here's what I found in only a few minutes. This is a '98 Taurus, ex-Penske. Not too clear, but the dry-sump pump can be seen low on the RH side of the engine. Here are shots from 2000, on the Cosworth engine dyno in California. Similar dry-sump setup, but not entirely plumbed as it would be in the car. There's what appears to be a scavenge-manifold kinda dangling from 3 lines running into the dry-sump pump. Here's a general schematic of the typical NASCAR dry-sump oiling system ca. late 1980s. Later systems would be similar (though this schematic is not entirely accurate). Green lines are scavenge lines from the bottom of the sump to the scavenge side of the pump. From there, oil runs out the blue line to the top of the tank. From the bottom of the tank, a line runs back to the inlet side of the pressure side of the pump. From the pressure side of the pump, oil runs out the red line to the filter, cooler, and into the engine oil galleries. After doing its job, it's again scavenged out of the sump. NOTE: This diagram shows a separate external pressure line running to the engine top-end. Installations in different cars may vary.

# two all time favorite ...Perry Mason. Oh, Della.

Excellent reference and how-to series. Probably well beyond the scope of the average modeler, but worth looking at for the more advanced guys. Wonderful stuff. Here's one source, and all 47 titles. http://www.teepublishing.co.uk/books/workshop-practice-series/

You're going to get a dozen differing opinions, but I personally find I get a better finish on almost every part if I primer before paint. I also usually "scuff sand" all my parts FIRST by scrubbing them with hot water, an old toothbrush, and an abrasive cleaner like Comet. This gets into all the small areas and crevices without softening or damaging details like sandpaper can, and removes contaminants that can cause fisheyes or adhesion problems. There are several benefits to primering everything, in my experience. Many paints will adhere better and cover better if shot over primer. Some paints, like automotive lacquers (Duplicolor, etc.) will craze or etch bare plastic, and correct primer applications will control this. Also, if you do any sanding of your parts to remove flash, mold lines, sprue-tabs, or if you do any filling of sink-marks, you will absolutely need to shoot primer to fill the sanding scratches to get a good surface for paint. Experiment and practice first, to avoid disappointment from painting a model before you really know what you're doing. Also avoid shooting TOO MUCH primer, as this will fill and spoil fine surface details. You can practice pimering and painting on plastic soda bottles.

Yeah...specifically...in what way, when, and by whom, about which model? I personally admit to being a smartass on occasion when somebody didn't even bother to try to look something up before asking questions that have been answered 1000 times, or when something was misspelled so obviously (and a complaint was made that there were no references on the web...in reality because it was so badly misspelled even Google's AI didn't know what to do with the query)...and I was raked over the coals for being a meany. Okay, I'll phrase things more nicey-nicey in the future. But I've NEVER bashed someone's work. All I give is attaboys for exceptional work (this site has a bunch of guys whose work makes me look like a beginner...but I'm not intimidated by it...I'm INSPIRED), try to find something positive to say about average work (when it's warranted) and offer technical insight and help to those who ask for it. Who are all these mean, elitist SOBs supposedly giving the forum a bad rap? I really haven't seen it happening. Note: What I HAVE seen on occasion is exceptional builds picked on for one tiny flaw, and it made into a big deal...when it was a simple oversight on the very talented and skilled builder's part.

Excellent resource. Downloading these and saving them on your own drive might be a good idea, as things DO sometimes go away on the HAMB.

Love seeing the things you guys have saved. This is no different from what the real-car guys do, seeing some old beater or derelict in a field and having the vision and perseverance to make it beautiful again. Anybody can buy a new kit and put it together, but saving something that most "normal" folks would throw out is something special. Your opinion may vary.

Just beautiful, man (especially considering all the moaning about what a bad kit this is...I have a couple and it does have issues). Fine, fine looking model, perfect chop, stance and profile.

Good friend of mine who did 2 combat tours in Vietnam with the "Big Red 1" Army First Infantry Division drives a first-gen Miata he bought new in '86. He has several vehicles including a Ducati and a Dodge pickup, but the Miata is his favorite 4-wheeler. The kind of guy whose masculinity isn't defined by what he drives.

I have to agree. Expecting everyone on the forum to tailor their responses so as to give no offense to modelers who come here expecting unearned, unconditional praise smacks of "political-correctness" and is not at all productive. If you DO choose to respond, make your comments in keeping with the Golden Rule...ask yourself "how would I like to be treated in this situation", and behave accordingly towards others. But remember...even the most polite, thoughtful and well-intentioned "constructive criticism" will STILL ruffle the feathers of the most thin-skinned. No matter WHAT you do, or HOW you behave, SOMEBODY will always find something to feel offended about.

Frankly, I don't think the majority of modelers have really thought that particular question through, and that could be one reason I see so many wildly varying recommendations on what pressure to use. In the REAL CAR world, the pressure you shoot paint at is the pressure at the gun with the trigger pulled to wide open. Static line pressure with the trigger closed and no air flow means absolutely NOTHING, and can range as high as 120-130psi. Typical pressure measured at the gun (any decent painter will have an air pressure readout and regulator of some kind at the gun...some now are even digital) is in the range of 40psi for an old siphon-style rig, down to 15psi or lower for a gravity-feed HVLP unit. I'm certain that pressure recommendations for air-brushing, to have any validity at all, need to focus on the regulated pressure at the AB with the trigger wide open. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Viscosity is pretty well standardized by most real-car paint manufacturers these days, as specific mixing ratios are duplicated reliably by use of graduated mixing-sticks or cups, but minor tweeking of viscosity is still often necessary and only experience gets you the requisite "feel". Where absolute repeatability is necessary, a "viscosity cup" (a device of a specific volume, with a calibrated hole is dipped in the paint mixture, and the runout-time through the hole is measured in seconds; then thinner is added until the time equals the predetermined spec). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahn_cup Real-car viscosity cups are way too big to use for model work, but you can make your own small one fairly easily. I personally use the "count the drops" method...stick your mixing stick in the paint and see how fast, say, 5 drops fall off of it as you pull it out. A little practice will have you getting closely repeatable viscosities. If you REALLY want repeatable, consistent, quality results, keeping records of your mixing ratios for specific paints, and air pressures and needle adjustments that provide the effect you want, can help immensely.

Man, that's sad. Seems like ANYTHING will go away if offered for free on CraigsList...even a bucket of possum droppings.

He also said (over on the "girl's car" thread): "I don't think the Aztek is ugly." Gotta agree with Harry though... ...we hope

I like this one...

Is that working girls as in "working girls " ?? Around here, it's mostly fake-tanned, bleached-blonde balloon-bloobed real-estate agents in those.

Ya ever driven a Porsche 930? A TR-6, big Healey or E-type with Webers? How 'bout a 240Z with a turboed Toyo 2JZ-GTE? If you think these are girl's cars, you must know some big ol' hairy girls.

Oh really?

I mean, dude, that's like, only $200 million a piece. Like, what can you do with only $200 million anyway?