Ace-Garageguy

Nice !! I didn't know there was a 1/32 bubble-canopy Spit available. Gotts ta get one.

I wish somebody made a styrene kit of the Mark, so I could easily build Harry's version.

Welcome to the forum. That's an ambitious project for a first-time paint job. I would tend to think you'd need to make custom masks, from frisket material or some other masking material first. You should probably practice drawing exactly what you want, to fit the model exactly, first. Then practice cutting and applying your masks on scrap plastic or plastic sheets before you try to paint your model. There are some guys on here who do very nice custom flame jobs, and I'm sure someone will jump in to help you more.

I started to recommend the AM Hewland, as I've seen 1:1 Panteras with that gearbox. I looked in an AM McLaren kit however, and the 1/24 Hewland LG 600 looks to be pretty huge compared to what a scale-correct ZF would be. Besides turning it over, you'd also have to add an engine mounting flange and remove the control-arm mounts from the side covers. If your Pantera kit is 1/24, you'd probably be better off installing the Hewland right-side up, and letting it just be a Hewland rather than trying to hack it into a ZF. With the 427 you want to use, the big Hewland would be just right (too much is always good). Hewland LG 600 Now that I'm really thinking about it, I'm pretty sure I've seen a gearbox in some obscure kit that would make a quite-believable stand-in for the ZF. If I figure it out, I'll put up a photo.

That's a real eye-catcher, for sure, a really unusual car I don't recall ever seeing in full scale. I'd always wondered what that primer would look like as a glossy color too. Nice choice, looks great, as does the rest of the car.

I saw coolant on the road...coming from my water pump seal. A lot of it.

I tend to say GO$%^&#$@@#$((^&$$*&%%$#$$#^&*&*&MUTH&^**$#%%$^%$#ER !!! As the arterial blood sprays across the shop.

You did see some fenderless metallic-painted cars in the '50s (metallic paints were available on high-end cars as far back as the 1930s) but as Snake says, the metalflake was a '60s look. Getting a scale-correct-appearing metallic particle in your paint can be tricky, as most of the metallics look like dune-buggy or bass-boat HUGE metalflake when applied to a model. You tended to see more solid colors on hot rods in the '50s because by far, most of them were built on a budget, and solid color paint was simply cheaper.

I've restored several real Panteras and heavily modified others, so maybe I can help some. As you probably know, the cars came stock in the '70s with the Ford 351 Cleveland engine, and a ZF gearbox. A 427 will be a little tight in the engine bay, but it will fit. I've seen real ones with big-block Chevy engines as well. An excellent engine source for the 427 is the old Revell Parts Pack version...cheap and readily available. I don't recall a source for a correct ZF transaxle right off hand, but a Porsche 911 gearbox mounted backwards can supply a looks-good-at-first-glance alternative if you're not too concerned with accuracy. The old AMT Hardcastle & McCormick Coyote could supply a decent starting point for front and rear suspension, though the gearbox in the kit looks nothing like the correct ZF. This is a ZF...doesn't look much like any of the available kit-sourced mid-engine transaxles. This Porsche gearbox is a fair approximation... If you're building close to stock, the headers are pretty mundane, like these, and tuck close to the sides of the block. Most of the images of "Pantera headers" on Google are wildly modified cars.

Good looking model. It's nice to see clean older builds restored, and I certainly understand your reluctance to disassemble a nicely-done one. I don't have a complete one of these, but the parts I have seem to be in an odd scale, somewhat larger than 1/24. Do you have any insight on that particular quirk?

Well sir, I've seen your work, so you're obviously a competent modeler. I haven't had any problems (so far) with Testors wet-look clear shot over Testors metallics or basecoats, or Duplicolor colors. I always use Duplicolor or Plasticoat primers. I HAVE had severe cracking issues on 1:1 cars when I shot urethane basecoat-clear over solid older paint (collision repair blends) that had previously been primered with a non-sanding enamel primer (which I didn't realize until I had to strip all the affected areas and start over from bare metal). Have you changed the primer you're using recently, or could the manufacturer have possibly changed the formula? What about the color coats you're shooting the Testors clear over? Same as always??

Next time, try acetone or brake cleaner spray. It's a new dimension in short-term pain.

My guess is that all the photos in the first post are digital mashups. Pretty nice work, especially the first one.

If I could go today, the screen door wouldn't hit me on the way out.

Fixed it...sorta.

Yeah...just mean fems and whiny, physically incompetent male-ish things.

Really? Honest? They have a name and everything? Wowee gee whiz. Just FYI...yeah, I know. But thanks. I'm not busting your chops. Guess I shoulda been more specific. I wasn't looking for the done-to-death Volksrods, but something a little more imaginative and challenging. You'll notice, please, the first 2 cars and the last one are front-engined. The one in post #2 has some skills in evidence on the unusual hard-top chop, too.

If the feminists have their way, there won't be any "men" in 30 years anyhow. It's getting harder and harder to find one even now.

Z28 was simply an option package code, and didn't "mean" anything. In 1967 when it was introduced, its intent was to make a factory-available Camaro legal to race in SCCA's "Trans Am" series, which had a maximum engine displacement of 5-liters. For homologation, a minimum of 1000 cars had to be built. The numbers were fudged a little, and Z28s went racing. The original Z28 had a special engine of 302 cu.in. displacement (just under 5 liters), arrived at by putting a 283 crank in a 327 block. Though I lost interest in Z28s after the 1969 cars (I discovered Porsches in '70) in later years it's my understanding that it became a separate Camaro model, more about stylin' than racing homologation.

I was looking around for some ideas for an upcoming 1:1 client build and stumbled across these. I like 'em.

Do you get brittle and crack?

Yup. I used their black wrinkle on the instrument panel of my hot-rod '62 Bug when I was 19.

Jason, nice going all around. I'd be really proud to have a son like you, and good luck in everything you do. As you've already realized, I'm sure, you make most of your own luck. A satisfying and productive life takes effort. You're already well on the way.

It's basically the same as the Duplicolor and Plasticoat sandable primers (I have some of each in stock). As noted several times before, whether it will craze the plastic depends entirely on the particular plastic. It will ruin some, and not hurt others. TEST ON THE ACTUAL PLASTIC FROM THE KIT YOU WANT TO PAINT...FIRST.

Only one I've ever had get brittle in brake fluid was an old AMT '63 Watson Indy roadster I bought as a gluebomb. It survived some pretty rough handling during disassembly, but after a couple of days in DOT 3 brake fluid, it simply disintegrated into little pieces almost every time I touched it.