Ace-Garageguy

There's a really excellent thread about making compound-curved windshields from the plastic large soft-drink bottles are made from. It requires some work, but the results are outstanding. It's not too far back in the 'tips and tricks' forum below. Most windshields in post-'54 cars are compound-curved, meaning they have curves in two dimensions. Flat plastic will not replicate this satisfactorily, and the tutorial shows how to heat-mold clear plastic over a form to make a compound-curved part.

I should know this, but I can't seem to remember. I don't THINK the original car had metallic paint. I could very well be wrong. Photographs from the time make it look like a lighter almost baby blue sometimes.The last time I saw the car, it did have Pontiac blue on the engines, which would probably be correct, as the engines supplied by Pontiac were used, test units and were probably painted in the factory color.

As suggested above, the Testors One Coat lacquer metallics will do it. This is "Flaming Orange". The other colors in the line have similar sized flake.

Ain't that a bugger. I'm gonna look in a couple of earlier issues and see what's there....I'll get back to you. You're right about there being a crossover on the 1:1. You probably know flathead Fords have 3 exhaust ports on each side of the block, just under the heads.

Maybe I should just go for a Guinness record...."world's largest dustbuster" and be done with it. Nah, I'll just go for a Guiness.

PM sent.

the "dustbuster"..... http://contest.techb...ation-2012/2250 It exists in full scale.... Let's see you're comparable or better original-design, 1:1 projects. Please. Step right up.

Depending on what you're shipping, you might want to look into flat rate boxes. The fee is the same up to 70 pounds, and there are 4 sizes. You can print labels on standard paper and just cut them out. Printer ink is kind of necessary, though. Good luck with Italy, too.

Every time I've bought shipping through ebay online and printed the labels, it's been CHEAPER than buying it through UPS directly or at the post office. Saves standing in line, too. Of course, you have to weigh and measure your packages, accurately (unless you're using flat-rate boxes, which are free at the P.O.). I've always received my funds in 4 business days, max, on US transactions. Out-of-the-country takes longer. The 'tracking number' is a delivery confirmation number, and once ebay has it, they're notified as to completed delivery also. Their transaction-tracking software is pretty smart. Shipping items to many other countries can often be a real hassle, and it can tie up money for a while. Depends on the country. Anything South America or Mexico, forget it.

Nice thing about the Phaeton is that it has separately-molded rear suspension like the Vicky, but unlike the blobular 5-window and roadster chassis.

Is that a microballoon slurry you're using for filler on the rear flares? Sure looks like it. Nice work. You might want to look closely at the shape of the rear door cut-line on the 1:1 FIA where it clears the rear flare. It's kind of ugly (IMHO) and has a reverse curve in it...not as pretty as on yours and some of the other Cobra bodies where the curve is bulged towards the rear. The FIA has the curve bulged towards the front (to clear the flare).

The reason I qualified the statement with "where you need primer" is because you mentioned using Duplicolor topcoats. The lacquers MAY cause crazing of the plastic without primer, and that's also why I'm adamant about testing on the actual plastic of your intended paint victim, with the specific products you're thinking of using. I've ruined enough stuff, and wasted enough time fixing messes over the years to be careful now. I've used Scotch-brite in the past, and had good results. I think the very fine gray one is the way to go. BUT, I've also looked at the results of SB under a magnifier, and the fibers still tend to ride over some areas adjacent to raised details, whereas scrubbing with the abrasive cleaner and toothbrush gets in all the crevices. This is an issue because.....When you paint a model, paint tends to collect slightly more in the creases. Paint tends to shrink as it dries, as the solvents evaporate out. Where there is more paint, as in the creases, there will be more shrinkage. If you paint with something that doesn't etch the surface somewhat to enhance adhesion, you CAN have so much shrinkage over time that the paint will start to crack and peel from the crevices first. I've actually seen this happen on older models, and carefully analyzed why. I found that, even though the models HAD been scuff-sanded, they hadn't been scuffed in the creases and low areas adjacent to raised detail. It all made sense, and now I err on the side of overkill and scuff everything with an abrasive cleanser.

No bull......The "scratch filler" primer, the one that says "high build formula" on the label, is the one you want to use over bodywork, putty, modifications, etc. It fills sanding scratches because it IS a high-ish build product. You may have to prime-sand-prime-sand etc. several times to fix all the flaws in bodywork, so you don't want to do this on areas where you want to preserve fine detail. I would recommend on your trailer, where you need a primer and you want to PRESERVE fine detail that you use the 'sandable' (NOT HIGH BUILD) primer: 1) first THOROUGHLY scrub the plastic with Soft-Scrub, Comet or something similar and a toothbrush. This will have the same effect as sanding, to give the primer a little 'tooth' to grab on to, without obliterating detail, but will get in all the little spaces between rivets...and 2) prime it with the 'sandable' which is NOT high build, and therefor won't hide the details. Try to learn to shoot it slick and dust-free. When it's thoroughly dry, scuff it with the abrasive cleaner and toothbrush again, but not too agressively. Same effect as sanding...a little tooth for the paint to grab, but no flattening of the details. ALSO TEST !!!!! TEST thouroughly on the BACK of the parts you're going to prime and paint. Different plastics in the poly-styrene family react differently with different coatings, and the "on the back of a plastic spoon" advice won't necessarily show you how your particular model's plastic will react. Use the same primer / paint you want to use on the outside of the model. Don't rush it. It's cheaper to wait a bit for everything to dry completely than to strip the model or have to replace it when the paint crazes.

Man, I'd forgotten they even made the short-wheelbase van. Nice job on the conversion so far.

Really nice. I love to see old working-trucks done so well.

That door fit looks good. Nice work.

Very nice. I second what Oliver Jantrix has to say....more, please.

....maybe not many, but maybe more than you think. I know one very serious WW2 aircraft modeler who has modelled every version of the Spitfire ever built in 1:1, from the baby-blue prototype all the way through the last bubble-canopy Mk.24, and the Spiteful, Seafires and Seafang, all in 1/32 scale. It's a pretty astounding collection, by the way. To get them all, he had to do a LOT of kit-mingling, heavy modification and scratchbuilding. Now he's starting on P-47s. I also know a retired fighter jock who has built every version (not unit marking variations, but mission-specific variants, like the Wild Weasel) of the F-4, and a helo guy with mutiple Hueys and Cobras, all in the same scales. Same helo guy is converting one of the 1/24 Monogram Hueys into a Cobra. Lots of work. Point is, though these aren't creative 'customs' like car models often are, or 'freelance' as the model railroad guys call it, they ARE heavily modified.

Hey Ron, the model's looking good. Love your inspiration shot too. I think you've got it. Good idea using the cut-down fender unit to simulate the frame reveal.

When you consider the relative complexity of an injection molded toothbrush handle and a model car kit, and the smallness of the model market relative to the market for toothbrushes, a model car kit looks like a pretty good deal, pricewise. Of course, that's only one way to look at it. And the truth is that ANY manufactured item can be made cheaper AND better if the manufacturing company is operating as lean and efficiently as possible, with highly skilled and motivated and talented people in every position. Good luck finding that in any industry.....except maybe Rutan's company, Scaled Composites.

I don't think anyone in his right mind would expect a model car body to be scale 20 or 22 gage thickness (16?), but I think we have the right to expect the EXTERIOR MEASUREMENTS of the parts represented to be scaled accurately (within reason). If they are, the proportions will be correct. They can't help it. It's math, ya know, and it just doesn't lie. And while we're at it, spare me the old saw about liberties needing to be taken with models to make them look right etc. etc. etc. It's BULL, often repeated by people who repeat what they've heard and have no empirical evidence to back it up. If you photograph a model from the same relative viewing angle as you'd look at a real car from, with a lens that doesn't cause stupid distortions, a correctly scaled model's proportions will appear exactly the same as 1:1. I've done it repeatedly and know it's true from analyzing the results.

No bull. Depending on how deep the fingerprints (or scratches) are, you can start with 400 or 600 grit paper WET until you can't feel the damage with your fingernail any more. Then jump to 3200 wet, 6000 wet, 8000 wet and finally 12,000 wet...just like you're sanding a paint job. A very fine polishing compound will bring the new factory gloss and clarity back.....if you do it right. I promise. Use PLENTY of water and change it and swill out the container every time you change grits of sandpaper. Use some kind of sanding block too, as un-supported paper will make all kinds of waves in your 'glass'. By the way....I've made some poorly made, wavy kit windshields look great by block-sanding them to take the waves out, and then finishing out as described above. THE BEST TRICK IS TO NOT GET ANY GLUE ON THE WINDOWS. Read the thread below about gluing windows.

No matter what adhesive you use, if you read all the answers above, the common part of the various techniques is to fit the windows and jig them in place to avoid fingerprints. High octane must do this too, as 5-miunte epoxy doesn't have "instant grab".

I've got the old Caddy, a retractable Ford and 2 versions of the '57 wagon / Ranchero. Though challenging to build nicely, thay CAN be made into beautiful models without a whole lot of corrections to get the proportions right. They were reasonably accurate for the technology available at the time. For the technology available when the last Ala Kart with the stupidly-tiny engine, the Monogram '34 snapper Ford with the WAY TOO SHORT HOOD, and the ridicululously WAY UNDERSCALE chopped '34 Ford on the tube chassis were tooled, there's no excuse. I'm NOT TALKING ABOUT HAIR SPLITTING DETAIL. I'm talking about GROSS INACCURACY.

Yup, LT-5.