Ace-Garageguy

LMGTFY Hmmmmm...There doesn't seem to be any shortage of images and other info. https://www.justtrucks.com.au/trucks-for-sale/1973-international-transtar-4070-8v71/JTW3234877 Or videos. This is also apparently an 8V71-powered CO 4070

I occasionally find myself wondering exactly which half is the Canadian half... Of course, the Canadian half is Scots and English, so I guess it's sorta moot.

In that vein, here's something a lot of modelers don't seem to be aware of. Besides the "styrene" your spoons are possibly made of being very different (again, possibly) from the kit "styrene", they may not even be polystyrene at all. A lot of plastic spoons are made from polypropylene, which can react very differently to solvents. Adhesion can be an issue with polypropylene, and adhesion promoters are often required to get paint to stick to it in the real world. https://www.smsdistributors.com/products/sem-plastic-adhesion-promoter What this means to the modeler is that, simply because of its surface properties that manifest as solvent resistance, some primers may not stick, and when hit with topcoats, everything can squirm and crack just like the OP's example. Again, this is part of the reason I continually harp on the idea of testing on the plastic the particular model you're working on is made of. And remember that not every issue of the same kit is necessarily made of the same "styrene" blend.

TRUTH

delete

Very nice...and fits together SO much better than the vast majority that get built. I don't know why, but getting the hood / grille / cockpit surround (or the fit of the steel tops) non-wonky eludes most builders. Like I said...very nice.

Just FYI...here's a build thread by a guy who apparently put a lot of effort into it. http://www.alexkung1.com/scale/am/index.htm I can't personally vouch for the accuracy of anything he says, but I've seen so much bad-mouthing of this kit over the eons, it can't hurt to look.

I'm sure it is, seein' as how I overpaid for a few "vintage rare out-of-production" ones not so long ago.

Ah yes...the big, beautiful M8 series. One of my favorite race cars...and kits...of all time.

Missed the point entirely. I was talking specifically about using the vintage parts-packs reissued as kits purely as parts-sources for kitbashing. A lot of modelers don't even know what makes a car go, much less how to cobble together a lot of parts from disparate sources into something reasonably representative of reality...so I guess it's no real surprise they're not flying off the shelves as kitbashing fodder for period builds.

Here's a little more insight into "hot" primers and the like. I tried to shoot this Ferrari 250 GTO with hot Duplicolor self-etching primer. It crazed horribly on the hood, but rather than stopping there, I shot the whole thing, like an idiot. A lot of people would have tossed it at that point, but as it's a fairly expensive kit, I decided to save it...knowing I had a very good chance, based on previous experience. It has morphed into this... The lesson here is simply "don't give up". Most everything can be saved, one way or another. BUT...thinking through what you're doing (and benefiting from other people's mistakes they share here) BEFORE you make a mess that's hard to fix is smarter. EDIT: Another thought...fixing paint or crazing problems is far, far easier on models that don't have fine surface details like emblems, script, etc. So THINK before you spray.

Please don't feel that way. You've imparted some useful information, and opened up the scope of the discussion. My intent isn't to "argue" either, but to add as much valid insight as seems appropriate. Anyone reading through this entire thread will probably learn a lot.

Exactly...but people who haven't spent a lifetime working with refinish materials for a living, where getting it wrong costs you not only frustration but A LOT OF MONEY, don't always believe that real-world experience has any value, and that internet advice is often useless...or just flat wrong. "Sensitive substrates" have been the bane of anyone involved in the real-car repair or refinish business since the beginning, and we've dealt with...and overcome through understanding...every paint problem known to man.

It's not so much "prefer" as it is what's correct. Exactly...and one of the reasons touching up real-car lacquer jobs (many factories used acrylic lacquer also) was so easy, as opposed to repairing enamel work. Did I mention I've been in the real-car repair/refinish/restoration/race prep business for well over 5 decades? Same kit, Duplicolor sandable gray primer, plastic crazed and significant swelling over the "peak" and emblem on the hood after they were sanded flat, allowed to dry thoroughly, and repeatedly re-primered and sanded until it was stable, then shot with Duplicolor color, as-shot, no clear, no color-sanding or polishing. "Acceptable"? Well, it's better than 99% of what I see on models, and illustrates that technique...including a thorough understanding of the materials and their limitations...is essential to produce "acceptable" results.

And then he logged on to all his social media accounts posting selfies and telling the world what a great, generous, selfless humanitarian he was... I know several people just like him.

Thank you sir, and thanks for your comment and interest. And thank you too, sir. It really wouldn't be all that hard to drill and pin the control arms so they'd move, and substitute real coil springs...but I think the poseable steering is as far as I'll go...though it would be fun to make the front end go boingity boingity. But then I'd have to machine tiny shocks to control bounce, with valving you could only see with an electron microscope. However...I'm am going to rack-and-pinion steering most likely, and if I do, the rack will be through-drilled so a tie-rod can slip through it more realistically than having the whole thing move back and forth.

Yup. I've got at least 50 years of projects ro get to still. Better than dying from boredom though, watching TV 24/7 and swelling up like a tick from living on bon-bons and chips.

Really really pretty.

One more thing. I'm not trying to be a "know it all" here or bust anyone's chops. I'm just trying to save some guys unnecessary grief, because this topic comes up so frequently. There are 2 SIMPLE rules to follow if you want to avoid paint problems on models. 1) Spend a few bucks and only use compatible products from one product line, from one manufacturer. Or 2), if you decide you want to ignore rule 1, TEST thoroughly BEFORE you commit to painting a model, and test on the plastic the model you're trying to paint is made from. Spoons and sprue don't always tell you what you need to know. TEST on the underside of hoods, inside body shells, or the topside of frames, or the parts of interior tubs that won't ever be seen.

Looks good. I have every 250 GTO kit, including this one (already moved west, pretty much without cracking open the box). The kit's rendition of the engine and gearbox strike me as more blobular than I'd expect from Fujimi, but most of the lack of detail will be hidden after assembly anyway. I never understood Ferrari's choice of that odd yellow corrugated fuel line, and it always struck me that it would be a bear to model in smaller scales. Really interested in seeing your project here unfold.

Unfortunately, even catalyzed materials sometimes remain "solvent sensitive" depending on several factors. I've had "fully cured" catalyzed acrylic urethanes, when topcoated with basecoat/clearcoat during repairs (catalyzed urethane clear) explode in wrinkles, just exactly like old synthetic enamel topcoated with lacquer would do. This is most often a problem when some cowboy painter who doesn't bother to read instructions or stay within one company's compatible product line shoots his catalyzed topcoats over an enamel or "non sanding" primer. He might get away with it, but pity the poor SOB who comes along behind him during a repair...even years later.

Agreed, and that's why I put the "cure" in quotes. Lacquers remain sensitive to lacquer solvents, will "re-wet" even after years because they dry by simple solvent evaporation,...and some react like enamels that harden on the surface, but never dry through....leading to the cracking like I experienced shooting Duplicolor color over hardware-store lacquer after many years. The only refinish materials that "cure" through are those that are catalyzed, and harden by chemical cross-linking of their constituent molecules.

That frame looks really good. What exact kit did it start out as?

No. Lacquers "cure" by evaporation of the solvents in them. Everything else you wrote is fine, but the above isn't. Lacquer solvents do indeed penetrate into some plastic substrates, some more than others, they definitely penetrate into any previous coats of material, and subsequent coats of material can indeed retard the evaporation of solvents in underlying coats...which can result in a surface that squirms around or expands unpredictably when topcoats are applied, leading to cracking or wrinkling that looks like the effect of lacquer shot over enamel. But as Duplicolor primers are, in general, much more solvent-resistant than any hobby primers, properly applied and aged Duplicolor primers should be fine under any hobby paint. Still, TESTING of any material combination you want to use ON PLASTIC THAT'S THE SAME AS THE MODEL YOU'RE TRYING TO PAINT, and applied and aged exactly the same way, is imperative to avoid problems like the OP had.

I take it back. Ackchooally...I did have a problem when I shot Duplicolor universal black color over long-cured Ace Hardware store-brand black 'lacquer". Cracking, because the hardware store paint wasn't sufficiently solvent resistant even after YEARS of drying. Duplicolor primers are formulated to be used under real-car paint, and I've used them successfully under real-car lacquers, acrylic enamels, and acrylic urethanes including basecoat/clearcoat products. That's not to say they're guaranteed to always work as model primers, or that the formulas won't be changed at some time, rendering them as useless as Plastikote (which used to be one of the go-to primers for experienced modelers) is now. So test, test, and test if you have any doubts about product compatibility.