Ace-Garageguy

^^^^ Beyond belief. Now we can't even p--- in peace. For those of you not familiar with their views on the subject (and for a really good laugh) I recommend you find the video segments on marketing and advertising by Bill Hicks and George Carlin. I won't post links, because some of the language may be offensive to more delicate viewers.

Indeed. If that's your paint prior to polishing, you will certainly have one slick job after. Very nice. All the right parts, all the right mods.

Good to see one of these being built on this forum. I just bought one Stateside, and was so impressed with the kit I'm thinking of getting at least one more...probably the recovery truck. Good looking model and diorama you have here.

Spectacular models, great text, love all of it. Thanks.

NOTE: There's also much confusion as to what is meant by "polish" and "wax", etc. "Polish" generally comes in two main forms...rubbing compound, which is usually too coarse for model car work, and polishing compound, which contains a finer abrasive. Both of these products are fine abrasives, and actually "cut" the surface of paint, smoothing out sanding scratches in the process (rubbing compound is generally coarse enough to remove minor orange peel on real cars, and as such, is usually way too aggressive for model work). Polish a color that has no clear coat, and you will see color transferred to your polishing cloth. That's actually paint. When you polish a clear-coated color, the clear builds up the same way (though you can't see it) and hampers the cutting action of the polish. This is why frequent turning of the cloth to clean areas, with fresh polish applied, is imperative if you want that hard, haze-free gloss (on real cars, the buffing pads are cleared of paint and built-up polish very frequently, and it's not uncommon to use several in the course of doing one car). "Wax" is a coating applied over a previously polished surface that fills microscopic imperfections, and provides a somewhat softer surface on top of the paint that can be buffed to a high gloss. Products called "cleaner wax" also contain polish (abrasive), and may or may not work well on models. "Filling glaze" or "hand glaze" is another type of final surface filler, again on top of the paint, that can be buffed, likewise, to a high gloss.

I've simply never been able to achieve a mirror gloss, haze-free, without polishing AFTER going to the 12,000 grit...whatever said grit is attached to...paper, foam pad, or cloth. The grit of liquid abrasive polish is much finer than even 12,000. One thing that's imperative when trying to get that scratch-free, haze-free shine is to use a very soft cloth to rub your polish (we're talking models here...I machine polish real cars, but the mechanics of the process are the same), and turn it frequently to keep a clean surface towards the work. Polish buildup on the cloth will result in diminished cutting action, and can make it impossible to "bring the gloss all the way up". Sometimes you have to rub pretty hard and long too, and this can be scary if your paint film is as thin as it is on a model. I've tried a lot of things, and to date, the fuzzy side of old-school sweatshirts works best (it's also superior for polishing Testors "metalizers"). I simply cannot imaging trying to get a final gloss just by spraying a "perfect" clear coat, and I'm somewhat envious of anyone who is capable of doing so. In close to 50 years now of polishing paint, sometimes to world-class show levels, any difficulty I've had achieving a hard, no-haze gloss has been traced every time to improper technique, or just not working hard enough. This is el-cheapo hardware store black lacquer, hand sanded to 12,000 and hand polished with 3M machine polish, on a 1/25 scale model. This shot shows that there is still a divot left from sanding out orange-peel on the rear cowl panel, and the gloss is still hazy too. All that means is that more concentrated sanding and polishing remains to be done. Far as I know, there's just no easy way out.

Here's what's on this board...that I know: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/122877-don-garlits-supercharger-color/ and:

I'm not understanding exactly what you're referring to as "polishing cloths". EDIT: OK. A product I haven't used, but everything that follows is 100% pertinent. Final color-sanding runs up through 12.000 grit sandpaper, or abrasive-coated foam pads (or "cloths") used wet. Put a couple of drops of dishwashing detergent in your water to enhance 'wetting' and help keep the paper clear from 'loading up' with sanding residue. Rinse frequently, and change your water every time you change sanding grits. After that, an abrasive polish is used to remove the remainder of the sanding scratches, which at 12.000, will appear as a slight "haze". If you polish correctly, the haze will all but disappear completely. If you still have a "haze" after sanding and polishing, you simply haven't done enough work. Anything still just barely noticeable on very careful inspection can be removed with either a finer grit polish, or for show-quality work, a "filling glaze". This is the procedure on real cars as well as models. NOTE: Many modelers and real-car painters seem to think that a quick rub with the abrasive of choice is somehow magically going to do the trick. It won't. Color-sanding and polishing is a royal PITA, especially on little models where you're trying to flatten orange peel and not go through thin paint on ridges and high spots. Each successive grit HAS TO REMOVE THE SCRATCHES LEFT BY THE PREVIOUS GRIT ENTIRELY, and this can be hard to see. But if you don't get rid of the previous sanding scratches, you're just wasting your time.

Click here... https://public.fotki.com/KustomKars/my_models/

Great news. Time to buy stuff...

All we're gettin' is a bunch of these...

Yes, absolutely... beautiful model. I like the styling of pretty much all the Fords of the period, especially this tractor. I've seen plenty of rigs in the orange and blue Roadway livery, too. You've done a fine job representing a hard working unit...but damm it man, you've made me have to add this to my list of must-haves.

Me either.

Looks like you're right. Based on y'all's answers, I did more looking, came up with this shot. There is something under the hood, anyway. Certainly a place to start. Thanks guys.

But just as a gutless snapper...right?

Snappers and promos are better than nothing, and with some effort, one could certainly make guts for what's available. Lots of highly skilled work though. Engine out of Revell's Shelby S1 for the Aurora, LS engine from a late model Corvette for the GTO...but I don't know of a source for the 2 liter Chrysler L4 in the Neon. Plus scratchbuilding gearboxes, suspension, etc. I'm already converting some earlier snappers, crapp diecasts and promos to full detail models with off-the-shelf kit parts for related vehicles, but it's a little trickier with wanting to build full-detail late-model stuff.

That's seriously cool. Kid I knew in HS had one minus all the rear sheetmetal. Yours looks like a really clean machine.

Ex Mary Kay special edition, I presume.

Looks really clean. You just reminded me I've wanted to do a straight-axle "what if" gasser from one of those.

You might want to dig it out. Most model paints can be fairly easily stripped off.

Rubber cement thinner is usually a cocktail of solvents somewhat similar to some liquid plastic cements...acetone, heptane, toluene, etc. Naptha can also be used to remove rubber cement. In general, these won't un-glue anything assembled with a solvent type glue (because solvent glues actually 'melt' the plastic parts into each other) but might have an effect on CA. They might also craze the surrounding plastic. Not much of anything will dissolve epoxy.

I'd like to see some later-models too. One shelf is already groaning with Japanese and Euro stuff, but for US cars, I'd buy a Dodge Neon, the last Buick Riviera, an Oldsmobile Aurora, A Caddy CTS-V wagon, the last GTO (Holden)....even a Chebby Volt.

Really. I've been putting off buying a bunch of his stuff. Guess I'd better not do another wait-until-it's-too-late like I did with Modelhaus.

I'm pretty sure it's just a good-natured reference to the frequent complaining about endless reissues of the most-recognizable-to-the-masses models and the relative dearth of more esoteric stuff like '51 Studebakers and '57 Oldsmobiles.

X2. Looking good.