Ace-Garageguy

Depending on what exact "model masters" paint you used, it may not need a clear topcoat, or it may be designed to be topcoated with Testors Model Master clear lacquer. There are several different Testors "Model Master" lacquers, so to give you an accurate answer, we need to know exactly what you used.

X2. As always, beautiful work, Cato.

Many thanks for the Hilborn / Y-block pix. Saved me a lot of looking for references on a 1/8 scale rod that's in the works.

I've been starting to collect old model train magazines, in (possibly unrealistic) anticipation of having the space in the not-too-distant future to get back into that particular hobby. The ones I find most interesting at the moment are from the late 1940s and early 1950s. Besides the incredibly high standards of scratchbuilding, craftsmanship and electrical sophistication of train modelers then (entirely contrary to what the "everything is better now" contingent would have us believe) one other thing really stands out. During this period, MOST HOBBY ITEMS WERE MAIL-ORDERED...from catalog sellers or direct from the manufacturers from ads in the mags...not unlike the online ordering of today, but just not as immediate. The slow but steadily increasing proliferation of hobby-shops in the 1950s was hailed by train modelers as a wonderful thing...where you could actually see and touch a kit or locomotive prior to purchasing it, and even possibly talk to an actual live human who knew something more than the words in the advertising blurb. Shops that stayed abreast of changing and developing hobby interests (like plastic armor and aircraft and car kits and RC planes, for example) experienced very nice and stable growth. It's funny how we've gone full-circle, and that, with triple the population now, it's next to impossible for a physical hobby shop to be a viable business proposition.

Agreed 100%. And if you really want to get your azz chapped, try being a mechanic and having to DRAIN the oil from those transmissions that no longer come with a drain plug in the pan prior to servicing anything internal. It's practically impossible to drain the fluid from these things without taking a bath in the stuff (in spite of what all the internet "experts" say). Some early Smart cars came with no engine oil drain plugs either. Pretty stupid, if you ask me. Instead of just letting gravity do the job, you have to have a pump to get the fluid out cleanly. Another case of mindless over-complication for NO GOOD REASON...though there are plenty of "expert" justifications floating around too. But then, cars today are designed mostly by people behind computer screens who don't open hoods and couldn't tell you what a wrench is for. Decision making is driven by cost-accounting and marketing, NOT competent engineering, and ease of servicing wasn't ever really high on the list of design priorities at most companies anyway...with some occasional delightful exceptions. Every now and then, I'll get something in the shop that actually DID have somebody who'd obviously once worked on a car give a little thought to the poor SOB who'd have to fix the thing when it broke. Not often, but it happens. Two cases in point: 1) The little Chrysler Corp. Neon has notches in the front wheel bearing carrier hubs so you can get the wheel studs out (and new ones in) when Bubba at the tire store inevitably strips them or breaks them off with his 300 lbft air wrench. Most manufacturers don't bother with the notches, and require disassembly of the front suspension to do the job. 2) The PT Cruiser initially required dropping the fuel tank to service the pump. Slightly later production versions actually included a small removable access panel in the rear floor to make the job easier. (On the other hand, replacing the timing belt on the 2.4 liter PT Cruiser is one of the most needlessly difficult operations in the history of the automobile. Just an extra 1/2 inch here and an inch there could have made it a walk in the park...and I know it would have been easily possible to slightly modify the design with no additional cost to production. This is one of the reasons you'll see fewer and fewer PTs on the road. The third owner isn't going to bother to read about the required replacement interval in the owner's manual anyway, and if they DO, they'll be hard pressed to spend the $1000 to have the job done on a car that's only "worth" $1500. When the belt strips...and it WILL... the engine stops, and the little cars go to the crusher.)

Depending on the car and conditions, I often left-foot-brake when driving an automatic, and I don't have any problem making the switch to a manual and back again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On another note, I wonder what percentage of people today can check their own oil, tire pressure, other fluids, jump a battery correctly, or change a flat. Hell, as far as I can tell, most people, even a lot of "mechanics", don't even vaguely understand what makes a car go and stop...including those who bill themselves as "car guys". I've encountered people who think you check the engine oil with it running, or the auto trans oil with the engine stopped. I once saw a woman adding oil to her engine until it was "full" (not looking at the dipstick) and when I politely offered to explain and help her, was told rudely "I DON'T NEED HELP FROM ANY DAMM MAN !!!". OK, hope that's working out for you. I've heard dweebs explaining that a car that's idling doesn't use any gas, so it doesn't affect fuel mileage to sit in traffic, and I routinely hear cars screaming in all sorts of mechanical agony, trying desperately to let their oblivious owners know they need help. Ignorance is so popular, it must truly be bliss. I'll never understand. Interesting article here: http://rcars.co/2016/10/24/cars-and-their-enemy-blissful-ignorance/

It also depends on how many coats of paint you use OVER your primer. Once you achieve what's known as "full hiding" in the real-car paint world, the primer color makes no difference whatsoever. As mentioned above, some paints achieve full-hiding in a coat or two, and some take five or more. On real cars we use a black and white patterned card to do sprayouts on, to determine exactly how many coats of paint will hide the difference completely. In general, if you DON'T have full hiding, a white primer will make a brighter, cleaner look, gray primer will tend to be muddy, red primer muddier, and black primer just darker. Candy colors that are intended to be transparent are very dependent on the undercoat color for their final look, however, and are very sensitive to variations in spray patterns that can make some areas streak and cover more than others. Metallic paints with large flakes tend to achieve full-hiding with fewer coats than light solid colors, dark colors usually hide better than light colors, pearls with very fine flakes often don't hide as early as metallics, etc.

Nice engine swap. Ought to duct those turbine exhausts out the back through the "jet" nozzle, and set her up with an afterburner though.

Missed this one earlier. Very nicely done, good proportions, huge improvement on the original kit. Love it.

Great idea, Scott. I surely will.

Jesse nailed it.

Yessir, looks good in the Gulf colors. Very nicely done.

Great story, great car. Thanks for posting the link. It made my day.

Agreed. Some very interesting 1/32 military aircraft I wouldn't have even thought to look for, and decent prices on many of them.

While that's entirely true, it IS incumbent on any manufacturer to exercise due-diligence in quality control. Kit manufacturers specify the exact materials their suppliers use...or at least they SHOULD. Clearly, SOME vinyl or PVC compounds are stable while in contact with polystyrene for prolonged periods, and it really IS the kit manufacturer's responsibility to make sure that the compounds their suppliers are providing for molding tires ARE INDEED THE ONES SPECIFIED and THE ONES KNOWN TO BE STABLE...not some bottom-of-the-barrel cost-cutting potential goo from Joe's (or Chang's) Midnight Chemical and Plastics Supply. Model kit parts that literally self-destruct (sometimes in a disturbingly SHORT period of time) are simply not acceptable.

Nice going, Steve. From what I've seen of your work on here, you certainly deserved all the hardware and appreciation.

Have a '72 Celica coming from Japanoland. As one of these was among the first cars I race-prepped early in my career, I kinda thought it might be fun to build it as an SCCA C-Sedan car, as that's what the real one was. All I really remember about the car is that it was a kinda darkish olive green metallic, built on a pretty tight budget, and it wouldn't get out of its own way when it came in because the cam timing was so retarded.

Back in the late 1980s, my fleet services company / restoration shop was doing very well, and I was on the short list for an English-built Safir GT40 "continuation" car. At the time, I had a block of Eastern Airlines stock, and stupidly held on until it became worthless, figuring the airline would pull out and survive in spite of all the dire forecasts. That was the end of the GT40 dream. Yesterday, I had a little less-than-nimble time getting in and out of the car, and remarked that if I could afford the thing, I'd gladly lose 40 pounds so I wouldn't look like such an old fool.

Absolutely...and when the customer was there yesterday, I noticed the throttle plates are only coming about 2/3 open with the pedal on the floor. This will certainly HAVE to be investigated thoroughly.

Knowing very well that it's often easy to criticize from the comfort of one's living room, I honestly try to see both sides of most things...eventually. Considering the USPS moves approximately 506 MILLION pieces of mail DAILY, their system must obviously be working pretty well overall. Sure there may be the occasional odd routing, or misplaced package, or some other problem that seems of vital importance to the individual who's personally inconvenienced, but in the larger scheme of things, the percentages are probably so small that a large-scale look at ultra-fine-tuning just isn't justified. When something is really working pretty well, it's often smarter to leave it alone. It's popular these days to perform endless tinkering with systems that work quite well, and in the process, make messes of things that were just fine and functional as they were. Ebay is guilty of that, as anyone who actually pays attention to some of the stupid of their online experience and has a critical kind of mind will notice. A lot of functionality from previous versions of that particular site has become glitchy due to mindless "making it better" just to be doing something. Here are some other numbers that kinda prove to me that the USPS is really doing a very good job, much better than a lot of organizations, and certainly a lot better than many people give them credit for. Just one day in the life of theU.S. Postal Service... by the numbersEach day, the Postal Service picks up, processes and delivers millions of letters and packages. No single operation in the world comes close to this level of connectivity to so many households and businesses. Here’s just one day in the life of the U.S. Postal Service. (Figures are averages.) 235.2 million — revenue received in dollars160.2 million — dollars paid to postal employees in salaries and benefits506.4 million — number of mailpieces processed and delivered each day21.1 million — average number of mailpieces processed each hour351,656 — average number of mailpieces processed each minute5,861 — average number of mailpieces processed each second200.4 million — pieces of First-Class Mail processed and delivered7,131 — number of letter carriers who deliver mail entirely on foot — The USPS Fleet of Feet54,490 — number of address changes processed3,748 — number of addresses added to our delivery network4.6 million — number of people who visit usps.com$2.7 million — dollar amount of online stamp and retail sales at usps.com1.5 million — number of Click-N-Ship labels printed297,004 — number of money orders issued0 — tax dollars received for operating the Postal Service

I have a blue CAV GT40 replica in the shop, as of today, with electrical problems. Some days I really love my work.

Exactly. And welcome to the forum.

Yup. And privatization doesn't always seem to be a good thing, though it's one of those still-fashionable knee-jerk reactions that avoids rationality in favor of mindless "action". I remember when this city had a road crew that would go out and fix potholes. You'd have a single older truck blocking one lane of traffic, and three guys leaning on shovels. Now, with privatization, you have three brand new huge trucks blocking the entire road, a couple of equally brand-new pickups idling for hours with the AC on for the supervisors, (at least two of whom are required, apparently, for every little hole), seven or eight guys leaning on shovels while looking at their smart-phones, and two more to direct traffic around them. Explain how there can possibly be a savings to the taxpayer on the costs associated with maintaining the roads. That WAS the point, remember?