Monty

I love the burgundy color you chose for the Z/28. Would you mind sharing which actual paint it is? Was it shot over anything special? (white primer, gold undercoat etc)

Very impressive use of kit-bashing and resourcefulness (drinking straw steering column). I admire and envy your abilities.

Nice clean build and a great color combination. That thing just looks like it's begging to be driven. One tiny suggestion (not a criticism): cut through the side stripe where it crosses the door lines. The decal experts on her should be able to tell you the best way to do that. Hope to see more of your work soon.

No miracles this year - the Flyers got swept by the Bruins. Dear Mr Laviolette, please find us a goalie who is at least the equal of Tim Thomas. Sincerely, Flyers' fans.

I like where you're going with this so far. The mesh grill is a great touch. Here are a couple other ideas that will make this build stand out. 1) Modelhaus sells the rear tail panel with separate, clear red tail lights. AMT originally made the kit this way, but subsequent issues were changed so that the tail lights were molded in & would need to be painted. 2) Modify or replace the kit's headlights. There are any number of tutorials on how to create more realistic headlights, assuming you don't already know how. I look forward to seeing your progress on this build. Post more pics when you can.

Great graphic! I may have to borrow that since we're having this same argument on my Corvette board. I'm pulling for the Flyers, but as Chris Coller noted earlier in this thread, the goalie position needs to be addressed ASAP.

Close! It's Bayerische Motoren Werke

Mark, I've been watching your progress on this and, needless to say, it's impressive. From what I can tell, this is at least your third Super 7 build. (I saw the picture of the reddish-orange one you posted on Spotlight Hobbies today) Do you like these kits because you're fascinated by the real ones, (do you own a real one?) or is each one a chance to outdo your last effort? I haven't seen the blue one up close in some time, but the one on Spotlight Hobbies, with legible printing on the spark plug wires, just had me shaking my head. Looking forward to seeing this one finished.

Great old school build. I love the intensity of that color! Any chance you have the Duplicolor part number for it?

Here, maybe this will help http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_TeJxggJvg7g/TB1ZtX1sCgI/AAAAAAAAEWw/r-Itkd3ItmA/s1600/hurtfeelings.png

Apparently you weren't all that serious about wanting "constructive criticism" because everything Terry mentioned is valid. Considering that he can build at this level and you can't, why not try and learn what it takes to get that good instead of just expecting two pages of compliments for everything you post?

Very impressive, given your list of things you weren't able to do previously. If, as you say, it was a learning experience, then you must be a very quick learner. Kudos also for not letting yourself be satisfied with "good enough". Can I assume you learned what you needed from the board's tutorials or some of its more helpful members? I like the way the interior came out, but that mirror-like black paint really makes it stand out. Just out of curiosity, did you happen to use the "Norbie method"? I bought this kit several years ago after seeing the real car featured on Top Gear. I was extremely disappointed to discover Revell had inexplicably released it as a curbside kit, so I pretty much lost all enthusiasm for building it. Congratulations on a great build. I'm looking forward to seeing your next project.

What else is there to say? Great job on turning a mediocre kit into a gem. Did you decant & airbrush the paint or spray it straight from the can?

Well, I'm impressed. Looks like a fantastic build with just the right amount of dirt for a rum-runner. The boxes in the trunk are a killer touch. Can you explain how you did them? Pardon the ignorant question, but which kit did you use? I don't have anything pre-1955 in my stash, so I didn't know if it was the Revell version or if you did some very nice work (especially on the trunk) on the AMT.

Absolutely beautiful build. Your paint, detailing and foil work really make your model stand out.

Why would the Toronado have a big block Chevy?

I'm not impressed. It's just another cookie cutter "pressure"-driven derivative of Overhaulin'. "We've got two weeks to polish this t*rd and get it ready for auction" etc. Although the old man seems to have some brains, their profit margins from auctions completed so far have been fairly low & at least one of them sold for well under what they had put into it. The owner's son is a 40-watt mushmouth. During the build of the '64 T-Bird, the car was brought in without an engine. No problem, right? They own a junkyard. Tell me you couldn't swing a dead cat in there and not hit 30 FE engines. (The 390 was standard for '64) But the kid, in his infinite wisdom, ends up sourcing a 351M engine for it ("Cuz it'll have around 300 HP, derrrrrrr") Not only is that not period correct, which probably helped drive some of the more serious bidders away, the 351M is a '70s smog motor that would need aftermarket cylinder heads and a cam change to get anywhere near 300 HP. OTOH, I could live at that 442 museum... I just watched another entry in the auto refurb/auction chain called Car Czar. The shop owner spent over $105,000 restoring a '69 Z28 but let it go at auction for $65K. Wonder how many more losses like that he'll be able to take?

Art, I've got a couple of those AMT Indy kits waiting to be built. Looks like you're doing a great job on yours. Post more pics when you can!

Your best bet is probably scalefinishes.com You can contact him at scalefinishes@gmail.com.

Al, what do you recommend as a black dye for Alumilite flex? A friend of mine is trying to make his own semi tires, but he's convinced that the dye MicroMark recommends is screwing up the process. (Non-dyed castings turn out fine).

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=34403&st=0&p=349556&fromsearch=1&#entry349556 See post#5

Thanks! Looks like your Deora will need some kind of gold or silver base, as these paints were apparently meant to work over Hot Wheels' polished stampings. Also, the instructions indicate you'll need to build the paint up in light, multiple coats, so it might not hurt to have an extra bottle of paint available. I'm hoping someone who has used these on styrene will pop in and clarify a few things for us.

Drew, your wife had an excellent idea regarding painting the Deora in Spectraflame. As far as quantities go, I'd think a 1/2 ouce bottle would be more than plenty for any 1/24 or 1/25 scale kit. IIRC, these colors were kind of a candy paint; did they give you any recommendations for a base? Gold? Silver? Are these paints lacquers, enamels or acrylics? I'm sure there are others on here who'd be interested in learning about these paints, and I could probably spare you the effort of answering most of these questions if you wouldn't mind giving us a link to your provider.

Welcome to the board! Since you're just getting started, you may find this tutorial helpful http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30842&st=0. It was written by Mark Taylor (see post #5) and it should help you avoid some of the pitfalls that beginners often encounter, as well as helping you create a better model. You'll find this board has an amazing amount of talented builders to inspire you and a lot of helpful people for almost any model-related question you might have. I hope you and your kids enjoy yourselves!