Monty

I'd say Shadow Gray https://news.classicindustries.com/1955-1956-1957-chevy-colors-paint-codes

It was a very brief "conversation" on the Spotlight Hobbies board. IIRC only two people were involved, and no pictures were posted. Looks like someone has posted a pic of the actual item for us.

Thanks for the response. Got a link to where you bought it?

I came across a brief discussion of a Gundam chrome pen on another model car board. One member mentioned its tip is cut at an angle, which might come in handy in certain situations. Another said the finish was more durable than Molotow. Anyone here used one of these? Is the chrome finish as good as Molotow's? Are they as expensive?

He's asking if Tamiya's acrylic clear will work over Testors enamel. I'll let someone who's tried that respond.

I don't have specific years but I've seen some late model Ford pickups in a number of parking lots with an orange-red shade of paint that always catches my eye. It's nowhere as orange-y as Poppy Red, but probably right where orange and red meet on the color chart. If you know the 1:1 color I'm talking about, what hobby paint best replicates that shade?

No, as I mentioned above I spotted these on the cover of an old ET catalog. There was something about the picture that kept me from copy/pasting it, so I had to dig for another picture.

Obviously I have no background in this area, but seeing this picture prompted my question. These are ET Blackspoke wheels (better pictures available if you pull up pics of their old catalogs - I just couldn't seem to "grab" those photos) Are designs copyrighted? Despite their horrible condition, you can tell that these were a direct knock-off of the Keystone wheel. Then again, there have been multiple versions of the Cragar S/S too, so...

Slightly related: I can't be the only one who got in trouble for using the "good" steak knives to cut parts off the sprues. Fortunately, not long after, one of my Christmas gifts was my first X-Acto set. ?

I almost never use acrylics, but will be in the near future. From what I've seen/read, they generally require constant cleaning of the spray tip and/or some kind of chemical agent to prevent dried paint from building up at the tip. I'd much rather buy a proven formula than make my own, so links and any procedural tips you'd care to pass along would be greatly appreciated.

At the risk of being a pest, I have one more question. I've heard these paints are "hot". What primer did you use under yours?

I didn't get into plastic models until around the age of 12 or so as I was more interested in my Hot Wheels & Matchbox cars, but somewhere along the way I won a very small scale Stuka model, which I proceeded to gluebomb due to inexperience. My first car model came along soon after. The choice was inspired by a killer '55 Chevy street machine I used to see every morning on my paper route. So I bought this: It didn't occur to me that those who can't build 6-piece planes well might not want to step up to this level, which was borne out when I set it directly on the lawn to paint it. You can pretty much imagine how that turned out, and that was before I jumped into assembling all the fiddly bits. TBH I don't recall if I ever actually finished it. Knowing my typical reaction to setbacks back then, I'm surprised I managed to stay with the hobby all these years.

Some of the comments I've read about this kit remind me of the British SAS slogan Qui audet adipiscitur (Who dares wins). Nice to see yet another board member take this daunting build on and make it turn out so well. Several people have made favorable comments about the paint, which I also happen to like. Would you mind telling us the mfr and part #? (ex: Testors #1261, Dupli-Color #3268 etc).

My MADD distributors have become go-to items for almost every build because of their quality and ease of use, but they lack a vacuum advance unit, which would be found on almost all street cars for decades. My scratch-building abilities are pretty poor so I'm curious if these might be available in resin or metal. If so, links would be greatly appreciated.

Apparently my Google skills have fallen off considerably, as I can't seem to find a definitive answer. If they are, what is the best way to replicate this? Is there a metalizer-type paint that comes close?

Thanks guys! Great references and ideas here.

I'd love to find some place that sells extremely small nuts, bolts and other similar items that I can use in various ways. Seems like someone posted this up a few years ago, but I'm not seeing it.

Saw the generic version of Paasche's Air Eraser (etching tool) at Harbor Freight the other day and wondered if it might have any uses in our hobby. The first thing that came to mind was stripping paint. Decades ago I saw an article where body guys were using ground-up walnut shells to strip paint off 1:1 cars. No harsh chemicals, cheap materials (then) and no damage to body panels. I wondered if we could do the same on kits if we had the right kind of material to shoot through one of these.

Mencken was obviously aware of the philosopher who originally came up with this way of thinking.

Thanks, gman!

I'm getting a little impatient because some of the colors I've bought aren't all that close to what they're supposed to be. My initial purchase for this part of the build was a can of Rustoleum red oxide primer. Cap looked correct. Guess what turned out to be a semi-gloss orange? Here's the look I'm going for: Go to the 5:00 mark Some of you may remember this guy as a member here (LoveFordGalaxies?)

Long story short, I had seen a number of you recommend Badger's Stynylrez primers, so I thought I'd give them a try. My current project is a mid-'60s Ford, which my research tells me should have red oxide primer on the underside with a semi-gloss black frame. I ordered a bottle of the closest shade they offered (Brown/Red) assuming it'd be close, but it's basically more of a flat brown. As I understand it, these primers are water-based acrylics. What specific paint would you recommend to bring the color closer to red oxide?

Very nice build. Color and stance are dead-on. You gotta tell me about that back license plate. Was it part of the kit decals? I used to live about 30 miles from the rock formation depicted on it.

I've been fascinated by C3 Corvettes since I was a little kid, to the point where I was able to buy one and keep it for 20 years. Along the way I built a number of MPC C3 Corvettes, which I prefer because of the poseable front wheels & tires and the detailed chassis (hard lines, independent half shafts etc). Yours looks to be one that originally came with real metal coil springs. Mine seemed to have too much tension, so I switched to beading wire and painted shocks. Looks like you've got a good start there, so I'll just sit back and watch it progress.

Interesting that Pontiac had this design as early as '64. Is it just me or did Chevrolet "borrow" a lot of these styling cues for the C3s?