Monty

Looks like we have a consensus! Thanks for the response.

Thanks! When I first heard Testors was killing off their MM & Metalizer lines I went and bought up a bunch of enamels I liked or wanted to try and I also snagged replacements for my Metalizers, which were getting low. I kinda lucked out 'cuz I got everything at very reasonable prices - mostly from hobby shops clearing them out through ebay. There are some good alternatives to Testors metalizers. Humbrol still offers their Metalcote line, I think Alclad has some, and I've heard there are also some good acrylics that the gamers use for their figures.

Assuming you bought a new Ford with a 4-speed Toploader transmission between the years of, say, 1967 - 1973, would the trans case be painted the same color as the engine, or would it be unpainted? If unpainted, which Metalizer would best replicate the color of the case?

This car has always been a favorite of mine, but the only model I ever had of it was the notorious Heller kit, which I ended up trading off to a board member here. Someone posted a video the other day featuring some kits Revell will be releasing soon, and one of them was this Porsche. So, as the title says, is this new, a re-release of a previous Revell kit or just a rebox of the Heller or some Japanese kit?

Candy red over white primer? I would've bet anything that that would not turn out well. Obviously I was wrong. Beautiful work on both Mopars.

I'm guessing this was Testors flat black, which was sprayed over 20 years ago. At some point I lost interest in the kit and it ended up in storage until some recent resin "finds" gave me some new inspiration. I'd heard flat black is one of the hardest shades to remove, especially when sprayed thickly (one of the last times I used a rattle can) so TIA for all helpful answers.

Gonna disagree with you on this. While he does use polished black spoons, he also likes to show how the color of the base can change the hue of the top coat. To that end he often sprays a given color over white, gray and black primers (usually by the same mfr as the paint), resulting in three distinct shades. He also uses primers for better adhesion, especially when using acrylics, as they don't always stick to a bare polished surface as well as enamels or lacquers. I've seen more than one acrylic fail his "tape test" because of that. You seem to be somewhat familiar with the videos so you know he goes through around a dozen or so colors per episode (more with the aforementioned primer variations) so having that many car bodies to use in testing would be expensive and impractical. Hence the spoons - cheap and readily available. It's also not uncommon for him to select an unprimed gundam piece to spray just to show how pigmented a certain paint is. As far as his technique, it's way more than "hose-n-dispose". Watch how he sprays enamel or lacquer paints vs how he sprays acrylics. If you're not familiar with the guy, I'm guessing he's got more than 20 videos out there. Some may help you learn something new and some may expose you to new products that will enhance your building experience.

My compliments on your trio. I was intrigued by that shade of Humbrol yellow and was wondering if you could recall which # it was.

Seems like someone on here got a similar result by spraying Tamiya candy red lacquer over Tamiya gunmetal lacquer.

While this topic is about a color range that really hit its max popularity 40-some years ago, I'm going to circle this back to my original whine in this thread: is there a hobby-grade brandywine out there? I really prefer enamels, but there doesn't seem to be anything like that out there.* No HoK for me either. * Testors "burgundy" is not a legit answer, let alone a starting point. The faintness of its hue will remind you of a red GM cloth interior color that has been exposed to the Texas sun for an unrelenting decade. That, of course, assumes that the nozzle even sprays and that the can hasn't leaked half a pound of clear goo from the bottom seal 10 minutes after you get it home. But I'm not bitter...

Mazda isn't a brand I'm normally drawn to , but they've come up with some of the most eye-catching paint colors in memory. Audi has also had some stunning reds in the last decade or so.

It's been decades since I've built one, but if memory serves, I can tell you this kit will definitely challenge your inner rivet counter. I'll let Vamach give you a more comprehensive list of things that need to be addressed, but I'd start hunting for a better engine as this, IIRC, comes with an FE engine (not available in '71-'73 Mustangs). Seems like some of these also came with a poorly done 302. If you're going the Windsor route, there are better versions out there. To the best of my knowledge there are no 1/25 351Cs (Monogram's is 1/24).

Loved the color back in the day (actually still do). I remember seeing it on everything from an early '80s Cutlass to a late C3 ('80?) Corvette, but my favorite was a Pantera I saw in this shade at a local car show. My issue back then was the lack of a brandywine that was readily available in hobby form, 'cuz I didn't feel ready to step up to the big leagues (HoK etc) as it seemed more like 1:1 car paint. I'm speculating wildly here, but I'd assume any negative reaction to the paint would be from the sheer number of cars painted with it. Think of how Car Craft magazine was often referred to as Red Blown Camaro Digest.

Not trying to be contentious, but even if I am a tightwad, shouldn't I have a reasonable expectation that a "steel" tool should be able to survive the rigors of cutting +/- 1/8" plastic for more than 15 minutes without disintegrating? Pity the poor cheap b*****d who buys one of these to trim his thick, gnarled yellow toenails. I'd bet two snips max.

You guys know what's going to happen next, right? Mark'll eventually get bored playing in this scale, look across the hobby shop and see the z-scale train stuff and crank out a working UP Big Boy. I have no doubt the bell will probably work too.

I bought a new "24-compartment small parts organizer" from Harbor Freight (believe it or not, not the issue) which I'm going to use to store my spare model car wheels. Basically it's just more accessible than the previous sliding-drawer box I'd been using. Since some of the wheels were on longer sprues they weren't able to fit in the compartments, so I grabbed my brand new poor man's sprue cutter. You can't go wrong with Walmart's brand for really poor people...can you? The description at the bottom of the box says it's stainless steel. Worked fine until I tried to cut through a piece of plastic sprue about 20% thicker than normal, at which point one of the blades broke off completely. Did I mention stainless steel? I think I did.

I like where you're taking this. Hope you don't mind a tech nudge: the valve covers should be 3 up/ 4 down Should be an easy fix.

It was worse than you think. The base L48 only had 165 hp, although there was an optional L82 with 205 hp, which at the time was...decent. Ford's Mustang IIs were stuck with anemic 134 hp 302s. Catalytic converters really killed Corvette power in the '75 - '82s. Chevrolet utilized a dual exhaust system that met halfway at the converter and reverted to "duals" past there. As you can imagine, all that did was choke off flow and impede performance. If you lived in a state where emissions regs weren't onerous, switching back to true dual exhaust was your first move.

Wonder if I'd get in trouble if I said "Props to you for such a unique build"? ?

Great combination of resourceful and creative. Ya know, if ya stuck a Cleveland in that thing you'd have a 351 in your P-51. ? Good stuff!

Checking emails, like usual, and trying to weed out all the spam etc. Even with deceptive titles (Fedex package can't be delivered!) I can sniff most of 'em out by hovering over the sender name to see if it's legit. What does it mean if you do that and nothing comes up?

While this is technically true, I don't believe there are any discernable differences between the 1:1 '78s and '79s that would prevent you from using the MPC Pace Car or Anniversary Special '78s to build a '79. Something I've never understood: that MPC '75 convertible does not have a master cylinder/brake booster assembly even though past and future editions of their C3s had them. I always preferred the MPC C3s because of the detailed chassis, separate half shafts and poseable front wheels/tires. OTOH, the dash top lacked any radio speaker or defroster detail.

Looks like 4 color options are available. Scripts and marker lights are a nice touch too. Thanks Rex!

This is not meant to besmirch any genre of music, just something I never "got'', especially since rock did a lot of evolving over time.