Monty

I'm not trying to be provocative, but I'm curious what you're using for paint on that engine. It appears to be a light coral, almost a pastel shade. Just curious.

Yes, I posted up a friend's results to refute the contention that Alclad only works well on smaller parts. Why would he lie about the number of light mist coats it took to get that kind of shine? He figured out a way to get a remarkable shine, and I'd say it's kinda hard to argue with the results. Sure, you can always just pay for the plating & shipping costs when you send your parts off, but to the best of my knowledge there are only two places who take this kind of work on, and and you may be waiting 4-6 weeks (based on other threads I've read) to get them back. In addition, members of various modeling forums have posted poorly done work from both places, shown that sending them off for plating is no guarantee against cr@ppy work. Meanwhile, with a little effort...

Any chance you could get us some pictures?

Why has Coast Airbrush been out of Badger Anthem 155 airbrushes for so long? When they had them in stock, you could buy them at a reasonable cost. Now almost everybody's asking way more than they're worth on Ebay, Amazon etc.

Actually that's not correct. Apparently you missed this part of purepmd's quote: The trick to the Alclad is very low pressure; 8-10 psi, and such light coats that you cannot even see the mist. You have to watch the part very closely to see the shine appear.

So, are we talking Palmer/Pyro-level bad or Revell AAR 'Cuda bad, or...

I couldn't disagree with you more. These were done by a friend of mine (purepmd on here). As has been stated, preparation is everything. Here's a quote from his post where he explains how, once the wheels were properly prepared, he was able to obtain this level of shine: The trick to the Alclad is very low pressure; 8-10 psi, and such light coats that you cannot even see the mist. You have to watch the part very closely to see the shine appear. Then lots of coats, about 25 to 30 got this level of reflectivity. After a few hours in a food dehydrator, polish gently with a dry Q-tip. Takes lots of time. So, no, you're probably not going to be able to get results like this quickly, but if you want results like this, the effort's worth it.

It appears to be a 1/24 glue kit, which makes me wonder if it's a Monogram knockoff. If you happen to have pictures of the parts trees, engine and chassis stuff or anything else that might be relevant, I'd love to see them. TIA for all helpful replies.

To no one's surprise, Emmanuel has knocked out another great build of a wicked looking street machine. There are lots of small details to get right in order for this kit to look accurate & I'd say he nailed it. Even though AMC's own ad copy tells you it's not the fastest street car out there, I still want one just because they're not like everything else out there. With a Rebel yell...

Kenn, this is remarkable, both in its design and execution. Love those lines! If I may follow up on Rusty's paint question, I think he was wanting to find out a brand name and possibly where you bought it (chain store?) Being a fan of dark reds, I'd like to know too. Thanks!

Walter, fantastic job on James May's Triumph! I'm a huge Top Gear fan, so seeing some of their other cars replicated brings back a lot of great memories. I noticed the Cadillac from their tour of the American South. Shouldn't be too hard to find a scale 3rd gen Camaro to go with it, although the dead cow might require some fabrication on your part.

Like everything else you build this one's got a lot to like, but as some of the others noted, the color you picked really makes it stand out.

I could kick myself for not seeing this thread earlier. Looks like a lot of the ideas I would've wanted to post have been used, but I'll give it a couple tries.

Art, what problem(s) did the Humbrol gold give you? I don't recall ever having any issues with it.

I'd love see these hard-to-find wheels. I think the 1:1 versions were made by ET. I don't recall seeing these in any other MPC kit & wouldn't mind having a few sets for current projects. MPC included a set of two larger Keystone Klassics as the "front" wheels in the '68 Cuda kit issued in the mid-'70s. Why not issue them as a set of four? Lastly, I'll add the Motor Wheel Spyders from the MPC mid-'70s + Firebirds.

Even if you just end up doing a spoon test, please post pics of your results. If it's not too much of a hassle, it'd be great if we could see your results in inside and outside lighting. Thanks!

Keep in mind that Ford & GM numbered their cylinders differently:

If you want to go old school and use the kit distributor, it's not that hard. It will probably have raised projections on the top which you'll need to file down so they're even with the top of the cap since they'll be too small to drill out. Now you'll need a pin vise. If you don't have one, they're available at hobby shops and hardware stores. It wouldn't hurt to have a decent selection of bits either. IIRC, drill bit size #74 is about right for the gauge of wire you're using. On the top of the cap near the outside edge drill 4 holes in a North South East West pattern. Now drill 4 more holes, each halfway between the original 4. Finish by drilling one in the middle of the cap for the coil wire. The holes should be arranged in a circle as shown below. Note that the holes are at the tops of the "towers". Your kit's distributor will probably have those molded into the side of the cap. Use them to help line up your drill bit. Find a picture of a cylinder head for this engine so you can see where to drill the spark plug holes. Let about 1/8" of the wire go through each boot so it can be glued into the plug hole. Cut a scale 1/2" of the boot material for each of the plug wires (and coil wire) going into the distributor. You can also buy or make 45* boots if you desire. Take a look at some small block Ford pictures to see how these wires should look. Don't stretch them too tight or arch them. If you're feeling ambitious, you can also wire them in the correct firing order. HTH

Agreed. I'll see those and raise you these hard-to-find wheels. I think the 1:1 versions were made by ET. I don't have the AMT Starliner kit. Are the wheels on this Charger similar? I don't recall seeing these in any other MPC kit & wouldn't mind having a few sets for current projects. MPC included a set of two larger Keystone Klassics as the "front" wheels in the '68 Cuda kit issued in the mid-'70s. Why not issue them as a set of four? Lastly, I'll add the Motor Wheel Spyders from the MPC mid-'70s + Firebirds.

If you need help with your next version, I owned a red/red 1980 Corvette for 20 years (but had to sell it recently). We also have a Texas member who has a '78.

Nice to know I'm not the only one who likes Indy cars from this era. Looks like yours is coming together nicely. I wondered if the AMT decals would still be usable after all this time, but I'm glad to hear you found a decal source that you're happy with. Have you found it difficult to find reference pictures for the engine? When I first started one of these kits over a decade ago, there didn't seem to be much info about it on the internet, so it went back in its box. Thanks for the link to your decal supplier.