Monty

Just looking for the best way to capture the look of an exhaust system with, say, 50k+ miles on it. I'm more interested in seeing age & accumulation than rust. I'd appreciate seeing pics of whatever you're recommending.

Charlie,I thought Donn specifically said not to use the automotive grade stuff (PPG etc). Hope you find an easy way to resolve this.

I could look at this all day. I always thought the '67 Galaxie was one of Ford's best looking designs, and when it's done up in red & black like this, it makes you wish Round2 would create some new tooling so the rest of us can build one too. What paint and techniques did you use to get that glass-smooth finish?

The new guy's got some skills. Another eye-catching build.

Rob, were you also bidding on HO slotcars at the time? I'm pretty sure you and I went head to head on quite a few. I was buying mostly Tyco Type II cars (button pick-up shoes) and Aurora Magna-Traction cars.

I happened to see a pic of the SS 454 https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRWdiRwgP1LLevNyCIJSaqEy8kwYZ4FtXOTmsPmNVyCzDGSv49gEg and the Testors/Lindberg kit https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRWloGMMukO1sbrb_KGcmLryWwg4sSD3zg2bkQt5cXEV65avr4V and wondered how the Testors kit came to be. Over the years, some of our more well-informed insiders have tipped us off to various kits that used another mfr's kit as a basis. For example, many have said that Lindberg's '72(?) Challenger is based off the MPC unit. In the late '90s, Lindberg seemed to want to turn their models into toys with the Hoppin' Hydros line. In that lineup was a dead knockoff of AMT's '70s van. Weird things seem to happen. I was just curious.

Wow, hard to argue with VW Dave's results.

You're a better man than I if you can get thinner coats by using spray cans. Any recommendations on a base?

I kind of alluded to that, although apparently I should've been more explicit. Back to my question: Am I wrong in thinking the Testors kit might've been cobbed off of the AMT SS454 kit? Bodies look awfully similar.

No offense to Steve G, but I wonder if that Chevy pickup was cobbed off of AMT's SS 454 pickup. IIRC, there's a Testors pickup like this too. Just curious...

So....whatever happened to this project?

My dad's father worked for them! When I was about 10, he gave me a Tonka-like version of one of their delivery trucks.

I've got some resin wheels headed my way, so I thought this might be a good time to try out the bottle of SpazStix I've had sitting around here. I've never tried it or Alclad because I've heard they require large amounts of patience and luck, two commodities in short supply around here lately. I still don't own any Alclad, but I did get some SpazStix for a fairly good price when a lhs was going out of business. I'd like your best tips on applying this stuff, including what "base" is best. Does it require an enamel like Alclad? Is black the best color to shoot over? What pressure do you set your compresor at? If you can think of anything else that will help make this task successful, please post it up.

I posed this question to the board about a year ago and Harry chimed in with a recommendation for the one he uses as a professional graphics artist. That, along with his claim that I could get better magnification with very low heat (LED bulbs) intrigued me enough to drive to Office Depot to check it out. Fortunately (again) Harry mentioned that it was still on sale for a very short time, so I was able to get mine for about $15.00 off the regular price. Long story short, I'm still very pleased with mine, and it looks like it might be a great fit for the dollar limit you've set.

I'll never get to own one of these Ambassadors due to high costs and scarcity, but seeing this one built so nicely almost makes up for that.

I'm glad somebody talked you into posting this! I love the color combination you chose and it looks like you've done some nice paint detailing on the engine and interior. Welcome to the board. I hope we'll get to see more of your work soon.

Anne, if you're not able to find the Tamiya wash, Testors has just released 5 new enamel washes. http://www.testors.com/category/562121/Enamel_Stains Click on the bottles in the link for the part number and description. Your hobby store probably won't stock these, but most will be happy to order them for you. I've already got #2183 (Oil and Grease stain) on order. It should work well for old, tired engines etc.

Here ya go, Anne. http://oldmansmodels.com/id76.html Worth every penny. As far as buying paints, they're getting more expensive every day, but you can get around that if you're not in a huge rush. Every once in a while Tower Hobbies offers free shipping on orders over $25.00, and someone on here will announce it. This is the time to get things you'll use over the long term, such as bottles of Model Master Metalizer. It wouldn't hurt to have an assortment of quality sable brushes either.

1) I'm looking for a set of 1/24 15" 5-slots. These will be for a street machine, so the appearance should be more along the lines of an Ansen Sprint than, say, a Halibrand-type look. I know there are tons of the old Monogram 5-slot wheels, as well as the Japanese/Arii/Ma's Resin versions, but if there is another alternative, please let me know the kit or other source. 2) I'd love to have this Centerline wheel in 1/24 and 1/25. http://www.stangfix.com/testforum/gallery/7/980-100211083518-7407950.jpeg Does anyone recall if they were ever part of a kit? Bonus points if you can remember the name of the wheel. Google reallllly let me down on this. 3) Did Monogram ever issue a set of 1/24 15" Hurst wheels in any of their kits? IIRC, they came out in 1965. Were they still considered a viable wheel in 1970? New - Looks like the originals were 14" & Hurst stopped production in 1969.

I recently completed a trade with another board member for one of those XJS kits. Based on what I've seen in the box, Hasegawa seems to have put a lot of work into this kit. Any pics of yours yet?

Blair, that's an amazing build of that kit! Love the stance, the wheels and most of all, the color. Please tell me what paint you used on this.

Once again, Brett knows all! Thanks! Apparently I should've been looking in the Military paint section. I've noticed that hobby stores rarely have extra space for new items like these, so you'll probably have to buy them off the 'net. You can get them directly from Testors, but Scale Hobbyist has them for more than a $1.00 less per bottle.

I'm sure I saw something like this in the last day or two, but since I was looking for something else at the time, I failed to make a note of where I'd spotted these items. It certainly wasn't on Testors' site; they're terrible about announcing new paints/colors etc. The bottles looked to be the same 1/2 oz units that MM uses for their other paints, and IIRC, the part number has 4 digits and starts with 21 (ie, 21xx). Thanks for any info you have on this!

Turned out nice,Ray!

The wheels and tires are most likely from early '70s Monogram street rod kits.