Fat Brian

Well fellers, I think I've finally got a useable coat of paint now so I can start back on this project.

Enamel, the Testors laquers dry a bit thinner than the enamels so you dont have to be quit as concerned about the number of coats.

The things that have helped me are number one, surface prep. I do everything I can to get the body right before the primer because ideally I only want one thin coat of primer to not bury the body detail. Second, I try to get my body painted in as few coats as possible. Paint comes out of a can like a firehose and builds up very quickly. Don't paint the same part of the body pass after pass or you'll get a big wet layer than runs. When everything goes right I put on about an 80% coverage coat and set that aside to dry for a few hours. Once it's mostly dry but still tacky I put on a thin finish coat then let that stand for about ten minutes before putting in s thin layer of clear. Let that stand for another hour or two then do a last coat of clear. This should get you 90% of the way there with just minor wet sanding and polishing left.

To get super low your looking at a custom setup anyway so just about any A arms you can find will do the job. I robbed a set out of a modernish NASCAR kit to lower Moebius Ford.

The Ramcharger is the only 1/24 Dodge, AMT did some 2wd 1/25 stuff.

Honestly? A 1989 Cutlass Calais 2 door with a 3.3 v6. You couldn't kill that car and it never broke down on us once in over a decade and we bought it used. The people we sold it to couldn't kill it either, as far as I know it's still running somewhere.

I just talked with Kevin, the molds are dead. I saw another site called Resin Realm that did a 68 Galaxie but I remember seeing they're out of business now. I'm trying to contact them now.

I agree on both counts, I just wonder how the Hobbico bankruptcy is going to affect Revells new tooling budget.

I agree as well, a new kit of this generation of trucks is long overdue and would fly off the shelves. Moebius, are you listening?

Looking good Rob. I known what you mean about the intake, I've reworked mine 3 times and I'm still not sure I've gotten to it to its final form.

Personally, I think it's time to slow the cars down again so they aren't so loose that little bumps send them around. I'd limit engine size to about 4 liters but allow overhead cams so the engines will rev a little higher and respond quicker. Ideally the cars would top out at about 180 or so and the racing would get better, back to the bumping and grinding of the 70s and 80s.

This is one reason I always use clear coat over Testors paint, their clear seems to dry harder and less sticky than the paint. As Rick said a paint dryer does wonders for Testors paint. Getting the temperature up a bit helps the solvents to escape and harden the paint. Not too hot to warp the body, just enough to get the lingering gases out of the paint. I've hung a body from a chandelier with the lights before just to dry it a bit.

I like the day 2 tire and wheel idea with big and little wheels and period correct tires. Modern 4x4 wheels and tires would be great too. I'd like to see more engine packs with not commonly available engines, a slant 6, a 318 Poly, a Dodge long ram, a 351 Cleveland, an LS1, things like that. I'd also like wrecker stuff, good generic old or newer parts to build a custom bed off of.

I'm going to email missing link about the transit today. In the mean time I picked up a 69 Galaxie at a swap meet this morning and bought the hood from the missing link kit off eBay so I've got some options now.

You should be able to get the Cummins in there, Dodge put them in that body style truck originally. Plus, I think their stuff is 1/25 and the Ramcharger is 1/24.

I'll have to email them, I don't see it listed on their site right now. Thanks for the lead.

The 69 Cobra thread on the first page got me the thinking about replicating my dad's first car, a 68 LTD two door. Does anyone currently make any resin parts for a conversion? I need the hide away headlight grille from the LTD wagon and a formal top body.

I finally got the Mustang up on it's feet. For me this is when I really get my first real indication of the attitude of the car. I added side scoops and a modern style spoiler to the bodywork. Unfortunately the seats I was planning on are too wide to fit in the interior so I've got to look for some other options.

You can make a paint booth pretty cheap out of a large cardboard box, an a.c. filter, and an intrinsically safe vent fan. For a little more you can make a frame out of 1" pvc and cover it with clear plastic and use the same filter and fan. Here are plans for a portable booth which is probably right up your alley since you don't have a permanent work area. There are plans out there for free for any size booth imagineable.

I know that's different too, I was speaking specifically about the engine.

I dont think it's the wheels, they don't say Dayton on them and they seem generic enough to not be an issue. As for the engine, I know the exhaust manifolds are different. My Eagle II kit is missing one and 4070A manifolds won't work. I seem to remember the Eagle kit being single stack and the 4070A being dual stack, maybe that is the difference.

Chuck, are you saying the Transtar kit is gone too or just the A version?

Looks like the Toyota kit is the 1/20 Lindberg kit.

Okay, I may get that Vicky kit just for the parts.

I want to build a salt flats car out of the Monogram 32 Ford convertible and would really like a Duvall style windshield but I've never seen one for that kit. Does anyone know where I could find one?