Fat Brian

The best brand is whatever brand you get the best and most consistent results from. Try some other brands and learn their quirks and you will be fine. I use mostly Testors from the can, I've tried auto touchup paint but the finish is always lumpy and needs a lot of wet sanding. I like Tamiya paint but it seems to need a lot more surface prep before painting, it doesn't hide imperfections as well as Testors. Just buy some cans or bottles and let the paint fly, see what works for you.

I got one of these today and everything looks really nice, very AMT like, except the chrome caps for the fins. Mine are really rough on the edges and have some fairly heavy seams. Maybe mine are just jacked up, I haven't seen any built ones on here that seem to have the same issue.

I had some new AMT semi wheels in it for three days and it didn't make a dent in the under coat for me. The plating was gone in a few hours but after three days the undercoat was still there so I rinsed them off and tossed them in some brake fluid. I did see what you had posted and was hoping for the same results since my wheels had runs in the clear under the chrome but that wasn't my experience. How old was the wheel you tested, maybe they changed the undercoat formula.

After reading this thread I made a quick trip to Dollar Tree to check this stuff out. For anyone wanting to try it they carry it in two forms, a ready to use variety that comes in a spray bottle and a concentrated kind that just has a cap on the bottle, I got the concentrate since I have bought the spray kind to use as household cleaner and was not impressed. I have to say after playing with it for a week or so that for soft paints like hobby enamels this stuff is great. However, it won't touch laquers even after a few days in the tank. It's not ideal for stripping chrome, the plating comes off easily but the under coating doesn't seem to be affected. What I do like is that it doesn't damage the plastic, unlike my previous oven cleaner method which always left the plastic rough and brittle. If you paint primarily with Testors enamel paint this will be a huge help for you. If, however, you use Testors one coat laquers, Tamiya laquers, or auto touchup paint you should stick with brake fluid or your preferred method. Here is a pic of a body that was painted with Testors black metalflake, after two days in the LAs Totally Awesome and some gentle brushing it came completely clean. I have never got such a complete stripping from oven cleaner and the plastic is always damaged and stained.

I've done some more work to the engine, it's complete up to the cylinder head and I've built the rear gear cover and filled in the gap in the oil pan. I have an 8v92 Detroit coming in the mail and if it is in good shape I have an 8v71 that I will use parts from for the front cover and the valve cover. In the mean time I will start working on the truck bed and wrecker setup, I want to build something more like the pic I posted than the kit parts.

You would have noticed it the same time I did. The glass is the correct shape, only the hole in the body is wrong. When the two finally meet, once all of the body and paint work is done and you can't really fix it.

The Allison V-12 was 1710 cubic inches and it's final WWII version put out about 1500hp. The parts pack represents a supercharged only engine that put out about 1200hp. Modern technology has these engines putting out over 3000hp with multiple turbos and fuel injected alcohol. The best sources for info about these engines is tractor pull sites as they are about the only users left for auto related mods. Here are some reference pics.

I've built both versions and the Revell version is the best. The stock tail lights have been replaced with a flat panel with four late C4 Corvette shaped lights. I had a stock rear panel and switched it with the kit part. The rear end can be a bit fiddly but that goes for every prostreet ever. The engine builds up nice, I switched the kit dual carbs for the supercharger from Revells 68 vette.

What product do you use to get the appropriate color and texture for exhaust system rust? I read somewhere about a product from Hobby Lobby but I can't remember what it was called.

Check out some 1/72 WWII US armor decals, they have white stars of various sizes.

Have you seen the 73 Baldwin Motion Chevelle? If I ever find one this is what I'm building:

Every one my 150 or so kits is some stage of completion, I've worked on them all at one point or another. That being said, I tend to get more done if I concentrate my efforts on a smaller number of kits at any one time. I believe that three or four builds is a reasonable amount to have going at once, but much more will slow your progress way down. I think four is doable though, your are always waiting on something to dry or parts to come for one or two.

I was never really happy with my engine, it just wasn't working out right. So, I spent last night looking for pics and measurements and spent today scratchbuilding a correct engine. Here is the bare block: Here is what I've got so far, I need to do some more sanding on the water passages at the top corners of the block but so far it's much better: It's really tall, the head and valve cover aren't even on it yet, but it measures to the correct specs. It will sit lower in the frame when the wheels are on but I'm probably going to channel the cab some so the improvement might be minimal. The fuel tank is from the Mad Mudder kit.

I found something to suit my needs. I have a couple of those old AMT/MPC minibikes and one was missing one of the front fork parts but it has decent chain detail so it's gonna get cut up into a drive motor for a hydraulic pump.

Being born in 81 there wasn't a great deal to be nostalgic about for a long time but I still loved cars and mechanical things.

Those are nice, I'm trading for some Pegasus wheels that may be suitable but if they don'y feel right when they get here those are a definite option.

You are probably doing it the best way, it will just take some fiddling to get right.

Depending on how thick the body is aroung the wheel openings your best bet is probably to very carefully sand the lip of the opening at a 45 degree angle to recreate the stock bevel. If it's too thin to get the width you need you could add some sheet styrene around the opening on the inside of the body.

Yeah, the guy who did those quarter windows was either on his first or last day.

I have an LP500s and the Anniversary Enthusiast kits, they are amazing to say the least. Good luck on this one, I've not seen many of these kits finished. I'm building my LP500s as the Albrex twin turbo car, I've got the engine cover scoop almost done but the rest of it scares me. http://autotraderuae.com/?go=read_car_news_reviews&carnews=1104#

The one and only thing I bought of his I was very disappointed in. The body was under scale and when I contacted them about it I pretty much got the brush off, I will think long and hard before I buy anything from them again.

It doesn't have to work, and Jacen, I have one of those Riviera kits and thought the same thing.

Awesome, looks really good.

Thats is awesome, I love the Raiders of the Lost Ark homage.