The Journey Begins

[Donny]

Okay, I think I worked out where I went wrong, well one of the places. I painted the body and then painted the rear guards. Two problems there - the paint didn't match and I had trouble fitting the guards. As one of you guys said a post, the instructions are NOT always right. So instead of fitting the rear guards at step 8, I should have fitted them earlier before paint. At the start I said I wanted to paint the body and let it dry, whilst i went on and got the rest of it together, well some of it. Problem was, I didn't fully understand the process, and what I had to change to make that work - out of practice. The front is okay, the rear not so good as you saw. So tonight I hit the w&d and the filler. The LH rear guard has a gap at the join, I'll fill that and sand, prep the other "mistakes", and hopefully tomorrow add some paint. I learned a lot from my stupidity, and hopefully not make the same mistakes again next time. I have some nice kits to build, and don't want to stuff them up too. All suggestions and comments welcome, feel free to add. Next up, I have a AMT Chrysler Imperial Hardtop to build, which is low on the construction side, not having an engine or heaps of suspension stuff, so I'm thinking this will be a good project for me to concentrate on basically assembly and paint. I hope. In hindsight, this might have been a better kit to restart with. Thanks for reading this rant. 🙄

Don

[stitchdup]

7 minutes ago, Donny said:

Okay, I think I worked out where I went wrong, well one of the places. I painted the body and then painted the rear guards. Two problems there - the paint didn't match and I had trouble fitting the guards. As one of you guys said a post, the instructions are NOT always right. So instead of fitting the rear guards at step 8, I should have fitted them earlier before paint. At the start I said I wanted to paint the body and let it dry, whilst i went on and got the rest of it together, well some of it. Problem was, I didn't fully understand the process, and what I had to change to make that work - out of practice. The front is okay, the rear not so good as you saw. So tonight I hit the w&d and the filler. The LH rear guard has a gap at the join, I'll fill that and sand, prep the other "mistakes", and hopefully tomorrow add some paint. I learned a lot from my stupidity, and hopefully not make the same mistakes again next time. I have some nice kits to build, and don't want to stuff them up too. All suggestions and comments welcome, feel free to add. Next up, I have a AMT Chrysler Imperial Hardtop to build, which is low on the construction side, not having an engine or heaps of suspension stuff, so I'm thinking this will be a good project for me to concentrate on basically assembly and paint. I hope. In hindsight, this might have been a better kit to restart with. Thanks for reading this rant. 🙄

Don

Don, for an early build it looks good. Paint is one of the harder parts of modelling and it takes practise. You might just need to clean paint from the joining surfaces to get a better fit. i've had parts look way off just from paint thickness but after a little cleaning they fitted great. And the kit you started with is a great kit, but like all kits they have finnicky bits. Honestly, you came to the right place for your questions and didn't just bulder through it. You did it right and now its practise. I think your being too hard on yourself

[johnyrotten]

It's looking good, Don.  Don't let a bump in the road get you discouraged. It's all part of the learning curve, you gotta smash a few grapes to make wine. The biggest "eye opener" I learned was this: these kit's were originally toys for kids, the instructions reflect that. We all see ourselves as craftsman on various levels, and the build sequence and techniques will change to suit that.👍👍

[Ulf]

Nice build that I follow as I have one started on the shelf. Incredibly nice cats, we are aiming for one or two Ragdolls in the future.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nice work. You will learn something from each build and you will get better at it. As you have done when something doesn't go right figure out what happen so you can avoid that issue in the future. 

[Donny]

10 hours ago, stitchdup said:

Don, for an early build it looks good. Paint is one of the harder parts of modelling and it takes practise. You might just need to clean paint from the joining surfaces to get a better fit. i've had parts look way off just from paint thickness but after a little cleaning they fitted great. And the kit you started with is a great kit, but like all kits they have finnicky bits. Honestly, you came to the right place for your questions and didn't just bulder through it. You did it right and now its practise. I think your being too hard on yourself

Thanks Les. There has been a bit of a distraction with the MIL thing that hasn't helped. I did clean the paint away from the joins, as they need to be very clean, there is not a lot of area for the guards to fix to.

[Donny]

9 hours ago, johnyrotten said:

It's looking good, Don.  Don't let a bump in the road get you discouraged. It's all part of the learning curve, you gotta smash a few grapes to make wine. The biggest "eye opener" I learned was this: these kit's were originally toys for kids, the instructions reflect that. We all see ourselves as craftsman on various levels, and the build sequence and techniques will change to suit that.👍👍

Thanks John, I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the encouragement.

Don

[Donny]

9 hours ago, Ulf said:

Nice build that I follow as I have one started on the shelf. Incredibly nice cats, we are aiming for one or two Ragdolls in the future.

Ragdolls and model car building are not a good mix Ulf, good luck. 

Don

[Donny]

7 hours ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

Nice work. You will learn something from each build and you will get better at it. As you have done when something doesn't go right figure out what happen so you can avoid that issue in the future. 

G'day Bob. Thank you, sometimes it's one step forward two steps back, as they say, and I'm learning that slow is the way to go. Glueing can be unforgivable.

Don

[bobthehobbyguy]

Here is a link for building an AMT  1950 convertible. Some great tips for making sure everything thing fits before painting.

 

[Donny]

6 hours ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

Here is a link for building an AMT  1950 convertible. Some great tips for making sure everything thing fits before painting.

 

Thanks Bob. I have this kit, not quite ready to build it, but will save this for later. You been reading minds again? 😁

Don