gman

I have experienced that with Testors bottle paints- from the 70's to present. Some colours are worse for that than others. Sometimes they separate and clump on the bottom (and no amount of mixing gets it back), sometimes the solvent seems like it gassed off leaving a curdled clump in the bottom of the jar- even when the jar has never been opened. The flat colours always seem to do this over time. Lacquer thinner may get them usable if you won't be overcoating other enamels with it. A safer bet would be Testors airbrush thinner which I have used multiple times. These days I leave the Testors enamels alone for the most part as there are better paints available- whether you'll be brush painting or spraying it through an airbrush. As for opened bottles that have sealed themselves shut, running a flame around the edge of the metal cap sometimes helps but if it is really stubborn, turn it upside down and put a few drops of laquer thinner inside the edge of the cap and let it sit that way for a while.

That is some very impressive trim relocation and sculpting. It explains why that Galaxie I have been watching take shape has to be patient 😆. I am looking forward to seeing this one get the foil treatment on that new trim. It will be a subtle modification that gets overlooked by the uninitiated for sure (just like what they did on vehicle that inspired this model), but you have witnesses as to how much work it takes to recreate the look of the 1:1. I am going to have to look up that Maindrian Pace technique.

She's a beauty. Well done.

Very nice. Those colours look great together, and the build has a nice period look.

That should make for a nice colour. Staying tuned on this '32 build also.

It would need some putty work and re-engraving on the cowl, or (better yet) the older cowl portion grafted in should you have the Rat Roaster version of this tooling, or the original Revell 32 roadster hanging around. IIRC, Revell modified the Rat Roaster tooling to produce the current kit which was a separate tool from the original issue roadster.

https://www.tedsmodelingmarketplace.com/modern-drag-racing-contingency-decal-sheet-2-1-25/ I can't say if it is the size you need, but this sheet contains a group of four Milodon decals.

Do you knock down the texture in your primer before spraying the colour coats, or cover the primer as-shot? Some automotive primers exhibit texture that will take a lot of colour coats to smooth it out. Tamiya and Mr. Hobby fine surface primers lay down with a very smooth eggshell texture and work well under Tamiya lacquers. Stynylrez primer does the same, but requires airbrushing.

The '67 was always one of my favourite Galaxies, and I have admired the lines from when the 1:1 car was new. After finding them to be "unobtainium" online when I tried to find a scale version, it is nice to see your build in pictures. I am looking forward to seeing what you'll do with it.

The paint being cut with lacquer thinner (which evaporates quicker than normal enamel airbrush thinner) should speed up the cure time compared to spraying with enamel thinner. Enamel normally dries on the surface first, with lighter coats drying quicker than thicker coats. Polishing too soon will cut through that skin into layers that are still in the process of drying. As mentioned, if the surface feels dry to the touch and doesn't leave finger prints when you touch it, no longer smells like freshly sprayed enamel it may be OK to attempt some polishing. Novus is pretty mild, so test by lightly polishing a small inconspicuous section to see how the paint reacts before going to town on the entire body. If it seems a lot of colour is coming off on your polishing cloth and the surface being polished is dull and sticky, stop until it has dried for a longer period.

If the new build turns out just as good as the four previous builds, I had best stay tuned.

Testors Extreme Lacquer clear and Testors One Coat Lacquer clear are similar as far as I can tell, but not identical. I don't remember which it happened with, but one of the two went on thicker and seemed to bubble after hitting the surface as if it was sprayed too close and propellant was caught in the clear (it wasn't sprayed too close). I went through several cans of the One Coat, and if memory serves correctly I suspect it was the newer Extreme Lacquer that wasn't cooperating. The Duplicolor should be "hotter" than the hobby lacquers, but If you have any leftover paint I second the testing idea. The Tamiya clear sometimes doesn't play nice over decals and metallic base coats, so thin coats with ample time to flash before heavier coats would be a good idea.

"Wow!!!" is right. That is a beautiful Deuce. Great colour combos.

They are likely intended to replicate the caps on groups of cells on older (non-sealed) type batteries- the caps you pry up to check electrolyte levels or test with a hydrometer on flooded lead acid style batteries.

Don't forget to scrub the tires with Comet cleanser on an old toothbrush to get that used rubber look ;).

Can you post up some photos of the hinge system? I believe that is where it'll need some work, along with the forward edge of the door, the door bottoms and lower door corners. Ideally this type of fine tuning happens before paint, because it is a shame to have to file and sand so far along in the build. Paint and primer adds thickness which can close up door gaps, and mocking things up for test fitting before final paint work can get the fit right for final assembly if you take thickness of paint into consideration beforehand.

A coat of semi-gloss clear should get those wheels looking accurate- flow a little thinned black acrylic in the logos if you want them to stand out.

It has been a long time since I used Testors enamels- I have gravitated to hobby and automotive lacquers as they seem to be easier to polish out and hold up to handling better. If I was to "try them again for the first time," I'd probably cut them with lacquer thinner for airbrushing. I used to do so for chassis and engine parts as the cure time was reduced, but I have yet to try the Yost technique on a car body.

Enamels take a very long time to cure and are very particular with their "recoat window." The thickness of your paint coats and what you used to thin each layer will affect how it behaves. I'd consider using an enamel gloss coat. While the old school Testors glosscoat lacquers were fairly inert and technically could be used over enamels either shot immediately after the enamel or shot after a lengthy cure time, I'd avoid the One Coat lacquer. Instead, test spray a plastic spoon with the same paint and test some clear coats over top of the enamel before setting yourself up for a science experiment on your painted body. What type of thinner did you use to spray the Testors enamel? If you used Model Master airbrush thinner, your paint job will behave like a straight enamel paint job. If you used lacquer thinner, it may be more resistant to hotter top coats. Testing will be best compared to potentially destroying your paintwork if you are otherwise happy with how it turned out (and it looks pretty good to me).

That turned out beautiful. Great work, and excellent choice in colours.

Great work. Seatbelts weren't quite standard equipment back in 1957. I have owned a 1:1 vehicle (sadly not a '57 Chevy) for 41 years that my grandfather bought brand new in 1965. He ordered the optional front lap belts so it has them, but nothing for rear seat passengers. The US government mandated seatbelts be provided for new vehicles in 1968, and local laws required their use much later.

Kudos on a beautiful paint job.

Agreed- the dash is relatively symmetrical left right if the gauges and glove box were to be swapped left/right. Many imported vehicles from that era had dashes designed that way so that tooling costs could be minimized to market to North America as well as RHD markets- you could do what Toyota themselves did and reorganize the dash face with some styrene slicing and dicing..