Art Anderson

Simple, an Xacto or Zona Razor Saw! Art

That Duesenberg Model J Coupe was cast, by me, in resin from a master created by Lee. It's a pretty cool piece. And that Duesenberg farm truck--that was inspired by a real Duesenberg truck conversion, done in 1942, by a fairly wealthy man in rural Ilinois, not far from Chicago, who had owned the car since new circa 1930. He had the conversion done, so that he could still drive the Duesenberg, get tires for it even, as a farmer's truck--since he owned a farm himself! Art

Ever hear of using a toothbrush and soapy water? That works, been doing it for nearly 60 yrs now, every time I try it. Art

I've thought about that, but unsure how well it might blend with the rather tapered trunk lid shspe of the AMT Black Force, which is where I started on this one. Art

I use common ordinary lacquer thinner, from Walmart's paint department for all oil-based enamels, and of course lacquers, for airbrushing, and have for over 50 years, always with great results.

Still trying to decide just what to do for the spare tire (or dual spares), fender well, or out back.

I have no idea as to the actual air pressure, as I do not have a pressure guage (never ever felt the need for one, still don't(. I merely open up the petcock on the bottom of my moisture trap (It's the old-fashioned Binks water trap from 55 yrs ago, has a threaded "drain valve" on the bottom ) until no spray, then adjust it to lowest pressure spraying by closing it. I've been using the technique I described, for at least 50 years now, and it's never failed me. Art

Chris, I have used Duplicolor lacquers for decades now, to paint model car bodies. Here is what I have discovered, that works for me EVERY time I do it: First thing, is thinned paint (which in this case is lacquer): I decant a quantity of the lacquer into my airbrush color jar (in my case, the 3/4 fluid oz jar for my Paasche H airbrush), and then add common lacquer thinner (which I get at Walmart), cap the jar, and gently shake to mix thoroughly. When I see that the lacquer (be it the Dupicolor primer or my color coat(s) "sheets" down the inside of the clear glass bottle just as 2% milk does on the inside of a glass tumbler, it's thinned well enough. Next, I hook up the airbrush to my air line, fire up my compressor, then do a test shot of spray--after which I bleed off air by opening the petcock at the bottom of my moisture trap (the same can be done by stopping down a pressure regulator) until I get just a very soft spray. After adjusting the spray pattern to what I want, I then airbrush this very thinned lacquer (first primer, then color) up close, about an inch or so off the surface of the model car body or parts in question. I have come to call my method "TSC" for "Thin, Soft and Close". Now with the first passes on a body shell with this lacquer & thinner mix, you will notice a VERY fine "crazing" of the plastic surface, more like a light "frosting" of the surface. However, this is VERY minor, in my experience, and by the third pass or so around and over a body shell, it goes away completely, while giving me a surface that still shows all that cool, fine raised detail we pay good money for. Once I am satisfied with the primer surface, and i've given it a bit of a polish with say, a 5000 grit piece of emery cloth, and washed away all residues with toothbrush and good old Dial Soap (scraps of which I always seem to have at my hand sink--rinsed thoroughly (!), I then blow-dry the body shell and any associated separate panels with my airbrush hose, and then repeat the process with the color coats. TSC has worked like a charm for me, since the very early 1970's, when I learned to do it by experimentation. Art

Yes. Those blow-molded soda bottles are made from a clear plastic called "PET-G", which is completely different than the polystyrene we know as the material for molding model car kits. Art

Nope. Moebius has never been able to get Hobby Lobby on board--and that's not for lack of trying on their part! Art

Yes, Modelmaster US Navy Engine Gray is nearly a perfect match--It's a WW-II era color, used by the Navy on the crankcases of their radial aircraft engines. Art

Actually, the entire body shell is way incorrect. The '32 Ford Deluxe Coupe (most know it as the 3-window) body is actually about 9" wider across the doors, making it supposedly a 3-place car. Sorry, but Monogram really dropped the ball on this one. Art

I suspect that the roof of your Olds is more than likely at least .030" thick, perhaps a little bit thicker, at least in the middle. If your pearl white is fairly well pigmented, I doubt that painting the underside of it black will alter the color of the roof exterior. However, just to be on the safe side here, take two white plastic picnic spoons,paint them both (on the convex or bottom side of the spoon "bowl" in the pearl white you used on your body shell, then after it's dried, paint the top side (concave side) of one of the spoons flat black. Once dry, compare their convex surfaces side-by-side just to see if there is any noticeable difference between the two. Art

Similar, but it doesn't look to be nearly as large as my Oster, which is 14" inside diameter, with 4 separate round trays each having a very open "grid" in their bottom. It's also pre-set at 125 degrees Fahrenheit which is more than safe enough for a polystyrene (or even most resin) body shells. It's quite accurately set for temperature, but in looking at them online, they are a lot more expensive that what I quoted above--upwards of $100 or so (there are some on eBay that may be less, but I suspect they may be used ones That said, the Oster works perfectly for me, so I chalk it up as one of my wisest "tool" purchases. In any event, it would make a great deal of sense to shop the retail stores, see what they have available, to ensure that you get one that is large enough to hold a model car body shell. Art

Joe, for starters, I've been painting model cars with non-penetrating lacquer since the very first can of AMT Spray Lacquer I bought way back in 1963--AMT's lacquer behaved in exactly the same way, it flashes off (dry to the touch) but takes TIME to fully cure out (dry all the way through to the surface of the model being painted). In short, I experienced the very same thing that prompted this thread, and over time I've learned that this stuff simply takes longer to dry "click hard". FWIW, Food Dehydrators are not expensive, nor are they hard to learn to use. My Oster dehydrator cost me about $35 at Walmart 7 yrs ago, and I'm here to tell you that I've never made a better purchase for my model room that that. Art

It's not the tape adhesive being stuck on the paint, rather it's the "roughness" of the adhesive, pressing it's surface condition into the yet-not-truly dry lacquer. Art

Just because your lacquer was "dry to the touch" does not mean that it was completely dry. This is where either real patience comes in--the thicker the lacquer coat, the longer it will take for it to dry thoroughly (lacquers harden by the evaporation of the solvent (thinner) and that can take some time--depends on things like air temperature, humidity, and for certain the thickness of the coat of paint. If a lacquer paint job isn't completely dry (some call that being "click hard" meaning that if you click your fingernails on the finish, no marks will be left behind--if the lacquer is still soft (but "dry to the touch", masking tape can do what you described, and show in your pics above. This is where a food dehydrator comes in so very handy--at say 120 degrees F, in about 90 minutes that lacquer should be as hard as it will ever get--I've been using one (an Oster dehydrator that I bought 8 yrs ago, and worth every penny of the purchase price! Art

One HUGE problem with that narrower "vertical" kit box! It was packed so chock full of parts, that a very high percentage of the kits reached hobby shop shelves with the cab roof crushed to one side. It was one of my tasks as an employee of the then-Weber's Hobby Shop here, to open, inspect each and every one of those kits that came into the store, then reseal the ones that were OK, then attach a preprinted business card informing purchasers that their kit was inspected, in-store. Art

That old AMT plated 40' tank trailer actually did exist, IN Coca-Cola livery, back in the 70's. Here in Lafayette, IN, Annheuser-Busch built a corn sweeter plant, which opened about 1971. Their biggest customer? Coca-Cola! There was a contract trucking company here as well, their tractors were Coca-Cola Red, tank trailers were highly polished stainless steel with the Coke "wave" and logo in Coca-Cola Red as wel. One thing for sure: We NEVER saw those rigs here, in any condition but brilliantly washed and polished as soon as they came in to the terminal, and they loaded, and left for Atlanta GA exactly that way as well. Art

Yup, it was that very same way, in my Freshman & Sophomore yrs of High School, and Drafting Class, at West Lafayette Indiana Senior High School (about half a mile from the Purdue University Campus there). Fortunately, the father of one of my buddies, Prof. Warren Luzadder, taught drafting to Purdue University Students majoring in Engineering, back in the days before CAD was even dreamed of--he understood how to guide me in learning to use a T-Square, Triangles and a French Curve as any right hander would do--and coached me in how to do letters and numbers in the accepted style but left-handed. While I struggled a good bit learning that, I did make it--got A's in both years of Drafting, but never, ever have I used those now-very rusty skills! Art

Actually, the Lonestar and Prostar tractors, and the Great Dane trailer kits were all done directly from factory CAD files, but even at that, there were niggles seen in the tooling mockups that had to be corrected (and were) Bear in mind also, that even the process of designing and engineering a model kit has become a province of the Land of CAD--before even a tooling mockup is made (used to be hand-carved, now 3D printed!) CAD files of how the factory proposes to make the model kit are provided for review, critical comments, and ultimately approval to start tooling--the first step of that being finalized CAD files. Art

Ben, with any car or truck subject produced in the CAD era, absolutely. However, with model car or truck subjects that come from the era before CAD, scale models have to be done the old-fashioned way--by tons of research, up to and including the real vehicle for a comprehensive photographing and measuring session. That is a process that requires at least two people, to hold a measuring tape, to position say, a carpenter's folding rule against a surface for getting measurements, even a carpenter's square (or reasonable facsimile thereof) which when held against the side of a car body can be used to show the depth of what is called "tumblehome" (the inward curvature of body panels from the vertical. Ideally, the prototype subject, while needing to be complete and straight, is a musty, old survivor--for two reasons: First of all, most owners of highly restored cars or trucks are pretty reluctant to allow measuring tapes to be laid on an expensive paint job, and second, faded, worn paint actually does show more shapes and details in pictures. The most difficult reference pics to get are ones taken high-angle, as not many cars can carry a 12- stepladder for such images. With the Moebius 65-66 Ford F-100's, I assisted on the reference photo shoot and measurements--approximately 1000 pics were taken, dozens of short measurements done to determine such as the length of doors, outside dimensions of cab and bed(s). All of that was done at a "dealership" in far western Illinois, about 20 miles or so from the Mississippi River, where Dave discovered 7 or 8 unrestored but solid 1965-66 Ford pickups. Dave and I should be seeing revised test shots (based on our review comments on the first round back in March) any day now. Can't wait to see them! Art

I've watched this thread from day one, finally I'll offer my opinion, my assessment, from the viewpoint of turning 74 yrs old this week, so I think I can comment safely and honestly, about cars and pickups I saw when I was 14, or about the time that the Rod & Custom Dream Truck made its debut: For starters, just as factory-built cars reflected the times, and the public tastes of the year(s) of their creation, so did custom cars. Bear in mind, virtually every customized car or pickup truck was done by, or for, someone who knew what they wanted, knew what their dream vehicle would be, could be. Even factory-styled and hand-built "dream cars" reflected the tastes, even the actual dreams of real people, who lived in a different time, a different era, and who had perhaps even markedly different tastes. It can be so easy, in this day and age of supposedly sanitary, timeless styling. Even the legendary 1950 General Motors LeSabre dream car today, to many (including me) appears so obese, so almost "gorpy" in appearance, and yet I'd love to have a really accurate kit of that one (I have the Mint 1/24 scale diecast). For as much as many of model car builders almost "revere" the '58 Edsel, many people, when the Edsel was unveiled, saw it as just a Mercury sucking a lemon. But in the end, as my college roommate (Class of 1970) from West Virginia liked to say "Everyone to their own taste, said the old lady as she french-kissed her cow". Art

Nothing like the perfume smell of Aero Gloss Dope though! Art

Mom's old cedar chest is about 4' from me, now holds my TV, but that appliance does not hide the blotches of Pactra and Testors paint from when I used it, in my bedroom, as a model car workbench--way back when I was about 9 or 10. Moms sure can be forgiving, or at least look the other way--but I still chuckle at those paint blobs--remembering which model project left THAT smudge, to this very day! Art