Model Cars? now that's Grassroots!

In reply to ultraclyde :

I’ve never had good luck with the Testors acrylics. If you can find Tamiya paints they’re well worth the price.

In reply to Ognib :

Another vote for a build thread. That looks incredible.

Another piece I did that turned out pretty good.

In order for this to work well, the piece must be held immovable while shaping.

Shrinking is the most difficult part of the procedure. 

After trimming the edges, it fits the hood profile well.

After trimming out the center & rolling in the edges, grill shell fits good.

wow... that's some amazing craftsmanship 

Headers for the coupe.

Off the bench: 1940 Ford Coupe street rod/ gasser.
Propelled by a 300ci Supercharged Buick Nailhead, painted Candy Pear (Krylon) with ghosted lace on the doors and side panels, and 2 coats of Future for clear.

At the 47th Annual Bob Paeth Memorial model car show at the World of Speed Museum in Portland, Oregon. My 1970 Isuzu Bellet 1600 GTR was one of the cars photographed professionally for Scale Auto magazine. 

Congrats! 

Pretty good sized show.

Well, the paint on the C7.R just pretty much deconstructed.  Like an idiot, I went cheap with Testors, which didn't cover.  Sanded it out and tried a spray-over with Tamiya paints.  This appears to have reacted with the underlying Testors paint.  

I'm putting it aside for a few because I can't stand to look at it right now. 

On a related note, anybody ever to a paint strip a kit?  If so, how?  

Testors paint, except green, comes off with Westleys Bleech White, the white wall tire cleaner. Also Glass Plus removes white, I don't know about other colors. I wish it didn't remove the white where it did! Also "Purple Power" cleaner from the Depot works, but also not on green. Good luck with it, I have the kit, but have not started it.

In reply to TurnerX19 :

Great kit, but I've always had trouble with yellow paint for some reason, this was no exception.  

In reply to kazoospec :

My experience as well, not just on models. See need to paint photo below

Here's the video tour I shot of the model car show: 47th Annual Bob Paeth Memorial

TurnerX19 said:

Testors paint, except green, comes off with Westleys Bleech White, the white wall tire cleaner. Also Glass Plus removes white, I don't know about other colors. I wish it didn't remove the white where it did! Also "Purple Power" cleaner from the Depot works, but also not on green. Good luck with it, I have the kit, but have not started it.

I usually use Purple Power. I’ll drop the offending parts in a tub of it and 24 hrs later, the paint just lifts off. I’ve had good luck with it on acrylics, enamels, and lacquers. I don’t recall having problems with any particular color. If all else fails, a day or two in a container of brake fluid will take just about any kind of paint off. Cleanup is a pain, though.

RX7, I like that paint effect. 

Javelin, congrats on the photo feature!

Another vote for purple power.  I use one of those plastic shoeboxes to soak everything in.  Let it sit a few days, a quick scrub with a soft toothbrush and you should be good as new.

Brake fluid is the old school method for removing paint from a styrene model.  It works pretty fast, too.

In reply to Wally (& STUART) :

Thanks.  Giving purple power and a plastic shoe box a try.  I'll consider brake fluid if purple power doesn't work, but I've heard it can soften the plastic.  

I would highly recommend not using brake fluid on modern model kits, the composition is different.

Westley's Bleche-Wite really is the magic sauce, even better than Purple Power, and will not harm plastic at all.

Javelin said:

I would highly recommend not using brake fluid on modern model kits, the composition is different.

Learn something new every day - I didn't know they'd changed the plastic.

stuart in mn said:

Javelin said:

I would highly recommend not using brake fluid on modern model kits, the composition is different.

Learn something new every day - I didn't know they'd changed the plastic.

Yeah, it's changed quite a few times. Grab an MPC or a Johan kit from the 70's, compare it to a Monogram of the 80's, AMT in the 90's, Revell in the 00's, and everything now. The new plastic is much "crisper" in it's ability to mold and can be a lot thinner and still have strength. The new stuff is just every slightly more forgiving and won't shatter as badly, though some of that is certainly age related. It's minor additives going in, but the brake fluid can and does affect it.

In reply to Javelin :

The styrene has always varied from manufacturer to manuufacturer.Old AMT was always more forgiving than any other brand, with Aurora the worst of the domestics. Yes, they do get more brittle with age too.

                           For Kazoo, the only yellow paint job I did of any scale that satisfied me fully. 1/24th Hasegawa Reynard F30000 Mugen. Built box stock when the kit was only a few years old. Color off towards brown due to indoor lighting. Home mixed acrylic lacquer to match Camel yellow.

Just finished this Fujimi 1/24 McLaren MP4-12C with Hobby Design decals. No aftermarket, just homemade seat belts from painted medical tape, styrene, and bits of staple, with logos from an Indycals seat belt decal. I found out on the McLaren owners forum that their Azure Blue is a dead-on match for Mazda Aurora Blue, so I painted the model with Mazda touch-up paint with multiple clear coats. Unfortunately, my crappy photography skills don't capture the deep metallic blue very well. Looks pretty cool in person.

Can you all please chime in on my next model car project?