Yes, yes, it's true... I want to build a car.
I'm just in the mood to build something simple, where I can toss the parts together and lay down a groovy paint job. (painting is one thing I haven't done too much of, because I've spent so much time on construction!)
So, this weekend I'm going over to Hobby Lobby, I'm buying a SNAP kit and I'm gonna have fun building it!!!

Who's with me?

YodaMan

#:-) - Sounds like a fun diversion! Did you read the FSM from a couple of months ago with the conversion VW bus - try to score a VW bus and paint a '60's Peace Child Paint job!

or a '40s hotrod panel van with large flat sides for a groovy pic of a naked l..... woops dreaming again

I've got many car kits. One I'm working on is the Revell 70s Custom Van. I had built one as a kid that was a metallic blue color back then (Convoy Van) and the same kit that was issued with Charlie's Angels decals and a few others too. This new one is just white with wild 70s decals on the side and it is supposed to be painted orange.

Another car I have is a Lindberg 1964 street racer. I bought this one because I was born in 1964 and it was the first kit I saw that had my birth year on it.

AMT makes several snap kits that are very nicely done as does Revell-Monogram. The new Beetle, PT Cruiser, new Thunderbird cars that I built with my kids are some of the finest engineered kits I have run across.

Nooooooo! STOP the MADNESS!!!

Gunnie #:-)

Actually, I was fancying doing one myself too - to break the routine. I was gonna go off the deep end and model a motorcycle...

I just got back from good 'ol Hobby Lobby. (was nice out today. Mid-40s, and sunny. I was driving around with the windows open! )

Picked up a Mongram 1978 ElCamino lowrider. It's not a snap-kit (skill level 2), but I can skip the engine and was thinking about tinting the windows dark using Future.
....and NO weathering! :-)



YodaMan

Loooow Ri'deeeeeer...... Yellow?? A good friend of mine in school had a canary yellow one.
Have Fun! You know you've set yourself up for image posts next week! #:-) Just kidding.

Next group build will be an urban low rider build.

Where is all of this going to??? Urrrgh....

Welcome to the darkside. MUAHAHAHAHA!

I picked up a car model two weeks ago at the atlanta model expo.......it's a VW type 83 Kastenwagen........hey, it's a car..... better yet, it's a VW :-)

If you really want to KILL your desire to build a car...buy one of the 1:32 scale Lindberg kits. You'll smash it against the wall before you're finished! I speak from experience!
Jeff "THE CAR KILLER" Bodeen

hey guys......there is nothing wrong with building car models.....heck..thats what I started out on wayyyyy back when was car models. I gravitated to Aircraft...and then slowly to Armor, with a ship or 2 for good measure....but I always came back to building cars.....now I build more AC and armor than anything.....but still have a huge collection of cars here. Mostly late 60's early 70's era muscle cars, a few modern ones, and NASCAR. NASCAR probably edging out by a little bit over the muscle cars.

Let me tell you.....there is much detail work that goes into a NASCAR model, as there is in any armor or AC kit. Some of these guys are nuts....I mean literally you would think you could just throw some gas in and start them up. I usually adorn my cars with spar plug wires and maybe some throttle linkage and the stuff. The most detailed NASCAR kit I have done was a #3 Dale Earnhardt Chevy....done a few years before his death....RIP Dale!!!!!
I did the spark plug wiring, complete with the dual ignition systems they run, as well as an antennae for the radio, complete with the steering wheel mounted talk button, as well as the complete oil line system, which requires running it from the oil pan to the pump, back to the oil tank which is at the back of the car, back through a dule set of filters, back through the pump and bac to the oil pan. As well as transmission cooling lines and such. Now if you think this is something.....you should see the guys that also put in the brake lines, replace the kit brakes with aftermarket ones, etc, etc.

Its a nice diversion from armor and AC, I have a '69 Dodge Coronet with a 440cu with a 6 pack carburator set up.....body is painted Lime Green....just have to do a polish job on it...and its pretty much finished!!

Any suggestions for chrome? I don't particularly like the looks of the chrome plated pieces. Should I use metalizers instead?
As for stripping chome plating; I think I can do it with brake fluid or Easy-Off oven cleaner, right?

YodaMan

Hey Yoda.....actually if you want to strip chrome....ask your Mom if she has any Ammonia in the house.....comes in a bottle like Mr Clean or any other floor cleaner, but is pure ammonia, just take an old tupperware container, put your chrome sprue in the container and cover with ammonia...the chrome will just get eaten away. You may have to go over them with an old toothbrush to get the nooks and crannies, and make sure you have good ventalation....that ammonia is nasty!!! You should be left with a sprue the same color as the rest of the plastic in the kit...as they were cast at the same time as the other plastic, and just received a chrome plating later on. Clean up with soap and water to remove the ammonia completly and viola...ready to paint.
Most NASCAR kits you have to do this with....at one time Chrome wheels were allowed in NASCAR racing...but have been outlawed for years....however the model companies still plate them, along with the headers, the valve covers, cooling fan and some other stuff.....don't know if you or anyone pays attention to NASCAR racing...bit there are no chrome parts on those cars anywhere....unless its a show car!!

Hope that helps!!

Easy Off and a Zip Lock bag work great. If you have a freezer type bag that is big enough for the whole sprue, that is best. If not, cut the parts off the sprue and use the smaller bags.

Easy Off makes a fume free variant.

You know.... That's not a bad idea at all - Jim would love to kickoff the Automotive side of the House too.

I can see it now....

Hoppers at Armorama

Sounds like something to do after the Barbarossa Campaign winds down 'eh?

Gunnie gone Hoppin!

I looked on a few other sites since my last post, and decided to use Comet. (or is it Komet???) They say it works best for removoing chrome... I told my mom I'd be needing to use the comet tonight; she thought I was going to clean something! :-) Alas, just using it for modeling purposes.

The plan is to go for the gold look with the wheel rims and interior metal, I'll do the bumpers either in aluminum metalizer or bare-metal foil.
I haven't decided on the 'groovy' paint job yet.

YodaMan

BTW - A streetcar campaign sounds like a cool idea... maybe there could be special awards for most decals or most chrome!

Errr.....no.

Unless we are talking about military cars, jeeps, and armored cars. hehe

I was actually considering a while back adding Dinosaurs to the mix. They were armored after all, and somewhat a mobile weapons platform. #:-)

I have a car somewhere in my unbuilt stash. A '57 T-bird I think. Metal.

I would actually like to build all the 60's muscle cars I wanted to own as a kid. That will likely be the closest I come to a collection like that. My stepfather though...he has all the luck. 50 years of working his butt off and for his retirement he restores cars as a hobby. I built my parents a web site for their cars (http://www.harbuckcars.com). He had a 57 T-bird for a long time then sold it.

Jim

But if we limit the cars to the type of cars used in Somalia, we could literally put a .50 ring on top of a BMW...SUV. Would that count??? Painted metalic OD!!!

Better hope the D.S.B. Leadership isn't following this thread - they'll want Battle Pigs in the mix for sure...

Gunnie

I've got it! "The staff cars that never were"! :-) Heh heh... a Porsche 911 Turbo with a jacked up suspension and monster offroad wheels, with a camo paintjob... #:-)

As I mentioned earlier, the Comet worked pretty well in stipping off the chrome. Today I'll airbrush some brass metalizers on the extra wheel hubs to see how it looks.
My other goal for today is to get the interior assembled and at least put a base coat of paint on.

I think I'll use metalizers for the bumpers. The front grille is a bit to complex for foil, I think.

I'm off to spend the red of my Valentine's day alone at my modeling table!

YodaMan

I'm with you, heck I'm ahead of you!

I bought the Polar lights 60's batmobile 2 weeks ago and assembling it as we speak...ok not quite as we speak...but you get the point!

Cheers, Michael

I saw that one when I got my El Camino. I had no idea there were so many versions of the batmobile!

I've been working on the interor today... Got a beautiful coat of 'wood' on everything, then I decided to use a liquid mask to help me paint the center console. It went on all right, but when I tried to peel off the excess I ran into trouble. So, I ended up spraying the whole thing with 'Scrubbin' Bubbles" to strip off the paint and masking agent.
While that sat on the interior, I cleaned my bathroom. (Aren't you glad I share these things? )

Now I'm going to re-paint the interior.

I have decided on a paint scheme. Exterior will be (very) dark red, and the lower half possibly black. Wheels will be (probably) bronze metalizer. Interior is a mix of tan and browns with some black.

Time to pick up the airbrush!

YodaMan

I'm actually quite the Batmobile connoisseur (have to be growing up in the 60s with a name like Robin and a brother named Alfred).

The Polar Lights Batmobiles are the old 50s one and the comic book 60s one (looks like the TV version). Aurora made the TV series one and Imai did a 1/32 scale one. The Batman movies were a boon for the Batmobile builder. I've got both the new metal and plastic 60s versions as well as the Imai one, the two from the first Keaton movie (motorized and regular) and Batwing; the reissue Batmobile w/engine, Batmissile and Batboat; the Kilmer Batmobile, Batboat and Batwing; and the Clooney roadster version.

Crown jewel is the Batmobile armored cocoon from the first movie.