Schmitz

Ed, The ALPS printers did have gold ink cartridges if you can find someone who still has them. Bare-metal foil does sell gold decal paper (http://www.bare-metal.com/Experts-Choice-Decal-Film.html), or maybe just spray gold paint onto decal paper. You might be able to cut thin strips with an Xacto (maybe try the trick of sandwiching a piece of sheet styrene between two blades to get parallel cuts), but those will be really thin stripes in 1/25, then you have to get them parallel on the model. Another wild idea: start with the gold film, then print a black stripe on clear film and apply it over the gold, then cut the gold parallel to the black, leaving just enough gold on either side. Since the black stripe won't be touching the black paint hopefully you won't notice if the color doesn't match exactly. There are some places doing custom decals for hobbyists - I've heard good things about http://www.tangopapadecals.com/ - they may be able to do metallics using professional printers or maybe even making a silkscreen stencil, but probably not cheap. Let us know what works! Don

Hi John, Welcome back! Good to have more car modelers here! I have a daughter who lives in Philly; we drive out from Pittsburgh to see her a few times a year. Whenever we get there I try to sneak in a trip to the Simeone Museum; I always thought that would be a perfect place for a model car contest... Don

I tried this - put the model in plastic take-out food container and dumped in a whole bottle of 91% isopropyl from the grocery store. It looked good; after 1 night about half the paint bubbled up and came right off when scrubbed with a toothbrush, but a week later the remaining spray paint is still hanging on. It is a little softer; I can now clean the paint off with fine steel wool, but there are little bits of paint hanging on in the nooks and crannies. I'm guessing brake fluid would work a lot quicker and decisively, but the alcohol is a lot less of a hassle (how do you dispose of paint contaminated brake fluid?) Does the alcohol loose its kick after a while? Would switching to a fresh bottle help with the remaining paint? All suggestions greatly appreciated! Don

I think the last time we checked was at least 5 years ago; I can believe that has changed as home computers have trickled down to parents as their kids have upgraded their equipment. My father is 78; he swore he would never use a computer until my sister gave him an old Dell XP system - now he is hooked on ebay and webmd (I'm not saying its a good thing). But for all that, I still can't get him to use email... Don

I needed a mid-gloss paint job on a 1/32 race car (Airfix DBR9) that was supposed to be a "quickie" build. A friend told me he had gotten amazing results using Tamiya spray cans; he said he just laid down a few coats right out of the can and got a nice smooth finish. I gave it a try and and ended up with a pebbly finish; I even tried color sanding with a coarse micro-mesh pad and shot another coat and got the same results... So I pulled out the trusty can of oven cleaner (not EZ-Off but a generic knockoff in a similar looking can), soaked it down and let it sit for a few days - and it had no effect! Whatever is in those spray cans is tough stuff! Anyone have success removing this paint? Suggestions much appreciated! Don

I think the deadline for the banquet is still 4 weeks away (it said July 27, not June). At least I hope so cause I planned to register this week. Usually going to the banquet gets you a better seat for the awards, but everyone without a ticket still gets in to see the presentation. Don

There were 3 Mustang body styles in '65, the notchback (also known as a coupe), the fastback and the convertible. And then there was the '65 Shelby GT350, which was a lightly modified fastback. The '66 models are very close to the '65s, most notable differences are a bit of chrome trim in the side-coves and the color the engines were painted. Monogram did a 1/24 fastback, convertible and several variations of the Shelby; they seem to have been in constant production since they came out in the mid 1980s. Not bad kits, and you can mix and match parts to make specific versions. MPC/AMT did a 1/25 and 1/16 '66 notchback; these are pretty old (I remember seeing the 1/16 kit in a hobby store window around 1978); I've seen the 1/16 kit built up and out of the box its not super detailed. Since 2014 is the 50th anniversary of the Mustang, these all seem to have been re-issued in the last year. Revell did a 1/12 '65 Shelby (a fastback body), but I don't think I've ever seen one (I think this was before their merger with Monogram, so its probably not just an up-scaled version of the 1/24 kit). I think you'll need to go to ebay or the collector channels for this one (here is one on ebay now). There were lots of options available on the Mustang; if you're building a replica of a particular car you should get as many references as you can. I'm not an expert, but I've got a few books I can check if you have specific questions. Don

I heard this news story on NPR last week. The problem isn't just aircraft, but trucks too: both are being filled up long before they run out of gross weight. Think about the last thing you bought from Amazon: most likely it came in a cheesy cardboard box that was 3 times bigger than it had to be, filled with styrofoam peanuts or air-bags or bubble wrap. Amazon does everything by the numbers; you can be sure they've studied the shipping rates, cost of boxes and bubble wrap, and chances of shipping damage, and have figured out this is the cheapest way for them to ship things. They are basically taking advantage of loop-holes in the shipping rates to minimize their total costs; it was only a matter of time until FedEx and other carriers set rates that better reflect the true cost of shipping a package. Part of the problem is that Amazon and other online shops want to sell you more and more of the stuff you'd normally schlep home from WalMart. Diapers, razor blades, cereal - anything you buy regularly - is perfect for selling you a "subscription" that saves you money and squeezes the brick and mortar stores even more. Trouble is, the shippers don't have the capacity for that, and as long as there is a shortage the shippers get to set the price. By the time the rates change Amazon will figure out the new cheapest way, which will probably mean smaller sturdier boxes and less packing. Other shippers will raise their rates, but probably not as much as FedEx in hopes of stealing away some of their business. Eventually the shippers will have more planes and trucks, and competition will eventually push prices back down to something more stable. Model companies will do the same to the extent they can. Basically just the "Circle of Life" as applied to business.... Don

Low tack masking tape can be had at hardware stores and even the paint aisle at Wal-Mart. Not as sticky as regular making tape, more like postit note glue. Green Frog brand has a low tack tape (yellow in color) that looks a lot like the pricey Tamiya tape. Don

I ended up with the first release of the big Tamiya Mustang, and decided to build Shomo's F-6 (photo recon plane). I scratch built a camera port, but I'm not happy with it, compared to the kit it isn't as crisp as I'd like. Of course the second release of the kit has the F-6 parts in the box... If anyone is building that kit and is not using those parts, I'd be happy to take them off your hands for some small honorarium - say $10 plus shipping? Please let me know if you can help me out! Thanks! Don

just type "woodland scenics" into google or go straight to "ebay" and you'll find lots of online sellers. Tower Hobbies is one of the bigger mail order suppliers out there who list it - look about halfway down this page: www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0094P?&N=N&F=BACU2716&L=WOOU1134&C=UPDWOO&P=FR&S=

Hi Matt, I have a bit more time to think and type - I'm sitting here waiting for the snow to stop before I pull out the snow blower :( Like I said, new releases and re-releases of kits that have been out of production for a long time are where the excitement is. Kits from the 1970s are popular with us old-timers who remember building them when we were kids. One thing that makes a kit popular is high parts count; a 1/25 car kit with 100+ parts is usually a sign that the kit maker went all out on designing the kit. Some of the old kits with lots of parts like the Johan Turbine car and the IMC Ford GT cars and Fujimi Enthusiast Porsches are still sought after. When it comes to foreign made kits, kits with engines tend to be more popular than those without (for a lot of car modelers building the engine is their favorite part). I think there are differences between the modelers who buy American kits/subjects vs. foreign kits/subjects; those with a focus on American kits tend to buy a lot of kits of different subjects and knock them out pretty quickly, while the guys buying foreign kits are more like collectors: they focus on a particular brand, era, racing-series, etc. and want to have one of everything in that subject area. Of course that's not 100% accurate, but something to think about. Since you have clubs meeting in your store, I was thinking you might want to offer them a discount for pre-ordering (and pre-paying) for new kits - both to build up a good relationship with the club and to get an idea of what people are interested in. For newly released kits, maybe you could open one up and keep it behind the counter so customers could check out the parts before they buy one. My IPMS club has had a few build-sessions in a hobby-store during store hours; over a Saturday afternoon about 10 people would stop by to see what we were doing; I don't think we ever got any new members that way, but maybe we encouraged a few people to buy a kit and give it a try. As far as detailing parts - probably the most useful, general purpose thing would be various sizes and types of wire - for sparkplug wires, brake lines, hoses, etc. Detail Master and Model Car Garage are probably the two biggest photoetch makers; Both have generic stuff (seat belt buckles, radiator fans, header flanges, bolt heads), MCG does a lot of detail sets for specific kits. I don't know how popular these would be; retail cost is $10-20 for a fret of PE, and they're not super popular with builders. Also paints - no one wants to wait for mail order when they discover a bottle of paint is empty/dried-up. In addition to the standard Testors and Tamiya paints, I'd suggest you stock some of the Alclad metalizer paints; they're becoming popular for painting things that are supposed to be chrome (if done well it looks a lot better than the plated parts in the kits). Oh well, looks like its time to clean the driveway... I'd be interested to hear what other opinions you get - Good luck! Don

Model cars go through phases. I'd suggest you stock a car model magazine (Scale Auto or Model Car) and browse them to see what kits people are building and talking about. There are also a lot of online forums - both magazines I mentioned have them - where you can take the pulse of the hobby. Subjects that are almost always "in" are: 60s-70s muscle cars (the new Revell 70 Cuda kit should be hot) classic hot rods (32 Fords, 50s Mercurys and Oldsmobiles). any Corvette, Mustang or Camaro Right now nostalgia kits are big: Tom Daniels show-rods and Deal's Wheels cartoon cars Beyond Revell/AMT, you want to look at Tamiya and Fujimi. Subjects that are always popular: any Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini F1 racing cars I'd suggest you concentrate on new releases; once a kit is out for a while it gets into the discounted kit channels and no one will want to pay retail prices when they can get it for 30% off from their favorite vendor at a model show - you want to catch buyers when the kit first comes out and there is lots of excitement around it. My 2 cents... Don

TRICON is back for 2014. Join Three Rivers IPMS when we host our one day show on March 22nd, from 9AM to 4PM. Same location as last year: Beattie Career Center, 9600 Babcock Blvd, Allison Park PA. You can visit the TRICON web page for details at: http://www.tripms.org/TRICON/index.html Feel free to ask me questions here, or contact Scott Scariot, club president and show chairman at trekmanscott@outlook.com. I'm the vendor chairman, so you can also contact me if you want info on vendor tables. Hope to see you there! Don Schmitz

Only other bit of advice for sanding: if you're used to the way sandpaper works on wood, you have to recalibrate your idea of what is "coarse". 220 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper will chew through styrene surprisingly fast; you only use this when you're intentionally trying to reshape parts. If you just want to smooth out seam work, start with 320 or 400 grit to knock down the putty, then move to 600 or 800 (and beyond) to remove the scratches. Don

Sure I can ! Thanks for the info Mark and GIL. I could probably live with the wrong wing shape, but I'm not sure I could overlook not having the slats. I think the take away is, buy the cheapest F-86F kit I can find (probably the Italeri), then put it on the shelf and wait for someone like Dragon to do a new kit of an A or E (of course buying a really expensive out-of-production Hasegawa kit would probably increase the odds of getting a new kit ). I'll have to think on this one. Don

I got the book Aces Wild for Christmas (I'm starting to like Amazon "wishlists" - I add books I'm too cheap to buy myself and they magically show up under the tree); its written by Marine/North American Aviation test pilot Al Blackburn and tells the story supposedly well known within North American that test pilot George Welch took the XP-86 prototype supersonic in a dive days before Yeager got the X-1 past mach 1. True or not, I'm thinking it would be cool to build a 1/32 XP-86 to display with the Revell X-1. I'm mostly an auto modeler who dabbles in aircraft when something catches my fancy, so I'm not an expert on what kits are out there. A quick look on HLJ and Squadron.com suggests that the kits available now are the F-86F-40 flown by the JASDF in the 1960s, which had a different wing than the early models. Is there a 1/32 kit of an early model F-86 that I should look for on the vendor tables? Are the wings that different between the two? Any info appreciated! Thanks! Don

Hi Kevin, I've seen some of the TDR parts on vendor tables at local shows; the detail is fantastic but some of the parts (1:8 427 FE engine block) seemed impossible to sand the surface texture off without ruining the detail. I'd love to be wrong, as I love their 6 cylinder Jaguar engine. I just checked their website and see they have a flathead Ford with Ardun heads available now; I got pretty far along mastering a head for my "Big Deuce" before realizing I had no way to add the cast in "ARDUN" name - guess that was a waste of time... Don

My new boss took me out to lunch today and when we got in his car he showed me a bracket he'd made for his cell phone using a low-end 3D printer. He said it was a "Chinese knockoff" of some more popular brand - it costs about $1300 from Amazon. Unlike the commercial laser cured "stereo-lithography" systems I heard about years ago, these apparently use spools of ABS string that is melted and sprayed onto the part through small nozzles (much like an inkjet printer) to build up layers of plastic. The layering does make the sides of the parts a little rough, but nothing a little sanding wouldn't fix. I was surprised at how crisp the parts were and how strong the material was; I didn't think the hobby-quality machines were this good or this cheap yet. Just wondering if anyone is using these for modeling and how hard it is to design parts. Don

Chris - when were you in Pittsburgh? Ever make it to any of the Three Rivers IPMS shows? Don

Mark, Some chrome parts may have a clear coating over top of the plating; that might take a little more time/solvent to strip. I've always had good luck using laundry bleach (Clorox) to remove chrome; usually the plating dissolves in seconds - just be careful to keep it out of your eyes and rinse the parts before handling, and be careful not to rinse small parts down the drain :( One of those little mesh kitchen strainers comes in handy here. Under the chrome you'll probably find a layer of gloss clear laquer that is sprayed on as part of the plating process to give the part a shiny finish (sometimes you'll see runs in this coating). I you want to get to bare plastic (to get a perfectly smooth finish for some kinds of metalizer) you probably want to use oven cleaner or some other paint-stripper once the chrome is gone. There is something called "Castrol Super Clean" (check auto parts store - I think its a part degreaser that contains lye) that is alleged to do a good job all in one step, but I've never used it. I agree that Alclad gives the most believable (to scale) chrome finish, but if you want to recreate the super-bright chrome that comes in the kit, there are companies (chrometechusa.com) that can apply that finish (after you've stripped the original chrome and cleaned up mold-lines and such). Don

Car models tend to go through cycles. 10 years ago NASCAR was really hot among modelers; the markings were cool and the racing teams were constantly coming up with special schemes for big races so they could sell the same diecasts and model kits (and T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc) multiple times by just changing the decals. Modelers bought way more kits than they could build just to have all the decals, and then reality set in and suddenly guys were bored of building essentially the same car over and over. At the same time NASCAR and the car manufacturers and advertisers tried to squeeze royalties from the kit-makers, pushing up the prices and discouraging truly new kits from being produced. And then Revell and whatever is left of AMT/MPC started reissuing kits of hot rods and vintage drag racers from the 60s and 70s - kits with nostalgia value that modelers had been chasing for years. Combine those and you get a glut of NASCAR kits filling up closets... Don

I had to google it. An F-550 is a medium truck (somewhere around 15,000 pounds gross weight) built around a standard Ford pickup cab, hood, fenders, and (optionally) the bed. You can buy just a cab-on-frame and add your own bed to make a mini-dump, tow truck, etc. I think they all have dual rear wheels, and if you get it with a standard pickup bed there are big fender extensions to cover the extra tires. According to wikipedia at some point the front track was widened and the stock front fenders have wheel flares too. There are some heavy duty engines available that probably aren't in any kit of a street pickup. The frame and suspension seem to be heavy duty parts - they have a lot more ground clearance and bigger wheels and tires than an F-250. I didn't find any details on the F-550 frame, I'm not sure you could tell if you just reused an F-250 kit frame. You''ll have to find more info (model year and equipment) to see if there are any kits of that year available and what you'll have to scratchbuild. Don

It was more complicated than this... The SuperBee was meant to be the low-cost, sporty-version of the Coronet family sedan in the same way as the Plymouth Roadrunner was for the sister brand's mid-size Satellite. Since Dodge was meant to be more upmarket than Plymouth, compared to the Roadrunner the SuperBee had a bit more chrome on the outside and faux wood on the inside, Both cars were available with the "little" 383 4-barrel engine as well as the Hemi; the Roadrunner could also be had with the big 440 V8. Both Dodge and Plymouth also had more expensive muscle cars based on the Coronet and Satellite: these were the Coronet R/T and the Plymouth GTX (the R/T was available with the 440). And then to really confuse things, many of the big motors (including the Hemi) were also available as options in the base Coronet and Satellite. The ebay part looks like a stock Coronet hood - it has none of the vents/scoops that were available on the SuperBee - maybe this is the part you would cut-out to build the blower version? Best way to find a replacement part: go to a model-car show, there are often vendors there selling old builtups for cheap and hopefully they have one. Or try one of the other model car forums online (try http://cs.scaleautomag.com or http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums for starts) and see if anyone has one in their spare parts box. Don Hi Mark, Didn't mean to step on your toes - just the usual IPMS obsession with trivia. I was one of the teenagers in the mid 70s who bought used muscle cars when no one else wanted them and they were all we could afford. Remember - gas was a ridiculous $1 a gallon! - normal people were paying top dollar for slant 6 Dodge Darts! I had a 383 RoadRunner - I paid $500 saved up from my paper route. My high-school friends had a 350 Cutlass Ralley, 350 Chevelle, a Mustang Mach 1, and those were just my friends; the school parking lot looked like a scene from American Graffiti. We patched the rust as best we could, tried to figure out how to make them go faster and drove 'em like something out of a Burt Reynolds movie. My dad was a career mechanic and a bit of a gear-head himself; there was no sneaking a cam or headers past him - at least not while I was on his insurance policy. The collectors should thank us, because if we hadn't beat them into the ground back then they wouldn't be so rare and expensive today! I graduated college in '82 and needed reliable transportation; I sold the RoadRunner for the same $500 I paid for it and was happy to add it to the down payment for a new 5.0 Mustang. After raising a family for the last 25 years I finally scratched the itch for an old car in the garage - I ended up buying a '74 260Z because I couldn't afford any of those big V8 cars we were driving back in '77! Don

It was more complicated than this... The SuperBee was meant to be the low-cost, sporty-version of the Coronet family sedan in the same way as the Plymouth Roadrunner was for the sister brand's mid-size Satellite. Since Dodge was meant to be more upmarket than Plymouth, compared to the Roadrunner the SuperBee had a bit more chrome on the outside and faux wood on the inside, Both cars were available with the "little" 383 4-barrel engine as well as the Hemi; the Roadrunner could also be had with the big 440 V8. Both Dodge and Plymouth also had more expensive muscle cars based on the Coronet and Satellite: these were the Coronet R/T and the Plymouth GTX (the R/T was available with the 440). And then to really confuse things, many of the big motors (including the Hemi) were also available as options in the base Coronet and Satellite. The ebay part looks like a stock Coronet hood - it has none of the vents/scoops that were available on the SuperBee - maybe this is the part you would cut-out to build the blower version? Best way to find a replacement part: go to a model-car show, there are often vendors there selling old builtups for cheap and hopefully they have one. Or try one of the other model car forums online (try http://cs.scaleautomag.com or http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums for starts) and see if anyone has one in their spare parts box. Don