Getting that showroom/contest shine on all your models!

    This tip has been around a long time but I have just realized the TRUE value of these products. The truth is, a mediocre paint job can be turned into a very acceptable job in no time flat! You say, "Oh, but my model is finished?!" I say, it doesn't matter. Unless the paint was screwed up on every layer, it is possible to make it look much better. Most paint jobs get screwed up on the last few layers of paint, you know what I'm talking about, those few little bits of dust that get trapped under the last coats of clear coat. You don't want to sand it because that last coat was your best one yet and sanding will haze that nice shine! I used to think like that too.
    This is where rubbing compounds come into play, but not just one. Like sandpaper, it's a process of coarser to finer grits. Getting two types of compounds should be enough though. If you just want to shine up a hazy coat of clear, use only a very FINE more watery scratch remover paste/compound, like Novus Fine Scratch Remover, on the back it says Novus Plastic Polish No.2 (Awesome stuff) or you can use Meguire's ScratchX. If your working on a stubborn piece of dust, you may want to start with a coarser thicker compound like the Turtle Wax rubbing compound, which is more like toothpaste, then finish with a fine scratch remover. These compounds are also great for removing scratches on clear parts like windows and such, it brings them right back.
    The shine these compounds produce will dazzle! I find them way better and easier to use than very fine sanding pads or cloths because of having to not use water and the paste aspect I guess, it can go where pads can't and they have shiners and waxes built right into them so that your end result is just amazing. They are fairly cheap too and last a long time!

More pics from Kingston Modelrama 2011!

It's been a while since I posted, but I was busy doing models and I won!

May 1st 2011 was Kingston Modelrama, in Kingston, Ontario. The mood was good and the models were absolutely stunning! That only adds to the fact that I won 1st place in the Modified Die-Cast class which for me was the highlight of my day. I was the only competitor in that class, which makes for an easy win, but a win is a win and it is my first! Add to that, I picked up a few cool kits. I bought a AMT 2009 Dodge Challenger, a Monogram '65 Corvette Street Machine and Revell Pontiac Banshee, all for under $20 total! All this and I got to go Go-Kart racing at a local Kingston track! It was a great, fun day! Anyway, here's a few pics.

Brush painting made perfect.

I read some interesting tips lately about creating the perfect brush painting job. The tips have proven very useful in my own modeling, so I figured I would share them. The worst thing about brush painting is the brush strokes it leaves in the finish of parts. This streaking can be minimized, if not eliminated. First off, your paint has to be the right consistency. About as thick as whole milk or a bit thicker. Too thick of paint will cause brush marks, as will too thin. Secondly, don't run your brush dry, always have enough paint on the brush, so dip often. Lastly, and this really helps, don't over brush. Going over an area repeatedly will leave marks, one to two strokes maximum.

Kingston Modelrama is coming up soon!

This is the moment I wait for every year. The Kingston Ont. Modelrama contest! Whether I win anything or not, it's the deals I go for!Almost my years supply of model kits comes from this show/contest. $2 and $5 models, here I come! I'm not entering many models this year, but I'm hoping my efforts on my VW Pig at least get an honorable mention for it's uniqueness. What category though? Customs? It is a custom, I guess that's where it will go.

The 2011 Pontiac Trans-Am is here!

Good news! the new 2011 Pontiac Trans-Am has been revealed!

The Bandit is back! This new car was created for the new Smokey and The Bandit movie by ASC (for GM) and you can bet that since it is based on the Camaro that GM plans to manufacture and sell this baby because they are bleeding money again and need a new "cool" car. Now let's hope some company like Revell or AMT Ertl picks up the license to make a model of it, so we can build it!

The VW Pig is progressing well!

So my VW Pig model is coming along quite well now. The nose, ears and tail are attached and molded in with putty and have a couple of coat of paint brushed on over the puttied areas. It is looking more like a pig with each piece. Here's a few pics.

The pigs nose for my VW Pig is done!

If you read my last post you would know I'm working on a VW Bug turned into a pig. The problem was finding a suitable kids toy that had a proper sized nose I could use. Well, I had no success and decided that if I could not find one, I would have to make one. So, that's exactly what I did and it turned out great! I could not use clay or modeling putty as they are not strong enough for the grinding and sanding I was going to be subjecting it to. I was looking in my craft box and found some of that repair putty for household repairs (also known as Mighty Putty) and figured "this should be strong enough. It turns out  this stuff dries rock hard and was perfect for my uses as it was sand able and did not chip very much when I was grinding it. Here are a couple of pics of this finished and partially painted piece.

My latest project, a VW Pig!

I saw this picture of a real VW Pig and it just so happened that I had a new style bug kit just sitting around, waiting for an idea like this! You might be thinking to yourself, easy enough to paint a bug pink. Sure it is, the challenge is getting the rest of the stuff for this model. I found a toy plastic pic that has perfect ears and tail, but the nose was too small. Now I am on the hunt for a perfect pig nose. Then the challenge will be shaping it to the hood and using model putty to blend it into the hood. Here is what I have so far.

Finally over the Flu and I learned something cool, too.

After being down and out with the Flu for almost 2 weeks I'm finally almost over it and during my "sickness" I was researching Flu shots and such (because I never got one this year) and found out something interesting that is not really related to scale models but would nevertheless make a good, informative blog post. Do you hate the idea of getting needles, like the Flu shot? Good news for you! By the next Flu season, there should be a few alternatives to the shot. The first one is a nasal spray Flu vaccine. By next year/season (in Canada at least) us Canucks will be able to get the spray instead of the needle. The second option, although it's debatable as to if and when it will be available, is the Flu patch. This is not a typical patch though, it's not trans dermal in the way you are used to thinking of patches (like nicotine patches for example) it's called a micro-needle patch. It's feels kind of like a sandpaper patch. Many little (micro) needles in a patch. Very cool stuff, that they can now make needles so fine and small that it's no more painful than rubbing sandpaper on your skin. I can live with that. Not that the Flu shot hurts much, especially if you get someone who's really experienced it can be nothing worse than a mosquito bite feeling, but for those with a real aversion to needles, these are some very cool alternatives and hopefully will be a new option by next Flu season. If your one of those people who just doesn't believe in getting the shot, or think there is some kind of "conspiracy" behind it, GET A CLUE! The shot is your first, best and sometimes only protection from viruses. Remember this quote from the movie Outbreak "Man's most dangerous and deadly enemy is only 1/1000000th of his own size" and with today's "super bugs" and "bird flu's" like H1N1 we really need to utilize whatever is available to prevent  the infection and spread of these bugs. Trust me, if you have not had the Flu lately, you don't want it, it's absolute hell and it has me wishing I had got my shot this season and skipped this nightmare.

No post for a few more days, very sick.

I suppose it was inevitable that I get sick with something this season, but it couldn't be just a simple cold, or 24 hour flu. No, it had to be the full blown, knock you down and kick you while your down, flu. I feel like I've been run over by a truck. Back to bed for me.

Cutting open doors and trunk on a 69 GTO Judge, Part 2

As promised, here is the second installment of my 69 Judge with working doors and trunk. We left off with reassembling the doors and now it's time to make some hinges. The simple hinge we will use requires some supplies which are very cheap. Well need a length of brass tube and brass rod, available at most hobby shops and about $1.50 each. We will also need a rotary tool to cut the tube. Using a cut-off wheel on the rotary tool, cut a small length of brass tube about a 1/4 inch or less. Now cut a piece of rod about 2 1/2 inches and slide the brass tube onto the middle of the rod and bend each end of the rod around the tube creating a sort of rectangle shape. Here's a pic.

Now we want to bend the two end downward to create a sort of right angle triangle with the ends.
Some more pics.

For the final bends, we want to make the ends of the rod to finish straight not angled down. What your left with should look like a little pyramid/triangle that can sit on a flat surface. More pics.

All that remains is to cut 2 more 1/4 inch lengths of tube to put inside the door, for this end of the hinge to fit into. Mount/glue this bent rod part of the hinge inside the gap in the body in front of the door. Glue it on the body side of the front corner panel, not the interior side or it won't work. The reason for this kind of hinge is so that when the doors open freely, the hinge allows the door to open without grinding or binding on the door edges and chipping the paint or worse because of the bent design and the fact that the rods can slide in and out of the the tubes. Again, during this process, door and hinge fitment is important to check and adjust often and if you need to grind or cut away some material to do so, then do so. Some re bending of the of the rod may also be needed to get the doors flush. I had to grind away quite a bit of plastic on the inside of the doors to get them to fit right and tweak the rods a little too. It should basically look like this when it's in there.

That's it, do the same kind of hinge for the trunk and you ready to decal, detail and clear coat the model (with the doors and trunk on). Mask or cover your windows to keep the paint out of the interior. Then all that remains is to build the rest of the model (engine, undercarriage, wheels etc.) Which is what I have to do now. Have fun!