Alan R

I have some old guitar strings, but not used then yet...

This happens to me quite frequently! For me, it's not taking the time at the primer and prep stage... Still, I think I'm improving... Cheers, Alan

The only thing that comes to mind was when I was building an ancient Revell Ferrari 308. The gear knob was somewhat anaemic and wimpy in chrome. I used a round headed sewer's pin. I had to cut the end off to make the shaft short enough (That was a bit of a trial. The steel in the pin is quite hard!) I painted the head black and it slotted right in to the gear shift gate. Slightly oversized, but a vast improvement over the kit provided abomination... Cheers, Alan.

I agree. paint.net is a very good tool. Cheers, Alan.

I generally find that the Tamiya Gloss Acrylics take a little longer than the Flat acrylics to fully cure when thinned with Mr. Color Levelling thinners. Cheers, Alan.

I'll be honest, I have never seen a 'proper' Landy with a shiny finish. I suggest a satin finish. Maybe mix the Tamiya Gloss and Matt clears? Cheers, Alan.

Hi Olivier, In the dim and distant past, I did used to thin enamels with Cellulose thinners. It does seem to reduce the drying time. It certainly does help prevent dust accumulation because a 'skin' forms much quicker as the thinners vapourise off much quicker. Cheers, Alan.

Hi Olivier, I did some experiments a short while ago, trying Mr Color Levelling thinners on various paints, unfortunately not enamel paints. This is what I discovered: Tamiya Acrylics: Works Perfectly with these. It's my preferred thinner when spraying. It's a bit "hot" for brush painting. Subsequent coats can gen 'pulled' up by the brush action, even when the previous coats are several days old. I keep a 30 ml jar of my custom mix of semi-gloss black (3 XF1 + 2 X1 + 10 Mr Levelling thinners) as it is a frequently used colour on my work-bench. And, with care, I can brush paint it on small parts, currently my Hasegawa XJ-S transmission parts. I like the high ratio of thinners as it does give a smooth finish when spraying. I suspect that a lower ratio would make the brushing problem go away. Mr Color (The acrylic resin paint): No problem here as it was designed for the paint. Citadel miniatures: Doesn't work well. It doesn't actually thin the paint. If anything, the paint becomes slightly thicker! The best thinner for Citadel paints is distilled water or Tamiya Acrylic thinners. I love their Abbadon Black as a base coat for small parts that are going to be painter aluminium or similar. Humbrol Acrylics: Avoid! Like the plague! When I mixed the Humbrol acrylic with Mr. Color levelling thinners, it turned into a very messy, sticky goo! You probably could use it as a glue! This is not a criticism of the Humbrol acrylic colours, because when used with the right thinners, it sprays well, and brush-paints well. This is most likely due to the fact that the Humbrol paints aren't lacquer/resin based. Revell Acrylic: I didn't test this combination, simply because I forgot. I suspect they may react in the same way as the Humbrol. I have read that just using distilled water works well with Revell acrylics. Zero Paints (Primers and colours): Works very well. I usually go for a 50:50 - 50:75 Paint/Thinners mix. I makes for a smoother finish than just ZP on it's own. This was a bit of a surprise discovery, to be honest. Sorry for hijacking your excellent thread. Cheers, Alan.

Absolutely lovely! It looks like it would fit in in any of the SW films.. Cheers, Alan..

I have about 20 - 30 'on the go', so to speak. Mostly stalled because I lost interest for a while... I am properly working on a Tamiya Ford GT and Tamiya Eggenberger Sierra, both nearing completion. Then it's back to the XJS and XJR9 and .. .. .. Cheers, Alan.

Or a more Scifi'y perspective - "Poking a Rancor in the eye" ... Cheers, Alan.

That looks like a Mutant Yellow Submarine ! Love it! Cheers, Alan.

Love both! Both have seen a bit of life... What make kit is the Blitz? Cheers, Alan.

You are correct. I should have finished this long ago... Cheers. Alan.

Hello All, Another minor update. I have nearly completed the suspension. This is where I am at: Front suspension and steering. Rear discs and drive shafts. Rear sub-frame with brakes installed. From a different angle. From above. More to come, I hope. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Alan.

Hi All, Some more pictures: The rear wheel attached. Thanks to finding the little nut... Front wheel assembly. Waiting for me to get the forks and handlebars sorted. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Alan.

Hi All, A minor update. Not much, but progress... "Engine" and front suspension fitted. I'm working on the rear. Hopefully, I can get that posted later. Thanks for looking, Alan.

Hi All, This was inspired by Andy J's thread. I realised that I had this in my stash. It had been abandoned due to a number of unfortunate events that put me off continuing with it. I had sprayed the body shell with Humbrol Spray Enamel black. The finish was absolutely superb. I then put the decals on. Again all went really well. Then I decided to clear coat the body to seal the decals in. Absolute disaster! There was a reaction between the enamel and the Lacquer clear! I should have realised this would happen, but we all have our moments of madness. So, it got bunged in the loft for a number of years. In that time, I lost the wheels and tyres. This was definitely looking to be a bin-job! However, I thought about giving it a bit of TLC. My initial plan was to strip the beast and re-spray it and put new decals on it. I bought the Shunko Texaco decals in preparation (I hear that they are a bit of a problem to apply!) Anyway, to cut a long story short, Andy J's thread inspired me to take a look again. I looked at the 'mess' that the lacquer had made of my beautiful paint job, and realised that it wasn't as bad as I originally thought it was. So I decided to carefully sand back the damaged lacquer areas, and try to polish it up as best I could. What could I lose? If I screwed up, I could always strip it back, re-paint and put the new decals on it. I sanded it back with assorted grades of abrasive, starting at 240 grit, to remove the peaks of the damage (very gently, by the way). I then sanded it a bit more with 1500, 2500 grit wet-n-dry, followed by some Tamiya 3000 grit lapping film. Then I used some Zero Paints polishing compound. Finally I buffed it up with some Halfords aerosol based polishing compound. (I don't think you can get it any more, but a 500ml tin lasts for almost ever!) The outcome is that The body-shell now looks perfectly acceptable, with the wrinkling effect almost entirely invisible! I also managed to source some suitable wheels and tyres. I think that the rrear wheels are a bit wider, but I'll just offset them a bit, and if you don't look to closely, you won't see the issue! So, onwards: The box. Nice dynamic image. So, The front doesn't look as bad as in this pic. I think the camera has highlighted the issue. To the naked Mk 1 eyeball, it looks OK. I have since tidied it up a bit, removed all the residues etc. I have made further progress with this, just not captured yet. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Alan.

Hello All, July 2018! Nearly three years! I decided to pick this one up again. Not much in the way of pictures, but some progress anyway. Here are the assorted gubbins that I started working on again: The radiator (and fans), the inlet Plenum and front discs. One of the reasons that this got stalled was the fact that I couldn't find the little nut that holds the rear wheel in place. I worked out the size (M2 4mm across flats), and ordered some from Amazon. Guess what, the next day, I found the nut in the box! Oh well, small nuts will come in useful. The air box (Plenum) and carburettors fitted. It looks complex, but the fit onto the engine is accurate and secure. Fitted! I have done more, but not captured in pixels yet. More soon. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Alan.

Hello All, Finally, an update! I had been using the Hobby Design Photo-etch set to replace all the vents with more realistic PE grilles. This was a bit tedious, but worth it in the end: You can just see the grilles here at the back of the body shell. The tail-lights were installed, again some PE was installed in them. The rear of the lens was painted in Molotow Chrome, and the outside parts painted with Tamiya Clear Red. If you look very carefully, you may (or may not!) see the PE inside the rear lights. The headlamps are mini kits in their own right. I think that there are 15 parts (including the extra photo-etch) in each unit. They were a bit fiddly to assemble, but once made up, they just slip into place. And here they are, fitted in the body shell: The rear end. Some bits installed, including the exhaust pipes. What most people will see (if they get a chance), rapidly diminishing in size! Oops! Needs some attention! Those side markers are painted with Molotow Chrome on the inside and Tamiya Clear on the outside. The fit here is superb. All attached with Hi-tack PVA glue. The rear-view mirror with the Tamiya mirror 'decal'. It was more shiny than the PE bit provided with the Hobby Design set. PVA glue is definitely the safest adhesive where windows are concerned. From above. Windshield wipers installed, also glued in with PVA glue. All the glazing installed. I very nearly just 'clicked' into place. I have secured it with PVA glue, just to be safe. Front suspension, partially installed. Ready for the front axles and steering rack. From another angle. I have made further progress, I just haven't captured it in pixels yet! Thanks for looking. Cheers, Alan. .

Hello All, Finally, an update. I can't believe that it's over a year since I did some work on this one. I have been beavering away quietly in the background for some time, but couldn't be bothered to fire up the laptop until now. Things got a bit busy lately, and I had lost the appetite for a while, but in the last three weeks I have got back the desire to do some more modelling. So, here we go: The shell was painted white, and I needed to paint the 'Lavender' colour around the base of the body. Part of the reason this stalled was the thought of having to mask the damn thing! I recently bought some of the Tamiya narrow vinyl masking take and I tried that out. It seems to work really well around compound curves. The picture is a bit blurred, and the complex curves don't really show up well. Sprayed with Tamiya TS-37, which after a couple of coats came up nice and shiny. Masking removed: A couple of minor touch-ups needed, but otherwise fine. I wasn't totally happy with the exhaust junctions , the plumbing is quite complex, so I had another go at filling and sanding. I made my own version of Mr Dissolved Putty, It was a mixture of Mr White Putty and some cellulose thinners. I was then able to paint the 'goo' into the 'chasm', thus: Bit of a mess at the moment. I left that for about 48 hours to completely cure before sanding back the filler. It's a bit messy, but a vast improvement on the chasm that was originally there. And, finally the rear spoiler, masked, sprayed and masking removed. There was a minor spot where the paint didn't cover (On the leading edge, of all places!) A tiny blob of the paint on a micro-brush, carefully applied resolved that with no obvious 'lump' That's all for the moment. More soon, I hope (Decal application...) Thanks for looking. Cheers, Alan.

Hi All, Not all bought at the same time, and what's more I may have reported some of them already.: I like to look of this car. On inspection, looks really nice. Another classic that I built back in the day. I gave the original to a friend who was a bit of a Lotus nut. Been looking for one of these for a while. This one came up at a reasonable price. All I need now is the New Fiat 500 model (Italeri or Fujimi, I'm not that bothered), then I will have the normal and Abarth versions of the original and the new 500... I don't think I built this the first time around. But couldn't resist when Airfix put in on their website earlier this year. At a very good price as well. I just wish Airfix would re-release the Bond Bug. Come on Airfix... I have heard lots of stories about how this one is the 'unbuildable' kit. I have read many mixed reviews. Looking at the one I've got, It looks buildable, with no major warping. I think that lots of dry fitting and fettling will be in order. And this one is on it's way from Jadlam. Hope to get this one soon. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Alan.

Maybe he had to fit new tyres for the MOT? Cheers, Alan.

Looks like a well used specimen of agricultural machinery. The farmer must have looked after it! Cheers, Alan.

I don't recall the windscreen being a problem on my Fujimi 330. I think I stuck it in with a strong PVA glue. I don't use styrene cement, too much risk of melting the plastic. CA is out. I hate the stuff. I always end up with it sticking to me, not the intended site! Not only that, but there's the risk of fogging... Yours does look very good. Cheers, Alan.