Spiny

That's easily sorted - just make a list of everything @Andy J buys this year and demonstrate your self-control by saying "This is what the typical modeller buys"

Looks like a good beginning to this, the red paint is looking very smooth. I think that this kit is pretty much reknowned for that line around the waistline - the one I made 30 years had exactly that issue even though I had the sides and the top reasonably well aligned so as Redstaff said a lot of people will be interested to see how you sorted it if you do.

I think Beemax kits are usually about £40-£50 so would expect something similar (says the person who hasn't bought a Beemax kit yet!)

My experience of the Humbrol Gloss on the wheels and spoon is that although it goes cloudy far too easily, that cloudiness appears to be a result of it forming a decidedly non-glossy surface texture. I'm about 80% sure thatmy usual process of spending far longer than is desirable on polishing out my rubbish clearcoating will yield semi-acceptable results.

It is a very good colour, I used it on the XJ-S and was very pleased with the results. One thing which unfortunately doesn't show too well on the pics above is that it is a metallic and has very fine flakes so you have the added benefit that the flake looks pretty well in proportion, even in photographs which have a tendency to exaggerate the flake effect. If you're looking at using it then I can only encourage you. The only thing to watch for is that like all metallics you're best off trying to paint all parts in one go - I ended up with a slight mismatch between body and bonnet as a result of forgetting this.

Two days ago... Back on topic, if Hiroboy are the only place in town to get it then there could be a lot worse - I've only had good experiences from there.

If that's the worst kit you've ever built then I think you can be happy with how your projects have gone - yes it may have fought but it's still the sort of result I'd be happy to have in my cabinet. Now if you want bad builds, just think of some of those from when I was a teenager which have appeared in my restoration threads...

That's a shame about the green paint not playing ball, unusual as I've used that colour on my current project and it's sprayed very nicely. I could understand it pulling away with no primer, but you have primed it so my next question is whether you tested the primer/colouir combination beforehand? Nonetheless I like the way this is going. All the work you've done here really looks as though it belongs, it's shaping up to look great once done. And I do find it interesting how you can make something which looks so different to mine from the same kit

I did do the pool method, but then I found that dipping the brush in the little wells around the nib worked just as well and didn't waste ink (which suits my Yorkshire blood ).I'll agree about the Green Stuff World Chrome, it seems to be good for brushing too. Similar performance to the Molotow Chrome, only you get more chrome for your buck.

Thanks for mentioning the Mr. Hobby Clear. That's something I had thought about, but must admit that I had expected it to be very similar to the Tamiya spray only harder to get hold of (in the same way that their acrylic paints are similar). So to hear that it's gentler on decals than Tamiya means I will have to give it a try if it's available when I make my next kit purchase. I'm particularly drawn to their UV protective clear so may give that one a go if I can get it. But for this build I'll be doing as @Fnick said above, only without the extra clear coat. I had a similar issue with the chassis and another clear coat got rid of the cloudiness, but I also found from both the spoon and wheel hubs that polishing alone can get rid of it and give a good shine - that's the plan for this and if it doesn't work I'll just give it another clear coat. It's not as if the roof has much detail anyway

That TS-53 is the same colour as I used on the XJ-S. I cleared that with TS-13 and had no issues (make sure you apply a couple of mist coats first just to be on the safe side though, but that applies to any paint) so if you like the Tamiya Clear there's no reason not to go with it.. The spoiler looks excellent - very nice work there and it's already shaping up to be an excellent model.

Good start to it, particularly when it's smaller than what you're used to. The painting looks particularly tidy. I don't know if you have any clear matt paint, but putting that on the timing belt (if you're feeling brave!) would tone down the shine on it, Fully agree about the headset magnifier - in the past couple of years mine has gone from being very useful for getting the fine detail in to being a necessity for anything which needs a 5/0 brush or finer. Glad it's working for you, as you're finding they make a big difference and allow you to do stuff you wouldn't normally even be able to see. Also, as you have the Molotow Chrome, be aware that for really fine bits you can dip a paintbrush into the bit around the nib and paint it on if you're quick enough to stop it drying on the brush.

Right, bad news out of the way first.... spraying. The first bit of spraying this weekend was the final bit of colour coat - the orange for the front end. And contrary to that previous sentance this went very will with the orange laying down nicely and no creeping under the masking tape or overspray. But today was a different matter as I added the first bit of clear to the van on the roof. This is why I try to avoid using Humbrol Clear if I can avoid it - some rain this afternoon added 10% to the humidity and the clear became cloud. What's really weird is that shiny spot which is where the barbecue skewer is stuck on the reverse, I can only think that there must be some sort of thermal mass from the glue or stick which prevented the bloom on the clear paint. Revell Clear spray cans getting back in stock can't come soon enough, after this episode I'm almost tempted to risk decals on future projects with TS-13 rather than this. I'm hoping (based on a similar thing happening with the spoon) that this will polish out and I can go back to a nice shiny green. See also the wheel hub covers in the photo at the bottom of this post. As for that decal - I can't remember if I mentioned earlier but I managed to break it into 3 pieces getting it off the backing (it seems to take a long time for the glue to soften), but fortunately I seem to have managed to get it something like straight with no obvious cracks. So back to the build of the chassis. Less progress than I was hoping, but what was achieved has worked reasonably well. The delay was mostly down to me doing a bit more painting on the bottom end of the engine/gearbox - that bit you can see is only called out as steel in the instructions but it's had four colours on it plus a black wash over the central area. The axle behind it was also installed this weekend, and I figured this was a good time to temporarily attach the wheels to see how it stands, The good news is that it doesn't look at the moment as though this is going to be a tripod. The wheels aren't fitted properly for another 25 steps or so, but it's good to know they shouldn't be an issue. And that's all for this week. Thanks for looking.

It certainly doesn't look as though it gave you a kicking. Good job.

http://www.belkits.com/ "BEL022" on here, it seems to be taking an age to appear though (which on the bright side is good for the wallet!)