Neddy

Stressing the obvious here, from my recent experience you'd need to apply a coat of PVA adhesive (maybe diluted) just before applying the embossing powder. Having applied it, don't tap or shake anything off until the adhesive is totally dry. Don't be afraid to be heavy-handed, just shake it off onto an A4 sheet when all is dry and - using the paper as a funnel - tip it back in the container to use again. If you're already doing all that, my apologies - I'm new to it myself but that was the method i used.

You certainly will here, trust me! Welcome to the club.

The colour is actually "Aluminium" but its an awful flat grey in actual fact. As soon as it's hardened I'll flat it and repaint it silver. I'm a bit reluctant to try another "aluminium" coloured paint!

Having acquired a sheet of 0.5mm Plasticard (courtesy of Weston Model Centre in Teynham - thanks and nice to see round your shop!) production has continued. I've cut, shaped and fitted the panelling in the rear of the passenger tub and ground away the interior door and side panel detailing, the intention being to represent a stripped bare and aluminium panelled interior... ...and given it a first coat of aluminium paint (at least, that's wot it said on the tin!)... ...but I'm really not sure about the colour. I think I can represent aluminium panelling better than that. Now back to some straightforward building. I've started assembling the power plant - Ford 427 V8 - prior to building up the rolling chassis. Thanks for watching! More at 11...

Hi Asier,

As I'm experiencing the severest slowdowns and errors in the early evening, traditionally the busiest time on the 'Net, I suspect it's server/hosting overload in one form or another. I'd therefore look first at the Host, I think.

Wot they said!

A gorgeous piece of work. Beautifully executed paint job, detailing just right, really well finished all round. Lovely unusual colour but it suits the E-Type perfectly.

Welcome to the forum from another comparative newcomer with a similar history. Whilst I'm currently a car modeller I used to build just about everything in my teens and earlier, back in the 1960s. Please don't be shy of posting your builds on the forum, they will be of interest to other members regardless. Do bear in mind that here you'll find all levels of ability from the absolute experts right down to my level and they're all of interest. I've found nothing but friendship and encouragement since joining - I've also learned a huge amount from tips and polite comments generously provided by others.

Well it's certainly drawn blood! In attempting to remove some of the masses of extraneous resin with a mini-drill and a cutting disc I skimmed a finger and discovered the hard way what an efficient tool it is... I'm now working on the interior tub which needs reducing in all three dimensions. Only one photo for now - having shortened it by 1cm at the front of the back seat... - as at the moment it's looking pretty awful. In keeping with the style I'm aspiring to I'll be making a spartan "aluminium panelled" interior from Plastikard in place of the seats and upholstery, leaving a single driver's seat. This, however, needs a supply of Plastikard which I'll be picking up on Friday when I visit a friend who is building a huge (entire garage-occupying) Hornby Dublo three-rail layout and happens to live fairly near a model shop. (Sanity? What is this "sanity" of which you speak? ) More next week...

I'd love to know where it came from, I haven't a clue but at least I'd know for the future. (This is not necessarily a recommendation!)

After an afternoon of thinking, measuring, more thinking, cutting, adjusting and fitting I've narrowed the chassis, reduced the rear wheelarch flare, shortened both front and rear ends and finally have a chassis that fits under the Zodiac shell. It still needs some tidying up but at least I now have something I can start to build on.

Another beautiful build in progress! Now, you are probably WAY ahead of me but did you know that Tamiya's TS-95 Pure Metallic Red was produced specifically for modelling current Mazdas, even down to using a finer metallic flake for as close a match as possible? Details here. Just thought you might find it useful.

Thanks for the encouragement people. I'm getting quite hooked on it now and finding a certain satisfaction from problem-solving that I can't get from OOB building - it's taking me back to my custom-building days when I was a teenager back in the 1960s. Having examined the 'shell more closely now it's free of the bulk of the all-pervading moulding flash, I can see it is in fact a Zodiac, not a Zephyr. Now I've passed the point of no return on it I'd better deal with all those air bubbles.

Having paused the Mustang build to let the paint harden I'm passing the time with a bit of a mental (in both senses of the word) exercise which may or may not interest you. HEALTH WARNING! This project is completely nuts and may not even succeed but it'll be fun trying. Anyone wishing to preserve brain cells may leave now. A while ago I was gifted by my youngest brother probably the mankiest (technical term) resin bodyshell I've ever encountered, together with a box of assorted spares and an incomplete kit, A challenge to accomplish something with this pile of accompanied the package. I wouldn't have even attempted it but it was a Mk II Ford Zephyr 'shell which I've never seen before and the more I considered it the more tempted I became. This is what I was presented with... ...sadly incomplete but enough there to form the basis of a build. After two solid hours of work on the 'shell it began to take shape... ...and I decided it was worth continuing. Now I have no glass, interior or anything else for this but the donor kit looked to contain possibilities, but what would be the end result? Inspiration struck while I was watching a video of Santa Pod's Run Wot Yer Brung event recently and the sight of anything from rat rods to 1950s Austins sporting blown V8s, massive wheels and tyres decided me. This will be in the spirit of 1960s American Gassers, hence the thread title. First I needed a chassis to mount the thing on and provide some running gear. The Thunderbolt's chassis was far too long but about the right(ish) width so I set about re-working it to match the wheelbase of the Zephyr, sectioning it from a point just in front of the rear spring mounts and removing about 1cm before carefully realigning, joining and strengthening the two halves with spare plastic pieces from the parts box... BEFORE:- After sectioning and whilst drying having reassembled and reinforced the join... Next the Thunderbolt 'shell gave up it's engine bay to give me something to mount the front suspension on... Before... After... That's it so far, I'm designing as I go a bit so some more thinking will ensue before the next major stage. If you think I'm crackers please feel free to say so, you could very well be right!

Quick update: I'm pleased with the way the shell has sprayed up and I'm not going to ruin it by handling it, hacking it, using masking tape or anything else on it until it's hardened completely so I'm leaving it for a couple of weeks and meantime have started another project which couldn't be further removed from this. Having got far enough with it to realise I have a chance of producing something worth talking about I'll be starting a new build thread shortly. Thanks for your patience and interest so far, normal (!) service will be resumed as soon as possible.

...or a razor-saw?

One additional point about the CA itself: the gel-based variant can be a pain to use and take too long to dry. You will get better results with the basic original CA IMHO.

"Coming to life" is an understatement! Have you tried starting it yet?

Thanks again for your valuable knowledge and advice. In return, I've found a way of unclogging the recalcitrant incredibly fine metal applicator (think hypodemic nerdle!) with thanks to YouTube contributors. Gripping said applicator with a pair of needle-nose pliers to act as a heatsink, I briefly ran it over a flame a few times. It became red-hot within a second each time and something must have happened as it now works perfectly. I'll use it up first before going onto TET.

Thanks all for the valuable advice. Tamiya Extra Thin it is then! Digressing slightly, I've yet to find a Tamiya product that is anything but excellent. Nice to have a brand you can rely on, innit?

When I rejoined the modelling world a year or two ago after a 40+ year absence I knew as much about modern tools and materials as Eric Pickles did about hang-gliding so I researched adhesives (amongst other things) and was recommended the DeLuxe Materials range, specifically their Roket Plastic Glue for .er.. plastic, and their Glue and Glaze for transparent plastic items. Having found both to be OK I ran into a problem today with the Roket Plastic Glue in that the no-clog fine metal applicator nozzle had irretrievably clogged up. Having found replacement nozzles are available but for the same price as a complete new bottle (!) I thought before buying either I'd ask the opinions of people who know a lot more about what's available than I do. For plastic parts assembly, do I:- (a) stick (sorry!) with DeLuxe Adhesives Roket Plastic Glue? (b) stick with DeLuxe Materials but try another of their products instead? (c) try something totally different? Your advice would be really appreciated!

I'd like to add my weight to that, I'm experiencing precisely the same as PeterB and have been for the past several days.

Now this is my kind of modelling! '60s/70s US iron, incomplete kit so no urge to replicate the original, be as creative as you please. I'm going to enjoy this...