'29 Model A and some current projects

[atomicholiday]

What's up gentlemen!  Being a new guy around here, I thought it was about time to show you my last completed build and give you a taste of what's happening on my bench lately.

So before we begin, let me back up a bit.  Like many of you, I've taken a few breaks from the hobby during my life for various reasons.  I won't go into all the details, but for now, suffice to say that I came back again around a year and a half ago.  I started working on the Revell '29 Ford Roadster on and off, and finally finished it last November 2022.  That's the last model I've completed so far.  More on that later.  As you can tell, my output isn't exactly on the high end.  It had been eight years prior to that, that I actually finished another build.  What can I say other than that life happens.  It's all good though.  And with the completion of the '29, I've been hard at work at the bench, hoping to up my skill set and start bringing some kits across the finish line with a little more frequency.

After finishing the Model A, I decided I wasn't happy with my painting abilities, especially after seeing some of the incredible stuff that was being done by others on the web.  To that end, I decided to spend this spring / summer focusing almost exclusively on my painting skills.  Until it gets too cold to paint outside, I don't have plans to finish a kit.  Just keep practicing painting for now, and then when the snow flies, I should have plenty to keep me busy, and start getting some stuff finished.  I'm getting better, but I'm not 100% of the way there yet.  Practice, Practice, Practice!!

So with this thread, I want to show you my '29 Ford (a great little kit, by the way), and also a few of the projects I have in the works at the moment.  They aren't under glass yet, but they're well on their way. 

Comments, questions, and constructive criticism are always welcome.  Without further ado...











Here are some of my current projects.  For some reason, lately I've gotten into some oddball cars that aren't typical of my interests.  The first one is my AMT Pinto Pintera mocked up after paint.  This one is nearing completion.  I'm really going for a heavy '70s street rod vibe with this one.





Next up is this little AMT short body Beetle from the Coke series.  Truthfully, the only reason I even started this kit was because I got it for $5 and was using it for paint practice.  As time has gone on, I'm starting to dig it though.



And lastly, this Revell snap Porsche Boxster I got for Christmas several years ago.



That's it for now.  Hope you enjoy!

[70 STING]

Great looking ‘29. I dunno, your paint skills look on point to me. :^)

I’ve been wanting to build a Pinto kit as it was my very first 1:1 car (actually a Mercury Bobcat), but I’ve heard those kits are pretty nasty in terms of fit. Not seeing any issues with your Pintera. :^)

[kyledehart5]

I also think your paint skills look really good. I love the Pinto and the 29. Always love a roadster. Great job!

[kyledehart5]

Sept 6, 2023 16:12:29 GMT -5 70 STING said:

Great looking ‘29. I dunno, your paint skills look on point to me. :^)

I’ve been wanting to build a Pinto kit as it was my very first 1:1 car (actually a Mercury Bobcat), but I’ve heard those kits are pretty nasty in terms of fit. Not seeing any issues with your Pintera. :^)

If it makes you feel any better a friend of mine built the US Mail boxing and he had no issues with it.

[handiabled]

Sept 6, 2023 22:27:08 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

I also think your paint skills look really good. I love the Pinto and the 29. Always love a roadster. Great job!

I have to second this! What color and brand/kind of paint did you use on the '29 Ford?

[buddho]

Beautiful finish on the Model A. Your paintjobs are outstanding. Did you use a metallic basecoat on any?

[atomicholiday]

Thanks very much to you all for the kind words! It means a lot to me, especially coming from a group like this, who I consider to be some of the best modellers in the hobby.

Let me back up a little bit and give you some more of my model building history, before we talk about what was used.
My first return to the hobby was about 23ish years ago. I got pretty into it and bought a couple books on the subject. At the time I didn’t have any internet or know anyone who could show me how to do things, so books were all I had. I didn’t want my paint jobs to look like they had when I was a kid. That’s when I discovered the airbrush. I got hooked and actually did some work that I was pretty happy with.

Then my young family outgrew my first house. Enter my second hiatus from the hobby. Building the new house and just really embracing the family life put everything on hold for a few more years. Then about eight years ago I got the bug and built another kit. Here’s where the plot thickens. In this house, I don’t have a good way to vent a paint booth. I just sprayed that sucker right out in the open in my basement, and sucked in a ton of fumes. Stupid, I know. And it got me thinking, I really didn’t want to keep doing that and risk health issues.

That was a long story just to say that what I decided, was to go back to basics and learn to get good paint jobs from a spray can, painting outside. By asking questions on another forum, and watching videos, I’m little by little getting better with each kit.


So, to answer your questions, from the top.

The ‘29 Ford is Testors Extreme lacquer Flaming Orange, right over bare plastic. No clear coat or wet sanding. Just shot it and polished it. This was my first attempt at using lacquer paint.

The Pintera is DupliColor Perfect Match Forest Green pearl, with Perfect Match clear coat. That one got wet sanded and polished out. Grey primer base.

The Beetle is Testors extreme lacquer again. Star Spangled blue over grey primer. This is top coated with Rustolium Lacquer clear coat. Yes, you read that right. It’s Rustolium. I was surprised too, but this stuff is fantastic. Very easy to control compared with other Rustolium products.
Still need to go back and rub out the finish.

And lastly, the Boxster is Tamiya TS26 pure white and Testors extreme lacquer blazing black. Over coated with the Rustolium again. I’ve shot two cars with Tamiya TS paint and so far it’s by far the easiest, most forgiving stuff I’ve used. This one also needs rubbed out still.

This has not been an easy journey. True confession time, every one of them has been stripped and repainted at least once, some of them more than once. Don’t even ask about the beetle…
On the bright side, I think I’ve mastered the art of stripping paint!😁

[atomicholiday]

Sept 6, 2023 16:12:29 GMT -5 70 STING said:

Great looking ‘29. I dunno, your paint skills look on point to me. :^)

I’ve been wanting to build a Pinto kit as it was my very first 1:1 car (actually a Mercury Bobcat), but I’ve heard those kits are pretty nasty in terms of fit. Not seeing any issues with your Pintera. :^)

So far the Pintera is going together ok. The only issue I see is that a lot of the parts don’t have any defined mounting points. The engine, for example, has only one point of contact, at the transmission. There are no motor mounts. It’s not to difficult to correct though. I’m still trying to decide how I want to mount the side exhaust pipes.

[Leon]

Your painting skills look good by the models you posted!

[Leon]

I have a portable spray booth and it works great when using a spray can!

[deafpanzer]

You definitely are a talented modeler and I am glad you are here with us so we all can share tips and help others how to get better. That's the forum is all about and of course to make new friends!

[atomicholiday]

Sept 7, 2023 19:28:19 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

…we all can share tips and help others how to get better. That's the forum is all about and of course to make new friends!

I couldn’t have said this better. I started reading these forums for the tips, but soon after, discovered the social aspect. Where else can you go on a daily basis to hang out and talk plastic with like minded people, creating good friends along the way. 👍

[406 Silverado]

Sept 8, 2023 6:09:56 GMT -5 atomicholiday said:

Sept 7, 2023 19:28:19 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

…we all can share tips and help others how to get better. That's the forum is all about and of course to make new friends!

I couldn’t have said this better. I started reading these forums for the tips, but soon after, discovered the social aspect. Where else can you go on a daily basis to hang out and talk plastic with like minded people, creating good friends along the way. 👍

  This is actually the real goal of any given forum. There are some that just post their stuff and jet.....kind of a "look at me" mindset but the true aim is to help folks not only get better in modeling but to also have fellowship with one another. That's one of the good things about this forum is alot of folks here have something more to say than just "awesome" or "great build". We're "birds of a feather" so you'll actually get a conversation started on any given post or build and we promote that here. The idea is to respond to another member they way we would if they were face to face. I highly doubt that if you and I, for instance, met up face to face and saw each other's builds that we would just say "awesome" or "good build" and walk away.

On a related note to your post, I'm actually an aircraft modeler at heart Jeremy. With that being said, I felt that my aircraft painting skillset needed ....well....an overhaul. I pretty much stopped building aircraft in 2014 and shifted to autos to work on my gloss paint jobs. After building one....I was hooked. I spent the next 5 or so years watching talented members and folks on youtube build aircraft and bookmarked alot of the great techniques along the way. I finally started coming back around to aircraft in 2019/2020 and used the bookmarked techniques and found that my paint work had taken a turn for the better. I still build autos but relish building aircraft now in alot better way.

Your roadster looks pretty dang spiffy and I like your results on the subsequent builds that you posted up. Rustoleum and Model Master teamed up a few years before MM went belly up. Look on the back of your MM spray cans and you'll see the Rustoleum logo.

[kyledehart5]

Sept 8, 2023 7:14:03 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Sept 8, 2023 6:09:56 GMT -5 atomicholiday said:

I couldn’t have said this better. I started reading these forums for the tips, but soon after, discovered the social aspect. Where else can you go on a daily basis to hang out and talk plastic with like minded people, creating good friends along the way. 👍

  This is actually the real goal of any given forum. There are some that just post their stuff and jet.....kind of a "look at me" mindset but the true aim is to help folks not only get better in modeling but to also have fellowship with one another. That's one of the good things about this forum is alot of folks here have something more to say than just "awesome" or "great build". We're "birds of a feather" so you'll actually get a conversation started on any given post or build and we promote that here. The idea is to respond to another member they way we would if they were face to face. I highly doubt that if you and I, for instance, met up face to face and saw each other's builds that we would just say "awesome" or "good build" and walk away.

On a related note to your post, I'm actually an aircraft modeler at heart Jeremy. With that being said, I felt that my aircraft painting skillset needed ....well....an overhaul. I pretty much stopped building aircraft in 2014 and shifted to autos to work on my gloss paint jobs. After building one....I was hooked. I spent the next 5 or so years watching talented members and folks on youtube build aircraft and bookmarked alot of the great techniques along the way. I finally started coming back around to aircraft in 2019/2020 and used the bookmarked techniques and found that my paint work had taken a turn for the better. I still build autos but relish building aircraft now in alot better way.

Your roadster looks pretty dang spiffy and I like your results on the subsequent builds that you posted up. Rustoleum and Model Master teamed up a few years before MM went belly up. Look on the back of your MM spray cans and you'll see the Rustoleum logo.

Interesting. I knew you built aircraft of course, because you’ve shared your beautiful builds in the past. But I’d never considered how mastering a nice automotive finish would also translate over and improve your aircraft paint jobs as well. I mean, it totally makes sense, I had just never thought of that. And I’d also like to add that this forum has nailed the social aspect better than basically any other I have joined. Great to come here and join in conversations.

[atomicholiday]

Sept 8, 2023 7:14:03 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Sept 8, 2023 6:09:56 GMT -5 atomicholiday said:

On a related note to your post, I'm actually an aircraft modeler at heart Jeremy. With that being said, I felt that my aircraft painting skillset needed ....well....an overhaul. I pretty much stopped building aircraft in 2014 and shifted to autos to work on my gloss paint jobs. After building one....I was hooked. I spent the next 5 or so years watching talented members and folks on youtube build aircraft and bookmarked alot of the great techniques along the way. I finally started coming back around to aircraft in 2019/2020 and used the bookmarked techniques and found that my paint work had taken a turn for the better. I still build autos but relish building aircraft now in alot better way.

That's really interesting Joe.  I went the other direction.  After gassing myself with the last build I shot in the basement, I tried my hand at building aircraft.  Thought maybe it would be easier (boy was I wrong).  But I did learn a lot of techniques from the military crowd, and I think because of that, I now build cars with a much more open-minded approach.  It's something I would highly recommend to anybody who builds any style of model.  Trying something way out of your wheelhouse is very beneficial. 

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure you were one of the guys I was stealing ideas from way back then!

[406 Silverado]

Sept 10, 2023 8:59:47 GMT -5 atomicholiday said:

Sept 8, 2023 7:14:03 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

On a related note to your post, I'm actually an aircraft modeler at heart Jeremy. With that being said, I felt that my aircraft painting skillset needed ....well....an overhaul. I pretty much stopped building aircraft in 2014 and shifted to autos to work on my gloss paint jobs. After building one....I was hooked. I spent the next 5 or so years watching talented members and folks on youtube build aircraft and bookmarked alot of the great techniques along the way. I finally started coming back around to aircraft in 2019/2020 and used the bookmarked techniques and found that my paint work had taken a turn for the better. I still build autos but relish building aircraft now in alot better way.

That's really interesting Joe.  I went the other direction.  After gassing myself with the last build I shot in the basement, I tried my hand at building aircraft.  Thought maybe it would be easier (boy was I wrong).  But I did learn a lot of techniques from the military crowd, and I think because of that, I now build cars with a much more open-minded approach.  It's something I would highly recommend to anybody who builds any style of model.  Trying something way out of your wheelhouse is very beneficial. 

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure you were one of the guys I was stealing ideas from way back then!

That may very well be. I was building aircraft when I first joined MCM around 9 years ago.

[ak]

Excellent A. That’s a great kit and you’ve done it well!