I don't blog nearly enough...

Certainly not enough to support three blogs. I suppose I could explain it away by saying I'm too busy building models to blog, but that's not the case either. I'm actually a TV addict - a selective addict, to be sure, but an addict nonetheless. IN any case, here's a rundown of what's been happening.

I've been working on a 1953 Ford Victoria, the 1/24th Lingbergh kit, as a project request from a man who used to live in my condo. He had the car when he was a kid, and wanted a model of it as he owned it. The problem here is two-fold - first, he did some modifications to to the car (more later) which I'll have to duplicate. Second, part of those modifications included a custom paint job - nothing special, but I do have to mix paint colors.

I went to Model Car World Auto Finishes to get my paints - the best match I found was '57 or '58 Chevy Torch Red. You get a lot of paint for any order - two full ounces, I believe, in large jars that fit normal airbrush siphon caps. The paints are lacquer based, but my lacquer thinner wouldn't clean it - I had to use acetone. I'm sure if I used auto lacquer thinner, I wouldn't have this problem. The paint also needs to go on heavy and fast - spraying it like a model paint will result in a pebbly finish. 15 minute flash time between coats works well, and once dry, this stuff is hard as a rock.

Obviously, I've used it already - emptied one bottle already, working on the second. Then i notice a problem - I forgot to fill two small locator holes in the rear of the body. Some sanding and filling with styrene rod filled the holes, but now I need to reprepr and repaint those areas before I can lightly sand the dust bunnies and put on the final coats. The hood looks nice, though...

The modifications done to the real car are minor - removal of bumper guards, some chrome elements, and adding bullet taillights (stolen from the AMT '56 Victoria kit) - with one notable exception. The front grill is completely different - the stock grill was replaced with a bird-cage style grill. Since I couldn't find on, I had to make it - finished that yesterday. Styrene rod was heated gently and bent over a nail to get the righ angle. Six of these rods were lined up on a jig - basically a piece of wood with a notch cut out of it at the right angle. They were taped down to the jig with more rod between them as spacers. Then some smalle rrod was used to join them in the middle and the halfway to ends as indicated in the reference photos. I cut away the grill from the top grill frame on the stock piece, drilled a few holes to locate the joining rods in the top frame, and glued it in place. The results - not a bad likeness. The bottom of the new grill kicks out a bit from vertical, but the tension once it's in place will be helpful and bring it back into line.

I had one other small problem so far - the front end of the frame part is actually part of the front of the car. Seems the front bumper rests under it, and the grill on top. This means it will have to painted the body color as well, instead of the flat black it currently is. No worries - some masking and paint will help it. While I was working on the frame, I also replaced the coil-over shock pieces (which look horrible) with some real springs (twisted pair wire wrapped around some sprue, and the sprue doubled as the shock). Too bad you won't be able to see them once the car is done - they're snadwiched between the frame and the front axle supports, almost completely hidden. Oh well...

The flathead engine is done pretty much stock, with the exception of a turned aluminum distributor, electrical wiring, and replacing the stock belts with painted masking tape. The effect will be nice.

Anyway, I'm on my way - some touch up, a few more coats of paint, and I'll be ready to jump on the interior.

One other thing I've done is cull my collection of military models. I just can't justify doing weapons of war when I don't (and haven't) agreed with U.S. military policy since about 1861. So, I'm working on strictly civilian subjects. Oh, when I say "cull my collection", I mean I pulled all my military stuff (well, most of it - there are a few pieces that I've either started, promised to people, or can convert to civilian or rescue subjects) and traded it to a friend for a jointer/planer. The hardest part? I love some of those planes and at least one of the models was expensive and hard to part with - the price of principles. Ah well...