DEAL'S WHEELS BUG CONVERTIBLE-NEW PICS

[Wardster]

eggzilla said:

I considered it until I got it fixed. Then I cracked it from the windshield to the patch in the hood where the tach used to be. Looks like this one is going to be more fun than I can stand! I may go to a back up and save this one for a rainy
day!

Nooo! Don't you dare, Keith: darn it! That one looked too cool to go into "stalled project" mode!

I'll probably sound like a televangelist by saying how great this technique is -- if not now, then by repetition! -- but you guys gotta try DYED baking soda with super thin, liquid super glues.

I may write up a proper how-to on all this, with lots of pictures, for submission to the "Bad News" area of Dave's Show Rod Rally. (Assuming anyone's seriously interested in that?) But until then:

If you have some liquid super glue around, just pour a few drops on a piece of wax paper; or some scraps of sheet plastic. Take a tiny pinch of baking soda between two fingers. Make it "rain" a small amount of baking soda on the super glue. It will harden, within seconds. (Be ready for a strong odor; proper ventilation is a must when you use large amounts of this stuff!)

Pour another few drops. Try it again, but watch it at a slight angle this time -- so you can study the surface's reflectivity. Once you get your "small scale bombing" application technique down, you'll start to notice that even a super tiny amount sets off a reaction in the glue, wherever it hits; and that will spread, like a mini-wave.

Why is that cool, or useful? Because it dries nearly rock hard. You can use it both as a glue and as a filler material. You don't have to wait six zillion years to start sanding it; only to have it flake or chip off. And it'll look great under primer or paint; it's not grainy. (Unless you just blob on the baking soda, and do no sanding. But you can even do that on purpose, to give a big area more "tooth" for when you want to recontour an area with auto body filler.)

Here's the catch, though: it also dries pretty much clear! Because it is transparent, it's nearly impossible to know if you have used enough of the super glue; or too much of it. Ditto with sanding. With ordinary baking soda, you only have half the advantages. With dyed baking soda -- in my opinion! -- whole new worlds open up. Suddenly, there's all kinds of stuff I'm not the least bit afraid to attempt, now that I'm used to using that trick. You gotta try it, bud(s)!

To me, using older, more common methods of glueing and filling are right up there with being forced to use half-dried-up Elmer's glue. (It'd be so much trouble to get anything to stay attached, who'd ever build anything?) Discovering this is like discovering the use of something like Tenax, or Testors liquid glues, when you have only used tube glues before. It's "green eggs and ham!"

(But for the record, I still use things like Tenax, too; at least when two plastic parts or surfaces are close enough to touch each other ... but when they're not, or you want to fill seams fast ...!)

The dye I mentioned above is just inkjet refill ink. You just mix up a batch of the baking soda the night before you need it; let it dry overnight; and put it to use until that batch runs out. (In a pinch, regular artist's inks for technical pens should work okay too. I've also tried one of Casting Craft's transparent dyes that are meant for tinting their castable liquid acrylic substances. They all work. The only real problem with using the other stuff, that I've noticed to date, is that the inkjet ink dries pretty much clump-free; but the other stuff will have some hard-ish clumps to break up, after it has dried. It's more time/work that way, but it's still do-able.)

Question: guys, is anyone interested in me writing that "tip" up? (Several pages worth: heavy on pics, light on text.) With it you can repair cracks; fix missing sections of kit parts; and do wholesale "body bash" surgery ... and it's easy once you have done it a few times. It's also dirt cheap and very fast. Any takers?

If you're waffling on that, but you might be interested, see:

s181.photobucket.com/albums/x42/Wardster_builds/Zzzzz-28-Funny-Car/

--or--

s181.photobucket.com/albums/x42/Wardster_builds/Cartoon-Salt-Flats-Rat-Rod/

I'm not trying to show off, here ... I'm just trying to share a really hot tip or technique that I wished I had known about YEARS ago! I'm doing stuff now that I wouldn't have even TRIED, back when. (Oh, and while I'm at it: during my experimentation with trying to dye either liquid super glues, directly; or a liquid accelerator to go with it, I accidentally discovered how to make tinted transparent pieces that could conceivably be used as tail lights, marker lights -- but that's another story, for after I've played with it more!)

[eggzilla]

Heck yeah Ward. Do it and I'll use it. Better still, think about making that video as we discussed and show us how!
Keith

[Wardster]

eggzilla said:

Heck yeah Ward. Do it and I'll use it. Better still, think about making that video as we discussed and show us how!

Great, it's official ... Keith's the Guinea Pig! Expect some dyed baking soda in the mails, before too long -- in various snazzy colors. I'll get started on some home video, soonish hopefully. I'll try to pull some screengrabs from it, with my Snappy device; if that works out acceptably well, I can do a "paper" version too.

[eggzilla]

UPDATE: The windshild is now repaired and the hood is just in the final stages of sanding for primer and color coating. So, boys and girls, we should have a kit soon. I am taking this week off as I am teaching two night classes and have a class reunion to attend this weekend. Not that I wouldn't rather be here with you guys but, I can't help myself.................) See you guys with an update next week but, I'll be watching you.
Keith

[eggzilla]

The project is back on track again. I have finished the body work, sanding, priming, and painting. I began hand rubbing the finish last night and will try to get that finished this weekend. The custom license plates arrived earlier this week. I think they are a little small and I may have to invest in another set a little larger than these. Some of the chrome pieces are going to be sent off for rechrome after I sand the seams and get them mounted. I still have to flock the interior and sculpt the driver so, I can be working on that while waiting on the chrome to come back. I'll make some in progress pictures this weekend and post to the site.

Keith

[barten]

Keith. . . those are some great builds! I would love to get th full collection one day! We will see. . .what Revell produces! And how fast! hehehe

It will be great to get some of these again!

I love to toon cars these days! and your detail is just outstanding!

GB
Barten

[davea]

Keith, Tim, those are both great loking builds! Really cool little vdubs!

[Steve Hilby]

I'd avoid the baking soda bit if I were you.

I used it on a custom '40 Ford pickup I built several years ago, and although everything was fine at first, a year or two later the paint job developed oily-looking stains wherever I'd used baking soda as a filler.

If I want the model to be 100% again, I guess I'll have to redo all the bodywork. And there was a lot of it. Sigh.

So nowadays I'm using Milliput as a filler, with maybe just a touch of Squadron White Stuff here and there for minor dings.

[eggzilla]

Barton, Dave, and Steve. Thanks for the feedback, compliments, and advice. I've been working on the Bug today and tonight and will post some "in progress" pics this weekend. The flame decals I was going to use disintegrated in bits and pieces once they were wet. I probably should have coated them first but, they came from Australia and I'm sure not ordering any more of those in this lifetime. But, even without the decals, I think it is going to turn out really nice! As much as I would like to rechrome some of the pieces, I may use Alcad and Elmer's to glue them on and chrome them later. Besides, this is my first one to "convert" and I have an idea it will not be the last conversion. I already have another one in the works that should be another cool build. Time will tell.
Keith

[Wardster]

Steve said:

I'd avoid the baking soda bit if I were you.

I used it on a custom '40 Ford pickup I built several years ago, and although everything was fine at first, a year or two later the paint job developed oily-looking stains wherever I'd used baking soda as a filler.

If I want the model to be 100% again, I guess I'll have to redo all the bodywork. And there was a lot of it. Sigh.

So nowadays I'm using Milliput as a filler, with maybe just a touch of Squadron White Stuff here and there for minor dings.

My experience differs. While I'm sorry you had problems with your extensively modified '40 Ford pickup model, models that I built nearly 10 years ago still have zero problems. The one I'm thinking of won a number of awards when it was new, and it still does. (A very badly molded late 1970's sci-fi kit by MPC, which had to be bent and twisted badly, just to get any two glueing surfaces to mate. Gaps of 1/16" or 2mm were common.) It has been stored under less-than-ideal conditions for long stretches; has been moved 1000 miles across the country in a U-haul trailer; was mailed even farther across the country; etc., etc., without any problems at all. (Some folks have problems with their models on just a 30-mile trip.)

Since zero filled seams have re-opened, and paintwork is still completely unblemished, etc., personally, I will be sticking with the super glue trick.

I also have an eggshell-thin vacuformed kit that I dropped from about four feet up, onto a hard rock-like surface. The whole thing was assembled and filled with super glue. Only one portion of a long seam cracked open, due to the fall: about 1.5" of damage along a 5" seam. Three quarters of that very fragile seam stayed intact. The part that split open only took 10-15 minutes to fix.

This is all just one man's opinion ... and don't let me discourage anyone from participating in these boards! I'm only defending the technique because I find model building to be wonderful with it.

A side note: I'm in the habit now of putting a bevel on the edges of two plastic surfaces that have a common glueing edge, so that a little trough is made that will hold super glue; for seam filling. I do assemble the kit initially with Tenax 7R -- which is a pretty strong bond in itself! -- and later reinforce that with super glue.

Again, I'm not trying to rebuke anyone: I'm just big on "tips".

As for hobby-style air-dry putties: I have not found one yet that I would recommend. Most are god awful, in my opinion. I'm a huge fan of things like "Metal Glaze" or "Glaze Coat" by Evercoat: high-grade, two-part, Bondo-like, catalyzed products that set up in minutes; stick like crazy to nearly any surface (unless you've coated it in wax or something, to make a "Bondo mold") and are simply a dream to machine / file / sand to shape ... I love those!

Milliput doesn't sound like a bad choice, for some folks. Stick with it, if it works well for you. Others recommend things like Magic Sculp or Aves Apoxie Putty: other epoxy-like, two-part materials. A lot of those folks (mostly folks that build figures) recommend smoothing products like that with water and a finger or brush, after application but before it dries. Works with Milliput too, if I recall correctly.

[eggzilla]

As I promised, I have been working on the DW Bug Convertible conversion and it is close to being finished. It, as you know, was inspired from one of Dave Deal's drawings and so, it is a tribute to his creativity that I have undertaken this project, not to mention somebody at Revell dropped the ball and didn't produce them for us to build. I still have to complete the exhaust, install the windshield, and put a driver in the front seat! I had to photograph the dash because the driver will most likely obscure any details of the dash once in place. I have decided to name it the "Beach Bug" because I can imagine it cruising the beaches of southern California spreadin' a little happiness. I think it will need some sand for a nice base. I'll post pictures of the finished car as soon as I get it completed. I appreciate all the feedback and suggestions. The bottom picture looks like it is going cold turkey but, it is the reflection of the metallic paint. The finish is very smoothe.
Keith

[wardster2]

Lookin' good, Keith! The outlines and proportions work fine -- those wheels and tires probably help things out a lot; those are still the stock ones, right? -- and the paint's sheen is nice, too. Good detailing. (Where'd you say you nabbed the dash from?) I like it! Looks pretty much finished, to me ... but flames would be a cool addition, as long as they fit into the available space. I'm sure you'll make it all work. Can't wait to see the next set of pics! ;D

[Honest Charlie]

Looks great Kieth. How about some bigger pix though?

[eggzilla]

Thanks Charlie,

That's as big as I can make them. Hope they show better. It's still not finished. I hope to have it done by next weekend at the latest. I still have to make a driver for the darn thing.
Keith

[eggzilla]

wardster2 said:

Lookin' good, Keith! The outlines and proportions work fine -- those wheels and tires probably help things out a lot; those are still the stock ones, right? -- and the paint's sheen is nice, too. Good detailing. (Where'd you say you nabbed the dash from?) I like it! Looks pretty much finished, to me ... but flames would be a cool addition, as long as they fit into the available space. I'm sure you'll make it all work. Can't wait to see the next set of pics! ;D

Thanks Ward. The wheels and tires are NOT original Deal's Wheels. I have always felt the wheels for the rear tires were too small from the factory and I use larger ones when I can find them. The dash is from a VW convertible kit, the same one that donated the boot for the convertible top. I hope I can make it work!

[treswright]

That's truly outstanding Keith!!! Excellent work! I can't wait to see what driver you come up with

[Tim Nolan]

Wow! This thing is lookin' just killer! Your right, Revel dropped the ball not making a kit of this one!! You've done one heck of a grat job on this!!!

[eggzilla]

Thanks Tres. Since you now know what that driver will be, keep it a secret until it's done. I think the gang will be surprised!!!!!

Tim, thanks. From a person with your obvious high standards, that's a lofty compliment!

Keith