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CDW

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Everything posted by CDW

  1. CDW
    These are a refreshing break-away from ship modeling. By comparison, they are cheaper to build, much faster to build, and just an enormous amount of subject matter to choose from. Eventually, I will want to build a ship model again, but right now, I have some very interesting (to me) other subjects to do.
  2. CDW
    Body Work and Paint Day Today was body work and paint day. It started off with a round of sanding the entire body with 2000 grit wet or dry paper to make sure it was nice and smooth with some tooth for the primer to stick. After that was completed, laid down the Tamiya white primer. Here she is in primer: Next masking is applied for the white panel to go down. Here, I used Tamiya gloss white acrylic through my airbrush. After painting the white and masking is removed, you can see the mask line/s. When I mask for red, I mask right along the raised line where the gloss white went down. This way, when the red goes down, it blends right in and more or less makes the raised line invisible. Here, the red (Tamiya gloss red acrylic through my airbrush) has gone down and now all that's left is a few touch-ups where some minor over spray got on my white. Tomorrow, the decals will go down (fingers crossed), then Monday everything will get a clear top coat to seal everything up and make this baby slippery-shiney...the wet look.
  3. CDW
    Wow, that's spotless. How do you keep the dust off it?
  4. CDW
    Chassis's Got Wheels This pretty much wraps up the chassis work. Still have some plumbing to do, but waiting for a wired magneto that's coming in on Monday. Next, I'll start the body, paint, and decal work. Still have my fingers crossed on those decals. We shall soon see if the dead (decals) has been brought back to life. Rise Lazarus, rise.
  5. CDW
    Hi Adrian Thanks for your post and kind words. I had also read what the captain told you, that the paint scheme was only used when she was first built. But I still liked it and wanted mine to be dressed in a scheme I liked. I wold certainly love to see your photos when they are available.
  6. CDW
    I have never done much reading on early sail/steam ships like Alabama or Kearsarge. I wonder how much they depended on sail vs steam power. It would seem their capacity to carry coal fuel would severely limit how much and how often they used steam power, so I imagine they were most often under sail.
  7. CDW
    I should also mention, acrylics are perfectly fine under lacquer based paints. That's exactly what you use (Tamiya gloss black acrylic) as a base coat under Alclad 2, and similar lacquer based metal colors. It's best to give them a full 24 hours to dry, or either use a food dehydrator on a low temp setting to quick-dry. Low setting so as not to harm the plastic.
  8. CDW
    Well, yes it does say. Says it uses Tamiya lacquer thinner to reduce it. That's a sure bet it means it's lacquer based, not acrylic/water based. You can use Tamiya primer under any kind of paint that I know of. The other good news, these primers brushed straight out of the bottle make one of the very best small crack/gap fillers there are to be found. Fast drying and sandable.
  9. CDW
    This is excellent news. Now, I can avoid the dreaded 'rattle cans', and it's also very economical by comparison. Tamiya white primer is a favorite of mine, now it's ready (after reducing) to shoot through our airbrush. Probably the very best plastic primer out there as far as I know. https://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Paint_and_Construction/liquid-surface-primer-white/TAM00087096/product.php
  10. CDW
    Chassis's Filling Out Engine Block Started
  11. CDW
    No reason for us to feel sorry for 'ol Lou. He's tougher than woodpecker lips I guarantee you that. 😃 Just kidding with you Lou. You know we're all pulling for you for a complete and speedy recovery. Hey Ed...the more I look at it and think about it, that brass potentially tarnishing will just give an added patina that will just enhance the model over time. In any event, she is a striking model to see, a real beauty. It requires 'near perfection' to display a finished model the way you've done it. Paint covers a multitude of sin, and your model is laid bare and visible. Excellent!
  12. CDW
    A clear gloss acrylic sprayed over the decal sheet can give new life to old, cracked decals....sometimes. It doesn't work 100%, but it often works. Also, taping the decal sheet to a window, allowing it to get some sunshine for a few hours can clear/restore old, yellowed decals. I've done both to this sheet and have my fingers crossed.
  13. CDW
    Humble Beginning
  14. CDW
    For the scale purist, I know that's a big deal and great modelers go to extraordinary lengths to correct those types of deficiencies. But to me, if I get it 90% close to the real thing, I would be happy as heck. I'm one of those who is more concerned with a different aspect of the model...the visual appearance. A hull could be 10' off in it's scale length and that wouldn't phase me none whatsoever. Unless someone pointed it out to me, I would never know and wouldn't care. I admire those who do care and fix those problems, but I just wouldn't be happy chasing that rabbit.
  15. CDW
    An aspect of working in/around clay that's quite notable is it's tendency to stick to everything that touches it when it's wet. When I worked around heavy equipment, IE, dozers, track backhoes, etc....we had to clean the clay off the tracks and bogie wheels multiple times a day to keep the clay from causing the tracks to jump off the sprockets. Man, that clay would stick to your workboots and pant legs until your legs would weigh two or three times what they normally did. Miserable stuff to work in/around. It's dusty as heck when it's dry, and it sticks to ya like glue when it rains/wet.
  16. CDW
    That's an excellent reference Steve, and I sure do appreciate you sharing the link with us here. Yes, as the reference article points out, the original hull design was for the Kearsarge, then it was adapted for use as the Alabama. I knew it was one way or the other but this straightens it all out. What do you think of the Scale Decks? They sure do look good in pictures on Ebay.
  17. CDW
    Yes, those decals are rough. 🤥 But I think I can make them work with just a little good luck. Yeah, the Slixx ones are different year model Thunderbird and others. When you buy an old kit like this, decals are almost always a liability, even though the kit was sealed. It was probably stored in a non climate controlled building or garage.
  18. CDW
    Yes, I am certain the four carbs are early. The Ala-Kart was built in the 50's. The old short track stock cars all ran carbs, singles and two barrel. The large throat 2 barrel carbs were very popular in racing at one time. Lots and lots of muscle cars ran 3 2 barrel carb setups. I had an Offenhauser 3 single barrel carb manifold setup on my old '51 Chevy six cylinder when I was a teen.
  19. CDW
    Right around 1990, Revell came out with a very nice scale model kit of the Bob Glidden Motorcraft Thunderbird Pro Stock. This car was the 1987 World Champion in the extremely competitive and popular Pro Stock category. For those who don't know, the Pro Stock category morphed from the old Super Stock category/classification. The cars are of "stock body" production cars, carburetors (no fuel injection or superchargers), but every bit as wild as Funny Cars and almost just as fast. The Glidden Thunderbird was a great build for me around 1990. The kit went together very well, very well engineered, and I liked the color scheme and markings. Recently I found an unopened copy of the kit on Ebay at a very fair price, and pounced on it. Here, I will build this model once more to enjoy that experience one more time. Here's what I got: The Kit Box (check out that low KMart price tag from 1990 🙂) The Kit Contents The Instructions The Decals (I'm going to need to pull off a near-miracle to salvage these)
  20. CDW
    This kit came with two other options, both are different carburetor configurations. Four single barrels carbs inline. Don't know if that's fantasy, or if earlier versions of Ala-Kart was equipped with carbs. They even include the fuel lines for the carb setups. Need to start doing some serious research to pull this off. Maybe even the main library (been years since I did that last).
  21. CDW
    These will give a little view of the chassis and running gear underneath.
  22. CDW
    Yes, it's 1/96. I need to do a side by side comparison of the Alabama and Kearsarge hulls/decks. It's been my understanding for a long time that Revell based one off the other and this leaves one of them (can't remember which) less accurate than the other. When I get them out to compare, will take some photos and post them.
  23. CDW
    That 2nd set was the one I passed on yesterday. Shipping too high. Tonight I bought the 1st set. 😎
  24. CDW
    I just now found and bought another set of Fred Kady Ala-Kart decals on Ebay. The postage charge was very fair this time, price as well. Maybe there will be a new and better Ala-Kart in my future. Got a lot of ideas I need to write down while it's fresh on my mind. I don't know much about that 241 cubic inch hemi. Need to research it for super detail on the next model, plus figure out how I want to display an open hood. A high quality build will require a lot of details be added.
  25. CDW
    I've had multiple copies in the past, but just kept one each. Gave some to my friends. CSS Alabama was re released around 2000, or maybe the 90's. My Kearsarge is from 50's or 60's.

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