Anyone build model cars?

dieselboy28

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Damn Steve I'm impressed! This is my winter car hobby but I'm really slow at completing them. Here's some of mine, not nearly as impressing as yours!

my most recent:




My scratch built trailer:




a few randoms from the past few years, have a ton more, just no pics:














 

Steve@Tasca

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Those are nice clean builds, nothing at all wrong with them and the scratch built trailer is impressive!

FYI, that '55 you built is the same kit mine was based off of. :)

-Steve
 

dieselboy28

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Indeed, but yours turned out way better! I used mine to experiment with a bunch of different techniques, those pics aren't the finished product either. I also scratch built the front and rear ends cause I didn't like the ones in the kit.

Are you on the Modelcarsmag.com Forum? I can spend hours on that site looking at amazing pieces of work.
 

mfergel

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Nice stuff. Haven't been to the modelcarsmag site in a long time. Used to spend a lot of time on the model forums and even ran a site called pcmodeler.com for a long time.
 

mfergel

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How much do you think someone, or one of yall would charge to build a 1/12 scale car model to match my full size car. I would be fine with it being box stock with matching color int and ext.

It's a tough call but I'll be honest, it's probably going to at least be upwards of $100 or more if you want someone to do it right. I used to do some commission builds (mostly figure kits) for people and it was usually about $100 (and that was about 12 years ago). My suggestion is see if there are any IPMS clubs/shows in your town. Attend the contest(s) and ask around.

I wish the hobby was still reasonably affordable, with the cost of kits these days I don't see many parents buying their kids kits to learn how to build. It can be a lot of fun but getting good takes a lot of practice and at $25 a kit these days it's expensive to get that practice.

-Steve

No kidding. However, kits have also gotten amazing. Granted, a lot of them are still the old molds/releases from the 70's/80's. Especially with cars. The foreign manufacturers make some great kits complete with photoetch, etc. It's getting that you have to do less and less scratch building.

Even Snap-fit kits have gotten stupid expensive in my opinion, you'd think that they'd go out of their way to at least make those cheap just to get the kids hooked.

Wish I had a closet stockpile like that, I have about a dozen although I tend to raid them for parts so most aren't complete. I do have a fairly extensive bin of spares that I have sorted into engine, wheels/tires, misc bits and body shells.

Paints and glue are pretty reasonable, I also use the black bottle Testors glue. Love it, works great, no mess and you can leave it untouched in the bin for a couple years at a time and it still works when you want to use it.

-Steve

The supplies are where the stores make their killing but at least things like glue/paint last quite some time.

I used to build about ten years ago. I have over 300 unbuilt kits...lol... I used to work at the local hobbytown usa part time. Never made any money, just signed the check over... When I was younger, I was friends with some of the best Drag Model builders in the Nation. Don Farhni and Dan Himmel. I met Mark Gustavson at the first and only Mile High Nationals car model contest in either 87 or 88. I plan on getting back into it soon. Airbrush is an awesome tool, buy one Steve!

Back in the day when Walmart and other retailers were getting out of selling them I was buying up their clearance everywhere. Buying kits just for the wheels/etc. I shit you not, my collection of unbuilts was up in the 1,000's. I still have several hundred. I've been selling a large part of my collection every few years at the local IPMS show. Honestly thinking of getting out of the hobby or at least scaling way back. Just don't have the time or interest anymore. Then you're stuck in the end trying to figure out where to display them.
 

mfergel

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Here's an M8 Greyhound that I did a ton of scratchbuilding and detailing on. Everything not in green is detail I added (like all the tiny bolt heads/rivets/brake lines). https://www.facebook.com/mark.fergel/media_set?set=a.10152005719949149.1073741841.719254148&type=3

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Steve@Tasca

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Are you on the Modelcarsmag.com Forum? I can spend hours on that site looking at amazing pieces of work.

Used to go on a couple of those forums pretty regularly but for some reason haven't in a while.

how do you do that by hand?!

Lots of practice and learning and trying different techniques.

For the '55 I applied red oxide primer and after it cured (for a couple years in this case ;) ) I got the car wet and then strategically sprinkled it with table salt and let that dry.

Once the salt is dry I applied the color coat, blue on the body and white on the roof. Let that dry and then scrape/ wet sand the car to get through the color and down to the primer.

That gives the texture and appearance of rust bubbling through paint or simply peeling paint. Wet sanding areas that would normally get worn over time makes a big difference, you don't want the paint rubbed off somewhere that looks un-natural.

One the texture and wet sanding are done I used acrylic paints to do the rust stains, I use acrylic because I can wash it of if I don't like how it comes out. Using a foam brush I applied a line of paint under the body line or wherever I want the rust to start and then use paper towels to "brush" the rust downwards to create the streaking effect.

Applied decals and then gently wet sanded the decals to give them age and help blend the edges and when I was happy with everything I did an overall wash of black acrylic and wiped it off trying to keep in mind how years of dirt/dust/crud buildup would run off the car.

















One of my favorite effects on this one is the way it looks like the paint is peeling along the bottom edge of the rear of the car, that's not peeling paint, it's just the way the black wash dried on the back of the car. Total accident but when you're doing this sort of weathering it allows for errors, after all, no two cars age the same in the real world.

 
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Bullitt 3309

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Here's an M8 Greyhound that I did a ton of scratchbuilding and detailing on. Everything not in green is detail I added (like all the tiny bolt heads/rivets/brake lines). https://www.facebook.com/mark.fergel/media_set?set=a.10152005719949149.1073741841.719254148&type=3

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970171_10152005720019149_209788010_n.jpg


1947642_10152005721779149_1507182485_n.jpg

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Nice work, like a true IPMSer...lol... I was an active member back in 1986 thru 1994. Was part of the General Robert L Scott chapter in Warner Robins GA when the whole E-Board was located there. Very interesting perspective into the politics of the hobby. I started thinning my collection in the late 90's to only racing subject. I was on an E Bay/Model show spree selling off stuff left and right. I am very invested in tools and detailing supplies now for when I start back up again. My library is constantly growing thanks to the internet for some of the subjects I want to replicate. I will try to get some pics of my "primer" projects since most of my built models have not survived all the military moves I made. That is the main reason I cut back building. My main problem is i love to superdetail and get board as well...
 

mfergel

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Nice work, like a true IPMSer...lol... I was an active member back in 1986 thru 1994. Was part of the General Robert L Scott chapter in Warner Robins GA when the whole E-Board was located there. Very interesting perspective into the politics of the hobby. I started thinning my collection in the late 90's to only racing subject. I was on an E Bay/Model show spree selling off stuff left and right. I am very invested in tools and detailing supplies now for when I start back up again. My library is constantly growing thanks to the internet for some of the subjects I want to replicate. I will try to get some pics of my "primer" projects since most of my built models have not survived all the military moves I made. That is the main reason I cut back building. My main problem is i love to superdetail and get board as well...

Hahah. Yeah, I can be a rivet counter sometimes but I'm usually just critical of my own work. I don't even want to begin figuring out how much I've invested in tools, supplies, books, etc. I have something like 3 or 4 airbrushes, a couple of compressors, etc. The hobby can become addicting. When I moved from North Dakota to Virginia about 20 years ago the guys in IPMS were really the first group of friends I made here and when I started getting back into the hobby.

For the others in the thread, have you guys read Scale Auto Enthusiast or Model Cars Mag?

I've read both on and off over the years. Good magazines but if you are a long time reader with both the articles and techniques can get repetitive. Tamiya has a pretty good magazine as well but usually only covers one car in their general subject magazine. I think the US publications are having a tough time because so much is available on the internet now.
 

Steve@Tasca

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For the others in the thread, have you guys read Scale Auto Enthusiast or Model Cars Mag?

Browsed them at the newsrack occasionally but that's about it.

Hahah. Yeah, I can be a rivet counter sometimes but I'm usually just critical of my own work. I don't even want to begin figuring out how much I've invested in tools, supplies, books, etc. I have something like 3 or 4 airbrushes, a couple of compressors, etc. The hobby can become addicting. When I moved from North Dakota to Virginia about 20 years ago the guys in IPMS were really the first group of friends I made here and when I started getting back into the hobby.



I've read both on and off over the years. Good magazines but if you are a long time reader with both the articles and techniques can get repetitive. Tamiya has a pretty good magazine as well but usually only covers one car in their general subject magazine. I think the US publications are having a tough time because so much is available on the internet now.

You go way beyond what I do for detailing, lots of people do though I guess. Nice work!

I think a LOT of magazines are dying a slow death these days, I still love printed copy but most people find everything they need on line.

-Steve
 

Millz

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Man this thread is so awesome. I paint cars for a living and me and the guy i paint with have been wanting to get into playing with models like this. Love the look of making them look old and beat up.
 

Steve@Tasca

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Currently building a copy of my friends '72 Skylark, this is the real car.



Here's the progress on the build. Should be starting final assembly tonight, I left the paint a semi matte finish because that's how the car really is.























 

07TR

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Hey Steve my desk could use an 07 s197 just saying lol but seriously great work man I especially love that 55
 

Lowfast

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Very cool stuff. Built allot when I was a kid. Then went to Architecture school and built more models of buildings than I can count. I still enjoy putting together building models from scratch. I would probably also enjoy doing cars if I had the time. Hoping my sons are into model building when they get a little older.
 

Steve@Tasca

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Hey Steve my desk could use an 07 s197 just saying lol but seriously great work man I especially love that 55

Thanks, this is the first one I've built specifically for someone else. I have thought of doing more and charging for them but then expectations change and it stops being a fun hobby and turns onto work and that's the last thing I want.

Very cool stuff. Built allot when I was a kid. Then went to Architecture school and built more models of buildings than I can count. I still enjoy putting together building models from scratch. I would probably also enjoy doing cars if I had the time. Hoping my sons are into model building when they get a little older.

A couple of my kids have shown a little interest over the years but the hobby has gotten so expensive that I could barely afford to support my own hobby let alone buying kits for a kid to learn on.

Makes me sad. :(

-Steve
 

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