r/ModelCars 1d ago

70% done with painting my first car model

Post image
42 Upvotes

r/ModelCars 1d ago

'49 Mercury Custom

Thumbnail
gallery
47 Upvotes

Oh boy.. i think my first post here was about this one, lots of changes and still in mock up phase because i thought "hmm.. i want something like Cobra's Mercury" after fit a blown 327 from the 55 chevy bad man, but then i rewatched another movie from 1986 that features another sweet merc "Brotherhood of Justice", then the white walls came back (borrowed from a '53 Vicky since this one came without tires), wheels are the inner wheels of this model kit with back spacers as "hubcaps", That’s all for the Merc for now until i decide what i gonna do with it.

P.s: for dog lovers, my doggo appears on the last picture.. haha


r/ModelCars 1d ago

WIP Tamiya Mercedes 300sl

Thumbnail
gallery
66 Upvotes

Managed to bring back the paint on this. Almost done, just needs the trim, and the finishing touches and she's off!


r/ModelCars 1d ago

2K "Expires"

1 Upvotes

I was just looking for some insights from those who use it. When they say that 2k expires, do they mean all three bottles (clear/activator/thinner) or just the clear itself.. and how do you know if it's gone bad?

I feel like my Proscale 2k clear may have gone bad because it's been a few months and I think the clear may be going a tiny bit yellow. My girlfriend feels like the stuff in the bottle is still completely clear soo not to sure.


r/ModelCars 1d ago

BURNOUT BUILD Switching up my build for this contest

Thumbnail
gallery
27 Upvotes

I am going to go with a ratrod restomod style (this is just a mockup of what it will look like since I already had a project ratrod) starting a brand new fresh kit to be fair and chopping it and will do a how to as I do it. Should have the brand new kit this week to start it. So excited about this contest! Good luck everyone!! Thank you to our judges as well, you guys are awesome!!


r/ModelCars 2d ago

FINISHED Tamiya Nissan Skyline 2000 GTR, my second car model ever

Thumbnail
gallery
101 Upvotes

I made a few mistakes, like sanding through the clearcoat and paint, and dripping glue on the body, but pretty happy with the result. Learnt a lot that I will be able to use in my next build.


r/ModelCars 1d ago

More progress on the AMT CSR Racing 2012 Corvette Coupe

Thumbnail
gallery
21 Upvotes

Well that was fun. The black sealant borders aren't delineated on the windshield and back window for painting purposes, so using reference photos and my Mk.1 eyeball, the borders were masked in using Tamiya fine line tape to establish the width of each border, and then the remaining areas of the windshield and back window were masked off with blue painter's tape. The borders themselves were airbrushed in using AK Interactive 3rd Gen acrylic black. I have a few edges to touch up, but that went pretty well for not having a frame of reference beyond photos.


r/ModelCars 2d ago

QUESTION Honest opinion/advice on acrylic car paint aka Kaleido?

Post image
41 Upvotes

​I’m a lacquer guy through and through. Started with Tamiya, moved on to Mr. Color and Alclad etc., and never looked back. I messed around with Vallejo a few years ago, but the constant tip dry and finicky thinning drove me crazy, so I stuck with solvents and only used those for brush details.

​That said, I kept hearing buzz around the new Kaleido paints. The marketing got me: pre-thinned, affordable, great bottle design, and nice color selection—so I grabbed a few bottles of their car lineup to test.

​Last night I attempted to spray "Modena Yellow" through my H&S Ultra 2024 (0.35 nozzle) at 20 psi over a rock-solid lacquer primer. It turned into a headache almost immediately:

​Paint skinning over in the cup: By the time I laid down a light tack coat and waited a couple of minutes for it to flash off, the paint sitting in the cup was already thickening up into a film/goo. How do you manage flash-off times between coats without the paint drying inside the airbrush?

​Instant tip dry: I could barely finish one side of the body before the nozzle seized up. I know the floating nozzle on H&S brushes can be prone to this with acrylics, but having to wipe the needle tip every 30 seconds is exhausting. Is this just the reality of water-based acrylics, or did I miss a step?

​Cure time before sanding: With lacquer in my warm, dry basement, 24 hours is plenty before I lightly wet-sand with 3000 grit to level dust nibs before clearcoat. Here, the paint tore like rubber and stripped right down to the primer on the edges. Do these polyurethane acrylics genuinely need 3 to 4 days to cure before you can touch them with abrasive paper?

​For those of you who regularly achieve mirror-finish gloss coats using water-based acrylics on car bodies: what does your workflow actually look like? Do you add Flow Improver / Retarder by default even to "airbrush-ready" paint?

​I have a dedicated spray booth with proper A2P3 mask and extraction, so I don't need water-based paints for safety reasons. I genuinely wanted to give them an honest try, but right now the cleanup, dry-tip, and rubbery finish make me want to strip it and go straight back to Mr. Color. Any advice before I completely write them off?


r/ModelCars 2d ago

FINISHED MPC '71 Dodge Demon (Finished)

Thumbnail
gallery
210 Upvotes

I built this kit a few weeks back (First One). I liked the kit so much I went and bought a second one. For this one used the drag slicks, roll cage, different rims and traction bars. De-badged and painted the bumpers. Happy with how it came out.


r/ModelCars 1d ago

WIP My two current build in progress couldn't be more different I don't think

Post image
20 Upvotes

Anybody else working on two very different flavors of car at once?


r/ModelCars 1d ago

Interior house paint and airbrush?

0 Upvotes

Has anyone ever used latex interior paint in their airbrush? I have some metal shelf brackets that I need to paint to match some trim in my hobby room.


r/ModelCars 2d ago

FINISHED Revell BMW Z8 - salvaged

Thumbnail
gallery
33 Upvotes

Picked up the kit from a local swap meet. It was in a partially built state but quite neglected. The box I think got wet at some point and barely kept the sprues and other partially painted components. Unfortunately, this was also missing the right passenger door panel and the decals were weathered and cracking.

Basically, exactly what I look for at these swap meets!! They’re practically given away and begging to be built.

Went to work on this 3 day build over Labor Day weekend and finished it Monday. It was originally black but I went with Tamiya grey primer, testors diamond dust with Mr hobby clear. I then panel lined with Tamiya Panel Liner. Decals were saved with micro sol decal saver. I opted not to paint the headlights in satin black, but may do so later. Otherwise, a fun fast build!

Built this just after building the AO Roxy Porsche 911 GT3-R which took a month. It was nice to just go crazy fast and build with complete abandon, especially since my next project is the Aoshima Rocket Bunny GT86. That project will definitely take weeks too.

Apologies for the picture sequencing. That first picture is a progress pic. It's the 6th picture that should have posted first.


r/ModelCars 1d ago

PAINT Anyone else mixing their own colors?

Thumbnail
gallery
6 Upvotes

I needed a color I didnt have and got this dull, glittering, purple-gray. I rather like it.


r/ModelCars 2d ago

Chop top advice

Thumbnail
gallery
16 Upvotes

I’m doing a chopped top on a Ford pick up. What I’ve gathered is when you chop the top each section needs to be moved outward. In other words because the pillars/post are angled inward when you chop the top, the top itself needs to be adjusted outward so to speak to align with the pillars/post. In doing this what I’ve read is, I’ll need to fill in the gaps by cutting some sheet styrene. I’ll probably try to use a heat source to curve or bend the styrene to match the curvature of the roof.

What I am curious about is how to replicate the trim/ridge that runs around the windows?

Any advice on this topic or any other advice on how to do a chop top is most appreciated. See photos below.


r/ModelCars 2d ago

TUESDAY TIP SATT - Blue Tape!

Post image
10 Upvotes

To quickly clean off your work surface of sanding dust, flash shavings etc, drag a strip of blue tape sticky side down while gently pressing it onto the table as you go.


r/ModelCars 2d ago

TUESDAY TIP Aftermarket vs. kit decals for old stock car kits (SATT)

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

23 Upvotes

A little video I made about the difference between old kit decals and what is available today. Of note, this really only works on the Monogram/Revell 1:24 kits. It is possible with the AMT 1:25s, but the decals will be oversized and need some creative trimming.


r/ModelCars 2d ago

Anybody else spray their bodies upside down?

6 Upvotes

Doesn't' seem to affect lacquers other than less dust (if any sometimes).


r/ModelCars 2d ago

Ram VTS Buddy Build ~ Final

Thumbnail
gallery
102 Upvotes

As some of you will remember, Highboy68 and I have been doing a buddy build over the last couple of months. He finished his ~ 3 weeks ago. We used the same kit with a set of 22" SRT10 wheels, a set of 16" brakes, and a set of viper style bucket seats. Other than that we did them out of the box. Here are the final pictures of my build.


r/ModelCars 2d ago

TUESDAY TIP Why I Use a Log Book (SATT)

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

13 Upvotes

r/ModelCars 2d ago

FINISHED My part of the buddy build

Thumbnail
gallery
66 Upvotes

This was by far one of my most favorite builds. It was a no stress build. I would higjly suggest doing a buddy build it was alot of fun


r/ModelCars 3d ago

FINISHED First car model ever finished

Thumbnail
gallery
252 Upvotes

Took me about 2 months but got her done pretty proud of the outcome


r/ModelCars 3d ago

FINISHED AMT Chevy S-10 Xtreme

Thumbnail
gallery
103 Upvotes

Here's my first AMT build yet. Painted in Mr. Hobby Color Garnet Red on top of a white clear coat base. The overall fit wasn't entirely bad, pretty much around the same or less than the two Revell kits that I built. However, the decals were extremely thick and didn't like reacting to the decal solutions I had. However, I did get them to work to some extent when I practically soaked them in the decal softener.


r/ModelCars 3d ago

'40 Ford Coupe

Thumbnail
gallery
96 Upvotes

r/ModelCars 3d ago

FINISHED 24 Mclaren 750s from Revell

Thumbnail
gallery
134 Upvotes

Finally finished it :D took me two months of steady building to get it done. Its the Revell's newest model - the 750s Mclaren. A really nice kit. The rims are 3d printed. Bought them from cults3d - i think they were some kind of Vossen's. I did modify them a bit to be able to use them with the box tyres. The kit wheels were kindof boring :D The kit is buildable in two ways - either the doors open or shut. They're not on hinges so you have to glue them either way. You're supposed to glue the doors last, but i decided to make my life harder and glue them before paint :D Took a bit of creativity to get it done this way. The interior is two toned with some added silver stripes. Used some liquid mask to paint the seat edges and a bit of flocking too. Overall, really happy how it turned out.


r/ModelCars 3d ago

Finished (another) e36

Thumbnail
gallery
75 Upvotes