Tip #2 Brushes

Okay, so now that you have all that nice paint, you need a way to apply it....

Brushes for these small scale projects by necessity need to be small, but that isn't really my brush tip.

My biggest tip is to always buy good quality brushes....
But they don't have to be expensive. Where I live there is a Hobby Lobby store within a 10 minute drive, and they quite frequently have good quality artist brushes on sale at 50% off.
On the weeks they don't have them on sale, you are often able to print their 40% off coupon, and get at least one at a time for a lot less.

The second tip, is that when the bristles become frayed and ugly (kind of like that one on the left there) don't try trimming them. The bristles are made in such a way that trimming them will often cause the brush to not work as well.

If you have a random bristle, that can easily be plucked out of the way.

As you can see, I have several different shapes and sizes for several different appplications.

I probably buy 4 or 5 brushes a year, just becuase the chemicals in the paint and cleaner can really take their toll on the bristles.

Tip #1 - PAINT

So I use a lot of different paints when working on my little projects.
And not just lots of different colors, but lots of different types....

From this picture of my little side table, you can see Testor's enamels, some Model Master lacquers, there are even some big bottles of craft acrylics an even some fingernail polish bottles there in the middle.
The variety allows me lots of different colors and finishes, but also creates some small headaches.

Certain paint types just don't get along, and certain paints also don't like certain materials.
So you have to be a little extra careful.

Some types of paints have a "hot" solvent base and can eat plastics. Others simply won't stick without the proper base coat.

So I guess sub-tip #1 is to know your paints, and where and when to use them.
This is also important when it comes to cleaning brushes.

Some paints clean up with water. Some require paint thinner or mineral spirits. Some require alcohol (not that kind!) to clean the brushes thouroughly.


Next is the spray paints, and again variety is a good thing here.

This shelf is mostly Testors, or Model Master model car spray cans, (also called rattle cans).
These work great, have wonderful spray nozzles (as long as you keep them clean), and usually lay down a great coat of paint. I also like them, as they come in a wide variety of manufacturer colors.
Sometimes you just need Gaurds Red for that Porsche, or Citrus Green for that Chevy you are working on.

I also use larger cans of automotive paints.

You can see the Duplicolor cans on the right of this shelf.
And again these work great for matching real cars paint, but the metallic flecks are often sized 1:1 for a real car. So something with a heavy flake, may look too large and out of scale on a small model.

I also like these because there are a WIDE variety of silvers.
Sometimes when you're detailing an engine or suspension having a couple of different colors of silver will help make it look like a lot of little parts put together, as opposed to 1 molded piece that is simply painted silver.

Here's a good example. While not entirely factory correct, there are at least 3 different colors of silver here. The exhaust is a bright aluminum silver. The gas tank is more of just a plaint dull silver while the rear leaf springs have a little bit of a brown tint to them of a steel color.

Looks much better to me than just painting the whole thing silver and calling it a day.

Custom car contest is Police Cars

So the next round for the customs contest is Police Cars....

While I don't have anything as boring as a black and white Crown Vic, I find myself wondering what I may be able to come up with.
The there are two categories...
The first being for actual vehicles and actual deparments. More of an actual representation of a real vehicle.

The second category is for fictictious departments, or vehciles.

So many choices.....
Local PD or State Troopers (they do have nice Mustangs they used to use)...
Or something a little more out there.
A Roscoe P Coltrane tribute.... Buford T Justice....
Maybe the Starsky and Hutch Turnio?

Nope, I have something in mind, but I need to find a good clear picture of what I am looking for, and then find the casting to start from.

So if I can get those two things, I may just throw my hat in the ring again for this one...

Jungle Crawler-Complete

So finished this one up last weekend, just haven't had a chance to get good pictures.
Weather here has been nasty and overcast....

But here it is with the interior and "glass"....

Didn't really change much, other than the wheels and tires, and the paint color.

Added some detail painting, such as the running boards being black, and the little "jerry cans" are now olive drab. Also picked the engine out in silver rather than the lime green it was molded in.

Also added a little contrasting color to the brush gard, and picked out headlights and winch cable in silver.

All in all, I think it came out pretty sharp. Probably could have done more with the interior color, but I felt it worked well with the darker green body color, and the green "glass" as well.