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Wisconsin Hot Rod Radio is very fortunate to have Al bring his talents to the show. So listen every week to the Modelers Corner with Al Stout. This segment is for the novice as well as the experts.
Al Stout has been building for over 50 years and has been a member of the Auto Modelers Group for over 17 years. And his wife and lovely dove - Kathy - has been building sparingly for the past 10 years.
Al began working on full size automobiles when he was 15 years old when he built a 1951 Ford show car. After graduating high school and then technical school Al spent 25 years painting automobiles with his own body shop. During this time he did show cars for other people, including having one on a cover of a ‘70s Super Chevy magazine.
During this time he continued to work on smaller scale projects. Models.
He continues today with building models at a fierce pace. Throughout his participations in many of the local and national model shows he has earned the admiration of the other builders. He is constantly working on perfecting the correct representation of the full scale car. Continuously developing new techniques and improving on old ones.
Al and Kathy have been involved with area modelers clubs, seminars and shows. They have contributed to area modelers newsletters. They have presented and demonstrated their techniques to all levels of modeler’s skill levels. And they continue to contribute their models into competitions.
In addition, Al has been commissioned to replicate many of the cool full scale cars. “It is an amazing thing to see your hot rod shrunk down. And even more amazing is that every detail is there” says Arlo Dillman, whose wife asked Al to replicate his severely modified ‘41 Ford “He even created the one-of-a-kind monster dash!”
If you would like to ask Al a question or make a comment please send it to:
comments@wisconsinhotrodradio.com
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| Tip of the Week - You can listen to Al every Saturday morning or go to WHRR past shows. |
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Come out and see Al Stout this weekend at the Milwaukee World of Wheels. State Fair Park, West Allis, WI. He will bring the 49 Ford that is being used for demonstration purposes. And he will be showing some of his greatest creations.
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| TIP #13 - February 11, 2012 |
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| Engine and Engine Compartment |
We will start today by painting the motor for the ‘49 Ford with Testors metallic copper #1151. Air brush or use a nice soft paint brush. These are the parts to be painted with Model Master gloss black #2721; the fan, transmission, generator, distributor cap and top of the breather cap. The fan belt and radiator hoses will be flat black acrylic paint. Reason for using acrylic, is that it is full proof. Meaning that you can wash it off with water and do over, if you make any mistakes. The acrylic paint can be purchased at your local craft store and some hardware stores. The carburetor and fuel pump will be painted Testors #1146 silver. The battery will be painted with the same paint as the frame, Duplicolor flat black # BUNO-104. Afterthe battery is painted and dry, paint the battery caps with Testors red #1103. Now paint the positive and negative terminals on the battery with Testors silver #1146. After that, paint the battery hold down with silver.
Moving on to the radiator support, paint the radiator flat black acrylic. The radiator upper tank, paint Testors flat aluminum #1181. Paint the heater blower motor gloss black. Then install and glue battery in place, heater blower, radiator support and the upper radiator tank. Glue motor in place, then permanently glue tires on. The last thing to do is paint the underside of the hood flat black acrylic.
I’m going to the workshop to build……BUT first, I’d like to announce that Kathy, Dennis and I are helping Greenfield News & Hobby Store put on the 2nd Annual Plastic Model Car Contest. This will be for youth, ages 8 thru adult. The date is March 10th, 2012, from 10:00AM to 4:00PM. Location is 6815 West Layton Avenue, Greenfield. So…. get building for the contest. I will not be competing, since I will be one of the Judges.
Our next tip will be the interior.
And don’t forget, you can meet us at the Wisconsin Hot Rod Radio Show Booth during The 50th Annual World of Wheels Car Show next weekend to answer any questions you might have on model building. See you there.
Build them if you got them ! |
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| Tip #12 - February 4, 2012 |
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| Chassis & Stance |
This morning I’m talking about putting the chassis together and how to lower the stance for the body. If you are not ready for this advancement, just build the chassis and frame as instructions tell you from the kit. For those of you ready to try a different look than the box art, follow me.
To get started, remove all the flashing from the mag wheels, frame, interior tub, exhaust, etc. Super glue the mags to the tires, place off to the side to dry. Meanwhile, paint exhaust pipe with Testors paint #1180, steel. Paint the muffler Testors #1145, silver. Let these dry. For the advance modeler, we are going to lower the rear end making lowering blocks.
To begin we need to replace the #11 blade in your hobby knife with a small tooth saw blade by Excel # 20013 or Micro Mart #14346 from Greenfield News & Hobby Shop. Then taking this hobby knife with the saw blade, hold the axle and cut half way between the spring and the axle from the outer side toward the front. You will cut halfway thru on the backside, also. Next, carefully cut from the inside of the chassis, between the spring and axle, the front and back sides, till the spring separates from the axle. Then take a sanding stick and sand the top of the axle until smooth and sand the bottom of the spring where you made your cut until that is smooth. Make the 2 lowering blocks from a piece of 3.2mm x 3.2mm Evergreen Plastic, that you buy at the hobby shop, cut to 8mm long, . Glue the blocks to the top side of the axle. Glue the spring on top of the lowering blocks.
Paint the rear-end and front suspension gloss black. Let these parts dry. Paint the top and bottom of frame and the underside of the interior tub with Duplicolor #BUN0140, flat black from an Auto Parts Store.
Now you are ready to glue the exhaust system in place, followed by gluing the front and rear suspension in place. Put the wheels on the rear axle permanently and front temporary to check the stance. For the front, this is temporary fit, so you can remove the axle and wheels to install your engine.
The engine and engine compartment will be our next segment.
BUILD THEM IF YOU GOT THEM ! |
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| Tip #11 - January 28, 2012 |
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| Painting |
Good Morning, today we are going to start painting your model. As usual, we have to get what you will need for painting and the technique used.
For the novice builder, a good paper mask and for the more experienced builder, a respirator. Also, plant mister of water, a can of Air, and a Testors spray can of simple color, no candies or pearls. Blow off entire inside & outside of body, parts and the paint stand with the air can. Then, taking your plant mister, lightly wet down the box inside without the car in it. To begin, mount body on your paint stand, used when priming. Place the spray can in a container of 2-3 inches of warm water about 100 degrees. Shake the spray can for a few minutes after it is warmed up.
Ninety percent of getting an excellent spray can paint job is learning the proper spraying technique. This is learned by practice. After awhile it comes as second nature. Start your spraying before the model and continue until you have passed your model. Never start or stop spraying in the middle of the model. The speed of the spray stroke is important to get even and consistent coverage while painting. Keep parallel to the surface to insure this. A quicker stroke is better for a mist coat. And a slower stroke for a wet coat. Now to painting the model.
Start by applying a mist coat. This coat will give a bite to adhere additional coats. Wait 10-15 minutes for each coat to set up. Getting complete coverage could take 2-3 of mist coats over all the primer. Then put on a wet coat at a closer range. The trick of laying down a wet coat is to get just enough paint to achieve complete gloss coverage. Too little of paint, you will have eggshell or orange peel finish. Too much paint you’ll have runs & drips. It is better to apply several wet coats than one heavy coat. These will take 25-30 minutes to set up.
Drying or curing time: Enamel paint may look dry after a day or two, but it will still be soft. Handling before the solvents have gassed out may lead to finger prints and a disastrous paint job. Enamel will take 10-12 days to dry. This waiting period will give you time for the assembly of the rest of your model.
Next week will be continued with chassis and getting the right stance.
Till then, Build them if you got them! |
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| Tip 10: January 21, 2012 |
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| Priming |
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I am going to start by telling everyone that it is important to have the proper ventilation. Next the area your painting in, should be no less than 65 degrees. And most important, do not paint near furnace, gas hot water heater, space heaters or anything with an open flame. Be sure the area is free of dust and dirt where you plan on priming and painting.
Next we need to get you set up with the equipment and supplies you’ll need. You will make a paint stand. Use a block of wood about ¾ inch thick by 3 ½ inch wide by 7-8 inches long. Drill 2 sets of holes 2 ¼ inches across from each other and about 1 inch apart. Then cut 2 wires each approximately 14 inches long or coat hangers, then bend in a shape of a U. Insert the ends into the holes. This will hold your body when priming and painting. For small body parts hold with pinch clothespins wrapped with masking tape.
Now, get a cardboard box 32 inches wide by 15 inches high and 12 inches deep. Size is approximate, it can be larger or smaller. Put box up high enough, so the open end faces you and you can put your paint stand inside. This helps to contain the spraying of primer and paint to a small area.
If you are spraying enamel paint, wet sand with 600 grit wet or dry sandpaper. For lacquer paint, you will need 3200 grit. The primer I suggest using is #T-235 PlastiKote sandable primer.
Now that you have your area ready and supplies, lets get started priming.
Wet sand the bare plastic body and parts with 600 grit wet or dry sandpaper. Put your body on the paint stand and Prime the body work such as frenched headlights and body side chrome first where they were removed. Begin with light coats of primer over the whole body. Turn the paint stand to get the complete body primed. Approximately 4 coats of primer is needed. Leave 15 minutes between coats for drying time.
Then put a thin guide coat of lacquer contrasting color on. Wet sand with 600 grit wet or dry sandpaper. Sand all the color off, the sanding scratches and low spots will be gone. Any flaws left in the primer will not be hidden by paint, it will just be magnified. Now your priming is done.
Next week –PAINTING
I’m heading to workshop to pick a color.
Build them if you got them. |
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| Tip 9: January 14, 2012 |
Back in the Body Shop - Customizing
To remind everyone from last week, I am using a 1949 Ford kit for and example. This kit comes with custom options.
The first thing is the rolled pan and front grill surround. Glue front grill and pan surround with super glue. Super Glue all the joints. Use a generous amount of glue on the backside. Fill joints with bondo and sand to correct contour with 220 grit sandpaper. This procedure is the same for the rolled rear pan.
For the frenched antenna, drill with a 1/16th inch drill bit on the high crown of the fenders or the quarter panels. Either use reference pictures or your imagination for the location. The stock antenna will be used in this hole after the car is painted.
In previous tips, I talked about Aleene’s glue. This is one of the times I use Aleene’s to test fit the split bumpers to see if you like the look. The same can be done with the Desoto grill or custom grill options. Once you decided which grill and bumpers you want to use, place in warm water and wash them off with an old toothbrush.
Don’t glue permanently in place until after the car is painted.
For the novice model builders, use the skirts that come with the kit and follow their instructions. Advance modelers can use bubble skirts from another kit. The term used for taking parts from one kit to another kit is called “Kit Bashing” .
Next tip, we will be priming.
I got a prime idea and I’m taking it to the workshop! |
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| Tip 8: January 7, 2012 |
| The Body Shop |
I am using a 1949 Ford body as an example of flaws you would find. A lot of bodies will have supports in the windows for shipping purposes. These need to be removed. Use a sprue cutter to cut them off, leaving them a little long. Use the sanding sticks you bought from the Beauty Supply Store to finish them off. In some kits, the body is mounted to the tree by the rocker panels. Cut the body off with the sprue cutter and clean up with a file. There will be flashing around the windows, engine compartment, etc. All this can be cleaned up with 320 grit sandpaper. Refer back to tip #6, which was ejection pin marks and mold lines. Smaller parts had small mold lines, now the large body parts have larger mold lines and pin marks to deal with. If you look under a hood, you will see ejection pin marks and mold lines and detail that show up on the top surface. To solve this, use one inch square by 3 inch long block of wood, wrapped with 320 grit sandpaper around it and sand the top side till all imperfections are removed. Follow up with 400 grit to get rid of the 320 grit sand scratches.
Now we are going into Customizing the Body. First step, using 180 grit sanding stick from the Beauty Supply shop, sand from back to front of body to remove body side moldings. And then go from front to back, sanding the body side moldings. Next care-fully with a hobby knife, remove ¾ of the door handle. Finish off with 180 grit sanding stick. Now using previously mentioned sanding block, use 320 grit sandpaper, block sand at an angle from front to back and back to front. Sanding the side body molding and door handle area, followed with 400 grit sandpaper, doing the same process. If you look closely, the door lines have become faint. You will have to use the hobby knife, blade facing you, to re-scribe door lines, carefully. To remove emblems on hood and trunk, known as nose and deck, use 320 grit followed by 400 grit sandpaper.
Next, we will go into Frenching Headlights. Headlights have a dome on the back side, referring to cars like ‘49 Fords, Mercs, etc. Hold by headlight rim (ring) and sand back and forth with 180 grit sanding stick till all you have left is the headlight ring. Then glue headlight ring to body with super glue, checking that the ring matches the body. If you leave it flush like this, after it is primed and painted, it will show from expansion and contraction. So what I do after glue is dry, I form a “V” around the headlight ring and the body where they meet with a hobby knife. I fill this with bondo or model putty. I prefer bondo. Sand this with 220 grit to the correct contour.
Next time more customizing; front and rear rolled pans, sunken antenna and skirts.
I’m heading to the workshop.
Build them if you got them. |
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| Tip 7: December 17, 2011 |
| GETTING STICKY |
I like Zap-A-Gap in the green label for general gluing. It works very well when you have a part that does not require a lot of positioning. Do not use from tube. I use plastic lids from butter tubs, deli tubs, shoestrings, cool whip and any containers with plastic lids as a palette for the glue. I make a glue applicator from 0.20 gauge wire to transfer glue from palette to parts to be glued. Reason being, wire is bendable for small and awkward places to reach. Also, wire can be reused by scraping off old glue. Glue will bond best on bare plastic. Scrape paint off painted parts for better bonding.
Poor fitting windows can be glued in using Zap-A-Gap (a type of super glue). First windows must be polished with “Slick & Smooth”. Available at “Mikes’ Scale Speed Shop”. This has no silicone in it, making it paint shop friendly. Other waxes may have silicone. When holding windows in place, I put one drop of glue in each corner, followed with one drop accelerator. Additional glue may be necessary. I have had no fogging on windows in doing this method.
Another way of gluing windows is using Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue, purchased at your craft store. This is thick, easy to use and water clean up. When installing windows from inside, paint a bead of glue around the opening approximately 1/16 inch back from the edge. Then install glass. Headlights and taillights can be installed this way, too.
For temporary mockups, Aleene’s can be used to glue motors from one kit to another to see if it fits. Different parts like suspensions can be held temporally, also. When it comes to putting the headers and bumpers in place, I put a dab of Aleene’s in the middle of the part and add a support to align correctly. Let dry for about one hour. Then to make it permanent, add super glue. Aleene’s dries clear. You can leave it or wash out with water.
Testors Clear Parts Cement; Good for gluing windows with an inside channel or a very good fitting window. Great for the headlights and taillights, too. After your dash is detailed; such as gauges painted and decals added to the gauge panel, use Testors Clear Parts Cement to make gauge lenses. Start by running around outside edge, working toward the middle. It goes on white and dries clear. This makes excellent lenses.
Ambroid Liquid Cement; This glue gives more drying time. Good for frames like drag cars, NASCAR and roll bars. Parts must be held together for ten seconds to bond.
Testors Plastic Cement; Slow drying time, good for multiple piece bodies, motors, etc. Parts should be clamped. Testors Tube Cement (Testors Cement for Plastic Models); Good for back in the day. Better glues are out there now.
Five Minute Epoxy: Messy and stringy.
The best glue for you, is what you are the happiest with using. |
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Tip 6: December 10, 2011
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| Mold lines and ejection pin marks. |
Mold Lines:
Most obvious flaws in plastic kits are molding seams. These are raised ridges on a part that are formed by hot plastic seeping between the mold joints during the molding process. Almost every part in a kit will show evidence of molding. If there is any seam that is not on a real car, sand it off. Keep a reference library of books and magazines for pictures. Make the kit part look as close to the real car part as possible.
Tools needed for removing mold lines are sanding sticks, emery boards and various grits of sanding paper in grits of 320, 400 and 600. Sanding sticks and emery boards can be bought at a beauty supply shop. I volunteer my wife to go with me to the shop, cause I don’t want to be an only guy buying up sanding sticks, emery boards and miscellaneous beauty supplies and having women say “this guy doesn’t look like he ever gets a manicure”.
Go slowly when sanding to keep the parts crisp when sanding. Molding seams aren’t the only seams you will encounter. When gluing two parts together, such as engine block halves, there will be a seam where they meet. Use a slower drying glue, such as liquid cement. These give more time to position parts correctly. I suggest Testors liquid cement or Amberoid liquid cement. These cements actually melt the styrene forming a bond. After glue has dried, sand the seam smooth. Even the smallest parts will have molding seams, make work go faster by setting up an assembly line.
Now Ejection Pin Marks:
Those little round protrusions that show up in strange places are ejection pin marks. If it protrudes upward, sand it down with 320 grit, followed by 400 sandpaper. If it forms a round depression, meaning it sinks in, fill it with bondo glazing putty. Use very sparingly. Glazing putty will have to be primed. Priming will be a future tip. Some ejection marks will not show once the model is assembled. It is needless to remove these. Like the backside of the radiator and the bottom of the floor pan.
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Tip 5: December 3, 2011
See Al's (Kathie's) Modeler's Christmas ideas
for Wisconsin Hot Rod Radio's "Ho Ho Ho Christmas" Special |
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Tip 4: November 26, 2011
See Al's Modeler's Christmas ideas
for Wisconsin Hot Rod Radio's "Ho Ho Ho Christmas" Special |
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| Tip 3: November 19, 2011 |
The Cutting Edge.
Tools used for this are a Sprue Cutter, looks like a side cutter with offset blade, and a hobby knife such as an Xacto knife with a No. 11 blade. These are the best tools to use for separating parts from sprue/trees without damage. You may also want to use a cutting board under what you are cutting if you don’t want to damage your work surface or are working on a kitchen table. (I personally use a foot square piece of glass for clean cuts.)
We will begin cutting parts off the trees with the sprue cutter leaving 1/16” on the parts. The rest will be cleaned up with 320 sandpaper. Always cut the tree tab so that a little extra remains on the part. If you cut too close to the part, you may end up taking a chunk of plastic out of the part which then you’ll have to repair. Parts like seats where the tree mounts to the bottom of the seat floor side, you will leave 2” of tree attached so you can easily handle it for painting the seat.
For cutting small parts like chrome trees with windshield wipers, door handles, etc., I scrape chrome off of the mounting pin before cutting part off tree, this makes for easier handling. I also tape small parts with tape to keep them flying off to infinite.
When cutting parts off the glass tree be very careful not to scratch the windows. If glass has more than ¼” mounting it to the tree, use Xacto knife upside down. Then drag the point backward to cut glass off tree. This technique is good to use to scribe faint door lines, also. Over time molds wear and some detail can be thin or even lost. Scribing repeatedly easily restores the indentation. |
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| Tip 2: November 12, 2011 |
Clean all parts properly.
Your kit will have mold release on all parts from the casting of the model. You have to wash off all parts except the windows, tires and chrome.
Use 3-4 drops of dish detergent into about a gallon of lukewarm water in a bucket large enough to fit the body, frame and parts. Submerge all parts for about 5 minutes, then swish around and remove from water. Use another container of cold rinse water to remove soap, followed by placing parts on paper towel to dry thoroughly.
Don't run parts under cold running water faucet, because they are not always attached to spurs that well. The reason your removing mold release, is it contains silicone and causes fish eye, which are little round dots that'll show up in your paint also resulting in poor adhesion.
Next tip will be on "The Cutting Edge". |
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| Tip 1: November 5, 2011 |
Your first kit
Now you go out and buy your first kit and your anxious to get started on it. But first, match all the part numbers on the spurs/trees to the instructions.
It is disappointing to find there are missing parts and you wouldn't be able
to finish the kit.
Some companies give you a web site to get the missing
parts like Revell/Monogram. Other companies your on your own. Then you
have to try taking the kit back to where you bought it and see if they can
help you out.
Otherwise, if you've joined a club like the Auto Modelers Group,
one of the members may be able to help by swaping parts for what you need.
Auto Modelers Group of Wisconsin meets the 1st Friday of each month 6:30-
9:30PM at Waterstone Bank, 6560 S. 27th St., Oak Creek, WI ( front door) |
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Model Project:
Builder: Al Stout
Project: Deuce of Spades 32 movie car
See movie website - www.deuceofspades.com |
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