“the doog” here, from over in “Armor”. I’m coming to you guys because I’m getting away from the Tigers and Panthers and road wheels for a bit, and I’m going to do a 56 Chevy Nomad–but as if it’s been in the junkyard for years. (Uh…I have this “thing” for junkyards, old houses, rusted dead things with stories to tell…)
Does anyone out there make “flat” tires? Or is there a way to make standard model kit vinyl tires look “flat”? Any advice?
How about cinderblocks in 1/25? ANy good websites for that type of AM stuff that you know for good diorama-type accessories for cars?
Hey hey hey Doog. If you have auto questions all you gotta do is post in armor for me or pm, I’ll answer ya. Auto is my primary modeling expertise. There are some companies that make flat tires, but it’s so easy to do yourself. Head on over to you local thrift store and pickup a frying pan that has some teflon in the bottom. Heat it up a bit, and then slowly press down on the tire. Be careful you don’t want it hot enough to burn the tire,. try it on low, and then slowly start bringing it up and testing until it works.
As for the cinder blocks and other stuff, check out Scale Equipment LTD, and Curbside Dioramics. Both carry pretty much anything you could want for diorama stuff. One or both have Cinder Blocks.
While I don’t recommend joining, I do recommend looking through the diorama section over on the Scale Auto website. Or order up a Scale Auto Tisp and Tech special edition. If I run accross any of the articles on making flat tires from some of the rather ancient Scale Auto mags sitting around here, I’ll see if I can get them scanned for you.
That is a great idea about the frying pan… I never would have thought of that! The way I flatten tires is a bit more crude: I slice a small section off the tread of the tire witha good sharp exacto blade. After the cut, I light a candle and hold the tire over the flame until it gets shiny. It’s pretty similar to making antennae out of sprue. Once the tire is shiny/slightly melted, I push it down onto a flat surface, which causes the sides to squish out a little. Pretty effective, but on the negative side, it can be messy. The frying pan idea would be cleaner, but at the risk of angering the wife, I will probably stick to my method [;)]. You can check out the tires I am talking about here: http://public.fotki.com/dawgfighter/poor-charger/
fantacmet, Thank you sincerely for those recommendations! I placed a $40.00 order from Scale Equip Ltd–a lot of coool accessories there! I’m getting more and more excited about this little dio I’m going to do…I’m going for a look like this–
I appreciate your help! [#toast] Once I get cooking on it, I’m sure I’ll be PM’ing ya for advice! I have to finish a huge DML E-100 first!
acmodeler–I LOVE that Charger! You did an excellent job weathering that!–although it would break my heart to see one like that! [sigh] When I was like, 11 or so, my crazy cousin Stan took me to Philadelphia to see my first KISS concert in a souped-up Charger with one of those air-intake towers coming out of the hood, and he scared the %#$@! out of me driving down the PA turnpike at about 125 mph! WOW< diid that sucker FLY!
wing_nut, daywalker–yeah, every now and then I like a break from the panzers; kinda like trading in a brunette for a blond…(looks nervously over shoulder for Jenn…[:-^]) but I’ll always go back to my big guns! [(-D]
I’ve got some suggestions for that kind of a rusty look. Might want to practice on some cardboard first. Anyway here it goes, first a supply list.
Red/brown colored paint, desired body color paint, instant rust set, rustall, rubber cement, some fine wet/dry sandpaper.
First spray overall with the red/brown color which is rusty in color. After it has cured, take the rubber cement and spread it around the area’s you want to stay rusted. Then lightly spray the body color, lay it on rather thin. Once dry, remove the rubber cement, and use the sandpaper very lightly to fog the edges of the rust/paint sections. If you want the deep rust and texture, then use the instant rust set next. A hint to make the instant rust set work better is to lay a thin layer of toilet paper or paper towell over that area, and use a paintbrush to dab on the rusting solution. Make sure it gets nice and wet, but not dripping. Keep it pressed down against the iron coating. This well help it to rust alot better with fewer applications of the rusting solution. After about 24-48 hours, pull it off and you should have a nice bright rusty finish. From there whether you used the instant rust set or not, brish several coats of the rustall over everything. Make sure you shake up the bottle ALOT, as it will help keep the rust particles suspended in the paint. Rustall can be airbrushed as well, quite effectively. Especially if you want a rainy rust look. I tend to use both. I also used the rustall in thin airbrushed coats to weather my Abrams tank.
To get that kind of flat tire look in that picture, the method will depend on what type of tire. If it’s a hollow tire, then use my method, but put a spare wheel in the middle of the tire before you do the melting. If it’s a solid tire, use the method used by the other guy. You can also use a dremel tool with a heavy grit sanding drum to sand cups and stuff into the corners of the tire where the sidewall meets the tread, and this will help make it look SEVERELY worn out. Broken or cracked windsheilds are also deceptively easy to model. If you want those tips let me know.
I’ve gleaned alot of this from years of reading scale auto and then expanding them with my own idea’s. I’ve done alot of experimenting, and wasted alot of money on toasted kits, and wasted supplies, but I now have some good techniques. If you’ve ever seen me weather you know I tend to go a bit overboard. Which is probably what you are looking for with these wrecks.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do or the rust yet–I don’t know that “Instant Rust set”–I was thinking of trying the “hairspray method” which some guys are currently using to do whtewashes; it seems like that might get the same results as the rubber cement method? I think that maybe the rubber cement method might gibe me a little more control? Is that rubber cement hard to remove though?
I think I want to simulate the rust by pastels and paint, rather than using rustall–I know that product, but it’s pricey too, and I feel like it’s a little bit “cheating” to actually use “real rust”–the Artist in me wants to do it with “Art supplies” [:-^] !
I would love some hits on busting the windshield and windows. Either here or in a PM; if you put them here, you could pass the info on to others reading this post! [:P]
Luckily the kit is a “2-n-1”, and comes with two different sets of tires, so I should be able to get at least one or two good “flats”–the other two tires will be missing…man, this is gonna be cool!
I’d love some more hints when you have time! Thanks Dood! [:D]
Rubber cement will offer more control and is SUPER easy to remove. Just put a big glump on a piece of glass, let it dry, remove it and ball it up and you can use it to help more erasily pickup the cement on the model.
There are two different 2 part rust setups, one is instant rust, the other is an antiquing set. Both can be found at Michaels Crafts. Instant Rust if I remember correctly is produced by Triangle CRafts, and the antiquing I can’t remember who it’s made by.
Windshields are easy. One of my favorite ways is to actually break the “glass”. Cracked windshields just use the back side of a #11 hobby blade, and make your scratches into the windshield. Then you can use a highly thinned light tan color(Look at all that sand paint for armor you have), and spray it onto the windshield to make it dirty. Dullcoat will help to make it cloudly and lightly dirty instead of grimy. You will find ALL kinds of stuff at Michaels for dioramas and weathering. You can get packages of moss and such to use as foliage and such. I myself aroudn halloween picked up a bag of weathering moss from k-mart, which was to be used on like headstones and stuff. It’s great stuff. Look in the jewelry making area, the antiquing, the cloth stuff, paper machet, you can find stuff in nearly every department there with just a tidbit of imagination and ingenuity. I know you have both I’ve seen your work and tips and idea’s. Now that I’ve opene up the type of stuff for auto’s, I think you’ll be able to expand on it yourself. I’ve never seen you do auto work, but your armor stuff blows me out of the water, and your builds and dio’s are some of the ones I look at more closely when trying to think of something to do or add to my own stuff. You are one of my inspirations for dio stuff in armor.
Thanks!It is Model Master Guards Red over a custom[-mixed India Ivory color.One method I used to impart a high gloss was to mix thinner,Clear Gloss and a small amount of Guards Red and lay down a “Wet” coat.Just don’t spray too much to avoid runs and sags!I think it came out good!
Nice Nomad! love the 2-tone, one of the more difficult paint jobs to get right, IMHO.
I can vouch for the rubber cement method: I used it on an ole beat up truck several years ago. The rubber cement lets you peel the the paint off in flakes, so it can look like chipping paint. Funny, I applied that method on a model truck after reading about it in FineScale.
[#ditto] on all the above. Cars are my primary builds.
Didja get the PM?
BTW check out my response in the armor thread reference to baking soda. Look at the post about steel wheeled Panther. Also displayed is one of m builds.[:-^]
Hey Wayne–I did not recieve a PM from you lately; resend it if you would?!
A beautiful police cruiser there on the Panther thread; I’m surprised but happy for you that you have had no issues with the baking soda–I think I’m still “once bitten, twice shy” on that though!
I’m going to have to practice that rubber cement method on an old model here. I’ll be looking for help when I start, in a few weeks…[8D]
Philo I use a similar method to get a good sheen on my Acrylic finishes. After a couple of color coats I thin the paint with future. Then I polish with a polishing kit then use Color Back auto wax and it looks like glass.
