Speed Build--Ford F1 Pickup--Day Two!

Back again!  This might be the first time I've done two posts in two days!  So from last time: it took me over a year to build a Revell Audi R8, so I built a 58 AMT Chevy as fast as I could, but I am still not satisfied!  After a trip to the LHS I'm seeing what else I can build fast!

The "winner" is an old Revell Pickup; from last time, I mostly picked this because the trim looked relatively easy to deal with.  Going to build it 100% (!!) box stock.   

OK so at 3PM of day 2, where am I? I am hardly an expert at any of this, much less "speed builds". So as always, I have to fix the plane while it's in the air. I have read for these "quick as you can" builds CA with accelerator is your best friend.  Sadly, I have never had much luck with CA.  To me it's brittle, runny, ruins plastic glass, and the only thing it sticks to every time is my skin.  So my speed builds are all about scraping away paint and chrome really well, using the dreaded Testors "stinky red" polystyrene glue, the same glue I used when I was like 10 years old, and then clamping the dickens out of it and letting it all dry. Touching up whatever is needed if the scraping was too beaucoup.  For chassis and interior paint, I used the usual combo of Krylon fabric, Duplicolor metals, and Tamiya washes, along with Tamiya Matt Black. And don't forget: lots of Sharpies. No airbrushing; I figured thinning, cleaning, etc. etc. would take too much time. So: I prepped everything, "Ponzi stick'd" each part on an alligator clip and shish-kabob stick and poked the stick into some styrofoam, and painted everything in bunches.  That was last night at about 8PM.

OK, interiors and the undercarriage are easy enough I guess, and besides you, my faithful reader, no one will even see any of it!  OK, about the body, how will I paint this without waiting 2 weeks for everything to dry? A candy coat with Polyurethane clear and primer and undercoat and polish and wax and bare metal foil and...and...and...well again if you follow this blog at all, you know the drill! These steps take weeks especially for me!!!  I have one weekend! To the rescue: Testors One Coat Lacquer.  Una capa laca, baby!

So como esta una capa laca? Damn bueno! the folks at Testors ought to win a nobel prize! It is truly amazing how quick it dries, good it looks, and how sloppy I can be with prep (for this, like, none!) and still have it look pretty darn good. Contest ready?  Well, probably not.  But good for no prep at all?  You bet! Attention Joe Testors or whoever is in charge over there: Find the chemist who thought this up, and give that guy a raise!

 First time I've tried the "wet look clear", and it looks, um....wet!

OK enough of that! On to the motor! Bad news: the engine for this kit is a real lemon. Revell gives us a flathead with an Ardun conversion, but they should have just stuck to whatever flatty they had lying around. The valve covers, so important for the cool Ardun look, look more to me like 2 blimps moored on each side of the block. To make things worse, things didn't fit, and the overall feel is a bit bloated.  I'd kit bash the motor if I had more time, but hey this is a speed build!  So what happened? I figure Revell took a flathead master they had lying around and transformed it into an Ardun without the necessary changes (like, get rid of the exhaust ports on the block!)  Their own speed build!

The exhaust system had to be wrestled into place, but unlike some of the older AMT kits I have built, at least I could get the thing to fit, albeit with some cursing and kludging.  Fast, fast, fast!!!

What next? Going forward, I was hoping I could avoid polish, but like every other lacquer I've used there's a bit of wavy gravy and some orange peel.  Oh well, I can't have everything.  I'll have to polish it out after at least 12 hours dry time, which makes me think finishing it tomorrow may not happen (especially because I am expecting a guest).  So much for a one weekend build?

Revell Ford F1 Pickup--Son of Speed Build!

I have a 3 day weekend and thought it might be relaxing to try to build another kit FAST.  So I went to the LHS (that's "local Hobby Shop" in hobby-mag speak) and picked out the Revell 50 Ford pickup, #7203.

I realize that a lot of my model building is retracing my hobby life when I was 10 or 11 years old. I stopped building when I was 13 I think, and started again maybe 5 years ago?  that all said, I never remember my brothers or me building a model of a pickup.  Which means: I didn't pick this kit out of nostalgia; I picked it because to me it looks like I could build it fast.  Nice round body panels are easy to prep and paint; no need for bare metal foil (not much anyway) and not many logos or other body details to worry about.

The multi-piece body had some nasty mold lines and needed various clean up touches but it's drying now. I hope to be able to paint it tomorrow.

Chassis and engine block had flash galore but went together easily enough, at least so far. To save time, I will paint each of these subassemblies as a unit.  I am going to work on masking glue points again; that's something I started doing for the 58 Chevy and seemed to speed things up--just put a bit of scotch tape over where the parts go together; no endless paint scraping!  After removing the masks and gluing, touch up the paint. It's fast, and makes for a sturdier and maybe even cleaner build than scrape-scrape-scaping all the painted surfaces to be joined.

Here's a trick for cleaning up seams and mold lines: over-apply Plastruct Weld.  When used with gusto, Plastruct weld melts mold lines away and even fills minor seams.  I found this out accidentally when I used to much for an engine assembly--all the details got wiped out--but now I use this trick all the time; on the 50 F1 for instance I used a boatload of weld to clean up the very noticeable mold lines on the exhaust pipes.

No way I am using metalizers on this build, all that airbrushing and drying takes way too much time! Rattle can hardware store metal finishes will have to do.  Left to right: Kryon Stainless; Tamiya something or other; Duplicolor chrome which looks to me more like aluminum than chrome, and Krylon gold, the latter is the most "metallic" non-metalizer I know.  If you like the red label on the krylon gold, please be aware that it's that way because my dad used it for a paint stand.  Nice!!!!

58 Chevy Impala--Speed Build, Built for Speed?--Finished!!!

So as I said last time: it took me a year to build a scale Audi R8. So I have to ask: what can I build in a weekend?  I started this AMT 58 Chevy a long time ago, got as far as the body and Bare Metal Foil and put it aside.  I wanted to finish it fast and I did!

So how is the finished build? To me, it looks like it was built: fast.  There are trim issues here and there, little dinks and dings in the paint, and plenty of fit issues, but there are always fit issues on these old AMT kits.  The question is, how much time do I want to spend fixing all the issues, and for this build, it was pretty much NO TIME.  Boogie on! The front grille from the kit didn't fit.  Not even close! Forget it!! find the front grille and wheels/tires from the parts box!  Ditch the old stuff!  hey it's a "mild kustom!"

Another speed saving trick: masks?  We don't need no stinking masks! I didn't mask the interior, the undercarriage, the frame, anything.It all came out just fine.  Isn't the idea to have fun?

The flat finish gives it a sort of mean look. I have never built a "flat black" model before this one.  There is a first time for everything!

We'll ignore the really noticeable AMT issues, like the hood not quite fitting OK?  If you squint it looks well--good. maybe! But hey, it's a speed build! It was almost done by New Year's.  One thing I can say: a few years ago I would have never been able to build something that looks OK (I think this came out OK, not great) in a few evenings.  It was fun to see how fast I could build this!

So what's next?  I am thinking about another speed build.  Can I build something even faster?