Modeling tips

[Hans]

If you find an Autosculpt-model in the HO-scale and if you are an artist, you can make very nice models . You can find an example at www.mo87.de from Jens (Köln), who built an Austin A30 Van. It´s a marvellous model and I´m quite envious about the qualifikation of Jens.

Hans

[Christian]

skunk said:

I know that Autosculpt claims their pewter models are in 1/92 scale (to avoid accusations of plagiarism?).
Are they all in 1/92?

Not at all. They range from about 1/85 to maybe 1/110. I have a lot of the Autosculpt models here with me and can check their scales. Which Sonett are you interested in, I, II or III?

[skunk]

Christian said:

Which Sonett are you interested in, I, II or III?

Whichever is closest to 87 scale, but I definitely prefer II or III. I am Swedish myself, and always found it interesting that the Sonett was never offered on sale in Sweden, only in the US.
I once did see a Sonett in Sweden, it was equipped with the 16v Turbo 2.0 from a 900 Aero and had a fibreglass flipfront a la Jaguar E-type...

[Christian]

I only have a hollow Sonett I at the moment. That one is really small, about 1/99 scale.

[Eric]

The tips and tricks on making exhausts have meanwhile been added to 87thScale.info, the next t&t page will be about headlights, the subject that started this thread.

As an addition here are two pictures:

These are the 'crystals' I use (various sizes)....
..... and here is a picture of what it looks like.

[skunk]

That Italian text on that box makes me think that the lights for my Jollyni Ferrari 225S came out of a similar one - Italy is a little far away though, does anyone know of a place in the US that can supply similar crystals?

[cfesmire]

On the subject of exhausts, I like the idea and have used the alum. tubing used by R/C aiplane fuel supply lines for exhaust stacks on trucks. By trimming the end off a ball point pen filler tube(less ink and throw the pen away) slipping it over the alum, tubing, it makes a great muffler. By sliding a thin wire inside the tubing it can be bent to the configuration needed.

[Lee]

K and S tubing sells both a small and large package of assorted end cuts (scraps) which is a real gold mine to a modeler.

[Eric]

skunk said:

That Italian text on that box makes me think that the lights for my Jollyni Ferrari 225S came out of a similar one - Italy is a little far away though, does anyone know of a place in the US that can supply similar crystals?

I don't know if Tron Models (www.tronmodels.com/) are available in the US but if they are not MV Lenses is a US supplier of something similar, I think these are also available through Walthers. As far as I know the MV lenses are more expensive though.

[Lee]

Two dollars for a set of four lens

[Eric]

I thought the MV lenses were more expensive then that. I paid something like 3 euro a set for the 1mm crystals on the left in the picture (the red and the clear ones, 20 pieces in each set)

[Lee]

The online Walthers catalog has the complete listing and prices of the MV lens. The prices run from $1.10 to about $3.95 a set. I bought packages of four of various sizes at $2.00 a pack. What you are showing is about 40 lens for less than $4.00, so you got the better deal.

[skunk]

Thanks for posting my exhaust advice! The only downside is the fragility of the pipes. Here's a pic of a Jeep that I am building. The wire will be painted silver to match.

[skunk]

I tried putting bare metal foil on the backside of the left taillight on BMW 325i. I smoothed off the backside of the light first, covered it in foil, attached it and then trimmed the excess foil off. The right taillight is still original.

[Eric]

Skunk,

this seems to work fine for uni-coloured taillights but how would you see multicoloured ones done ? Foil on the inside and painting on the outside ? Since I usually paint the part that is supposed to be orange or white from the outside (see the C-class Mercedes picture on the exhaust t&t page) and that doesn't always look good.... any suggestions ?