Thanks for your patience.

The windows above are from Hot Wheels 3-Window ’34s. You’ll notice that the windows differ in tint color; clear, pink and yellow.  You can see that you can alter the look of your custom simply by using different colored glass. Which is a good reason to pick up several extras of the current hot castings… windows and interiors change over time and you may desire a blue tinted window when all of the ’70 Chevelles currently shipping are using smoke tinted, for example.

This product from Testors allows you to alter the tint color with a smoke-hued spray on finish. Needless to say, it works best on clear windows. Follow the instructions and be careful to avoid getting the spray on the outside of the window. Another idea might be to mask the outside of your window and spray the inside with flat black paint. The result is a limo-tint look. But it’s more than a “tint,” of course, it’s a solid blackout. It looks great for some applications.

Cutting Window GlassIn the case of most diecast, the windows are not really glass, but a type of clear plastic. As a result, they can be cut & trimmed with just a bit of caution and care. The rotary tool (or Dremel, if you prefer) will make quick work of the task but sometimes the speed of the tool will melt more plastic then it cuts.  The preferred method is slow hand cutting. As seen in the photo below  mask off the glass on both sides of the cut line, like so:

This window glass is from the First Edition ’32 Ford. The body has had the roof removed, so only the upright, front windshield section is needed. Using the jeweler’s saw, begin the cut. The tape mask will help avoid scratching the windshield should the saw blade slip out of place. Even by hand the process is rather quick and here is the windshield being cut:

And the rough look after cutting:

You’ll notice the rough edge where the cut was made. To smooth that out I carefully trim with a sharp X-Acto knife and here’s the final product:

Once you’ve cleaned up the window glass you can use some 1500 or 2000 grit sandpaper and wet-sand the edge into a very smooth surface. Or, if satisfied, leave it as is. Color choices, and sometimes modifications, can often make a real difference in the way your custom looks!

A small sampling of some of the more common adhesives used in customizing.

JB Weld & JB Kwik – JB Weld has been around for a long, long time now. It has proven it’s worth in numerous fields, including the automotive arena where it’s been used to seal holes in engine blocks! In the diecast customizing world it’s often used to “graft” a portion of the body of one casting together with the body of another. A great number of people also use it in place of rivets when re-assembling a car. Gray in color, it usually looks very nice after drying in a drilled-out rivet hole. It may also be used in conjunction with thin, flat brass or metal stock when filling factory hood cut-outs and such. The difference between the venerable JB Weld and it’s newer cousin, JB Kwik, is the strength and curing time. While JB Weld takes a good 24 hours to completely cure, JB Kwik sets in 4-5 minutes and cures completely in 20 minutes or less if used in a hot environment (like Texas or Arizona). Although JB Kwik usually works better for customizing projects, there are two legitimate concerns; 1) JB Kwik sets up fast… very fast. This means you will usually have to mix small amounts and concentrate on one or two projects at a time. And 2) JB Kwik is not as inherently strong as JB Weld. Since our projects are never usually stressed too much, however, this last concern is probably not too big an issue. The product[s] come in two equal sized tubes per package. One tube is the “filler” and the other is the “hardener.” They mix in equal parts, so even a bozo like myself can figure it out. Cost is usually around $3 per package. Pick some up today, or learn more about JB Weld products at their website.

Epoxies – Devcon is a leading manufacturer of quality adhesives. From clear, hard drying epoxies, to JB Weld type “metal” epoxies and fillers. Most of their products can be found at Wal-Marts, Home Depots, craft stores, etc.. I know customizers who use their clear “5-minute” epoxy to re-attach the bases of their cars. Especially the plastic bases. The clear stuff is also useful for cementing axles (or axle channels) in place on plastic bases. I admit that the clear stuff can get a little messy if not careful… it strings out sort of like hot cheese on your pizza. But once dry it is very strong and, for the most part, clear.

Super Glue – There are basically two things to remember about super glue; 1) Try to locate a super glue without the ingredient “Ethyl.” This chemical doesn’t react well with many plastics… the curing vapors often causing plastics – especially clear plastic like windshields – to whiten or cloud in appearance. “Krazy Glue” should be avoided as it contains the aforementioned “Ethyl.” And the second thing to remember, 2) super glue tends to “spread.” Or in layman’s terms, it spreads out. Sometimes drastically so. Many customizers have used a couple drops of super glue to hold their axles in place only to later discover it had spread out to the wheels and froze them in place. Be careful!

Elmer’s Glue – Good Old Elmer’s glue can be a customizer’s best friend.   It dries clear, cleans up with water and is easily removed even after gluing if an adjustment is necessary.  This product is also recommended for windshields as it does not promote “glue vapors” which cause clouding.  

NOTE: Most customizers these days are using a number of these products depending on the project or step involved.  Feel free to use whatever you are comfortable with.  By experimenting, you may find a product, or products, that are more suitable to your specific needs. The adhesives described above are but a small sampling of what’s available. Hobby shops stock an assortment of adhesives designed specifically with the hobbyist in mind. 

The interiors above are from Hot Wheels ’63 Split-Windows. You’ll notice that the interiors differ in color; tan, black and white. There is also a gray version. You can see that the look of your custom may be altered simply by using different colored interiors. Which is a good reason to pick up several extras of the current hot castings… windows and interiors change over time and you may desire a white interior when all of the ’70 Chevelles currently shipping are using a black one, for example.

Painting Interiors – Contrary to popular belief, plastic parts may indeed be painted, the process is pretty straightforward:

• 1) Do not attempt to strip or sand the soft plastic interiors!
• 2) Spray the interior (top & bottom) with some sort of primer designer for plastic/resin..
• 3) After the primer has dried thoroughly, shoot your color coat.
• 4) And finally, as an option, you may want to detail the interior and then top coat the entire thing with a semi-gloss or dull-cote.

Interiors can also be cut or trimmed for wild applications, using a rotary tool, jeweler’s saw, or X-Acto knife (or a combination of all three). This is often necessary when lowering cars or adding big drag slicks. And some of the pliable plastic welders can be used when you wish to bond two or more interior pieces together (Power Poxy’s “Super Poxy,” for example).

Interiors can also be tu-toned or even detailed with silver or gray or even wood finishes depending upon your creativity.  Even foils can be used to highlight aspects of the interior.  Some even use tiny decals for instruments and other features. 

The plastic interiors may be the easiest part of a custom to work with and, usually, are easily replaced when an error does occur.

Some top coats available in enamel and lacquer  

Types - As mentioned in previous sections, I prefer to use mostly House of Kolor urethane clear coat. Urethane has no “yellowing” effect and is very durable when completely dry. Another great choice is this one suggested by David Elliott which was reprinted from his former web site:  

For clear coat, I use PPG DCU2010 Urethane clear coat. This is a 3-part system (clear, hardener, reducer) that I mix at 2.5:1:1 (they recommend 4:1:1, but I’ve found that my ratio works better for airbrushing on small models). At this ratio, I can do the whole job in one good coat instead of having to use many coats. Once again, people may be impressed by “12 coats of clear”, but my cars look fantastic with just a single coat of this clear. DCU2010 is not cheap to get into – it will cost you around $80 to get started – but the cost per car is no higher than other clear coats. The key issue is the hardener – this stuff goes bad after it is opened (the other chemicals last much longer, and aren’t a problem). In my experience, a can of hardener lasts around 2 months before it starts to cloud, and it costs $25 per 8 oz. can. As a result, I tend to paint a lot of cars and save them up for a big clear coating session.

For an easy and inexpensive urethane clear coat, you might try Min-wax gloss polyurethane as suggested by John Muthard from Zinc City Customs. This product is available at Wal-Mart, usually near the lacquer thinner, and runs about 5 or 6 bucks per (I believe) 12-ounce spray can or 1/2-pint can for airbrush use. This stuff works exceptionally well sprayed over enamel paint[s]. It will also work well over lacquer, but multiple coats may be necessary due to lacquer’s inherent roughness. Wet-sanding the first coat of first will help.  

Other options include enamel clears (of which I heartily endorse Testor’s High Gloss Enamel), water-based acrylic clears (of which I have little experience), and lacquer clears (which are nearly useless for achieving super high gloss finishes). But you don’t necessarily need to heed our advice, sometimes personal experimentation will yield great results for one person where the same solution would not work for another. But, generally speaking, a professional quality urethane clear coat is hard to beat.

Future Floor Wax is a great clear coat – it goes on fairly thick and is designed to dry smooth and clear.  Because it is has an acrylic base it can be used over acrylic and enamel paints.  It has been said that it does not work well over Lacquer or Automotive types. It can be applied over waterslide decals without problem. Basically it is painted on with a soft brush or fired through your airbrush like normal clear and allowed to dry over night.  It is self smoothing and usually brings out a deep shine with little further work although buffing the wax will add depth to the shine.  Remember this is designed to shine your floors.  Fingers prints and smudges can be easily buffed off with a soft rag and scratches can be easily touched up.  There is no need for fine sanding.    

 Application – Whatever type of clear coat you decide upon, the application is equally important. A good paint booth, room air-cleaner, and/or dust-free environment are critical to avoid airborne foreign objects from becoming a part of your car’s top coat. With that consideration taken care of, you will want to apply the clear in medium wet coats, that is, heavy enough to ensure complete coverage and smoothness, but not so heavy as to provoke runs, sags, or build-up in the finish. It’s a fine line, and it’s what often separates the truly great finish from the just so-so one. When in doubt begin with one or two light coats, wet-sand, and then finish with a solid medium coat.  

You’ll see claims of enormous layers of clear coating (usually on eBay). But experience has shown that one or two good coats of urethane is all that’s needed to achieve that awesome “wet” look associated with fine customs. The key is selecting a good clear coat that you are comfortable using.

Detailing can truly make the casting.   Adding things like headlight detail, trim paint and even a dark highlight wash can transition what may be a humdrum piece into something that looks realistic and professional. 

Here a few ideas for some key areas of detailing:

Beads, Wire for Plug Wires, Matting for Interior Detail, Beads for Lights and Even Food Skewers can be Used.

Headlights, Turn Signals and Taillights - Testors makes the following enamels for a couple of these these applications:  Testors Turn Signal Amber (4624), Testors Stop Light Red (4633).  Some are using craft beads, sequins, crystals and stones for their headlights.  Pearlized nail polish is also a great option for headlights as it has a very real look when dried.  Decals can add a special touch as well.  

Trim, both exterior and Interior - Nothing finer then Bare-Metal Foil  – they have a number of styles from standard chrome to bright, Gold, Matte and black chrome products.  See our section on Bare-Metal Foil to see the process.  A thinned black-wash painted over a chrome grill and then wiped off the high points will offer a feeling of depth to the front end.    

Interiors - Highlighting key parts of the interior can add a great touch too – Testors Wood Color (4673) and Testors Leather (4674) can both be used in this area.  Things like stereo speakers, stick shift knobs and a detailed dash can add world of refinement to a custom. 

Engine - Wiring your plug wired and plumbing your hose lines also adds a great bit of detail.  Check out this How-to section for a complete step-by-step on wiring.  This adds a sense of realism to the scale.  Your local crafts shop should have a wide variety of thread and wire for these applications.  There are also numerous hobby paint manufacturers producing authentic manufacturer block and engine colors.  

Opening Features -  This area of detailing has raised the bar as of late – fashioning hinges and such for full openers:  Hood, trunk, and doors.  Flip Front-ends have also been popular.  These tend to be more advanced treatments but you have to start somewhere.  

Wheels and Tires – Tires are another area of detailing over-looked by many – small brand decals can always add a touch or realism as can the addition of White-wall tires on some vehicles.  The standard “real-Riders” versus standard plastic tires is always in discussion.

Other – Accessory parts such as a convertible boot, visor, engine part additions, etc. can also change the looks of the vehicle and add a sense of realism.  External accessories like surf boards, jet skis, trailers and motorcycles also add some great detail to a custom.   

Whatever you decide as you level of detail – like all other aspects of customizing – is up to you.  You may want to experiment with some of those mentioned and see what you can come up with. Experimentation tempered with experience will help you achieve the desired amount of detailing in your customs. Be sure to buy a few good fine-line paintbrushes.  David Elliot also suggests using dental tools for really delicate detailing (as opposed to brushes).

Although many chemicals can be used to remove blisters from cards, there is a preferred product called “Oops!” (available at Wal-Mart).

Here is the cardback before being sprayed with Oops!

Somewhat hard to make out is the spray nozzle in the upper right corner, saturate the entire cardback.

Gently prying the blister away from the cardback. Before you begin this step, you will want to allow a few minutes for the chemical to soak into the cardboard.

Here is the car being freed. If you’re careful you should be able to free the car without entirely removing the blister. If you are, that will help facilitate re-blistering later.

In this picture the blister was entirely removed from the Cardback. Elmer’s glue is being applied in anticipation of re-blistering.

This shows the re-glued the blister on the cardback. (You usually will not do this until after you have customized the car). Although Elmer’s glue dries clear, you’ll still probably want to wipe away the excess for that professional look. Also, you may find it helpful to lay the card flat and place heavy objects on all four sides of the blister to hold it tight while it dries.

This is only one method for removing and re-applying blisters. But the process is pretty much the same no matter which chemical remover you use or what sort of glue you prefer for re-blistering. Other chemicals used to remove blisters are Goof-Off and standard lighter fluid which can also be referred to as Naptha.. The main benefit of Oops! is that it will not discolor the card back when it dries and leaves no residual odor after a day or so. And for re-blistering, I’m sure that Super Glue could probably be used with equal (or perhaps greater) effectiveness.

Good luck!

These days, image theft is a big problem, and many innocent buyers are robbed on Ebay by thieves who use our pictures and then falsely claim that the items pictured are their own.

I encourage everyone to watermark their images. The redline hobby generates a lot of images, and people are relying on these photos in this hobby more and more each day. With the rise of Internet sales, there is less personal car inspection and more use of images as the only way to determine whether or not one should buy a car online. Unfortunately, this fact has been exploited by many thieves who have robbed innocent buyers from thousands of dollars. It will only get worse.

Therefore, I have searched the internet for a small, fast, easy to use, and FREE watermarking program, one that can do one file at a time or many files at once. After trying many programs, I have finally found a good one.

I will walk you through this process step by step. (Note this software is for Windows. If you run a Mac or Linux you should already know how to watermark images in Photoshop or The Gimp)

1) Go here: http://www.lunerouge.org/spip/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=43
2) Download CopyRightLeft 0.4 Beta.zip (The download link is attached to the name)
3) Install the program
4) Run the program via the link on your start menu
5) Click on “File” and then “Open Image”
6) A box will pop up. At the bottom of the popup box, select “Files of Type: All Files”
7) Direct the software to a picture that you want to watermark on your hard drive and 2x click it.
Click on the © symbol OR select “Image” and then “Add Copyright”
9) A box will pop up. Now pay attention. At the bottom choose “Center Horizontal CENTER”  and “Center Vertical CENTER”. You want the watermark in the CENTER of the picture. This is the ONLY way to do this. If you watermark you images at the corner or such, anyone can crop you watermark off and proceed to steal you picture anyway!
10) Select “Transparent Background”
11) Select “Change Font”. I suggest Arial size 16. I use font color white or red.
12) In the text box, where you will enter your watermark text, I suggest that you enter the following:
Image © Ebay ID X (Where X = your name)
13) Select “Ok”
14) Select “File” and then “Save Image”. A box will pop up. Again, choose select “Files of Type: All Files” and then 2x click on the old file OR choose “jpg” and save the file under a new name.

(Note if you want to watermark several pictures at once, put all of the pictures that you want to watermark in to a directory. Do not put any other files into this directory. Then Start the program. Choose “image” and then “Batch Processing”. Select “Select a directory” and select “Type of output file = JPG”. Then hit “Ok”. A box will pop up. Point it the directory containing all the files that you want to watermark and choose ok. NOTE: The batch process will automatically watermark all the images in the directory and save them automatically. You will NOT be able to undo it, so make copies of any images that you want to keep an unwatermarked copy of!)

This program also has a help file which explains everything I’ve typed should you get confused. You can also print these directions if you need to refer to them more easily.

By: MINI-MOTORS, Inc. with edits by Jeff Fleetwood

Date: February 2008

Picture above shows before (left) and after (right) – notice how the side trim tampo was left intact.

 MATERIALS:

• Cotton tipped Swabs preferably Q-Tip brand – While the dollar stores may have the best deal, they tend to be more synthetic than those of other discount retailers, making them less absorbent, and can in some cases leave scratches that allow the remover to penetrate the paint underneath the tampoes. Soft and more cotton-like will go a long way.

• Cotton facial pads – again, same comments as the swabs.

• Finger nail polish remover – non-acetone based. Acetone while quicker at dissolving the tampo may eat away at the paint underneath and thin the finish that was applied before the tampo was added.

• Rubber Gloves – if your hands are sensitive to chemicals and to keep tampo paint from attaching to your skin. Gloving up is a good way to prevent oils from your skin possibly affecting the finish as well.

• Toothpicks – to assist with cracks and crevices. Round with pointed end work better than the flat standard toothpicks. Again use finesse when useing this technic.

• Detergent (Dish Soap & Water) – In small amounts is effective for a thorough washing when complete.

• Cotton toweling – Gentle strokes for drying and cleaning.

• Well-lit and ventilated work area – obvious safety reasons.

STEP 3 – Using a cotton swab, damp (not dripping) with nail polish remover, lightly dab the area to be removed. Repeat this a couple times. This allows the remover to penetrate the tampo and start loosening the paint molecules.

STEP 4 – Lightly rub the tampo with the damp cotton swab – the tampo should start to come off the piece onto the swab or smear around on the casting. As the swab becomes full of paint use another clean swab. NOTE: You will go through quite a few swabs per piece. As the remover starts to evaporate it will become sticky. Dampen another swab and reapply.

STEP 5 - Use strokes that take you away from other details – e.g. if the tampo is on the door and there is painted door window trim, your strokes to remove the tampo should be downward away from the window toward the base of the car.

STEP 6 – As the major portion of the tampo is removed a tooth pick – dipped in remover – can be used to clean the cracks and crevice details of the piece. A slightly damp cotton facial pad can be used to wipe down the entire side of a piece to allow easier viewing of the details. Sometimes the facial pad wrapped around a toothpick or even the tip of a finger can be used in place of the swab.

STEP 7 – Light pressure and patience is all that should be needed. Heavy pressure could force the remover into the paint below and cause the base coat to start fading/peeling. Speed can also cause mistakes. Take your time!

STEP 8 – Once the casting tampo has been removed, the casting will feel sticky. Wash with a light detergent based solution – dish soap always works – I often use an auto finish type polish to further nuetralize the remover, and bring back a shine. While we would not recommend submersing the piece, you want to make sure it is clean. A soft cotton towel can help wash the area treated. We try to keep the other parts of the car as dry as possible and you can blow dry, with compressed air, or a hair dryer set on cool when complete to avoid the axles and such from rusting. Let the casting dry for a day or so before reapplying new decals or “putting into service.”.

One Note of Caution: Nail polish remover, as a chemical, does not react well with chrome or plastic glass. Exercise caution to assure that the remover does not come in contact with these areas of your subject piece.

 

600dpi Decal Artwork

Custom Decals – Your first real step in creating custom decals, would be the use of a graphics program that will allow you to create bmp images at 600dpi resolution. The photo above shows a digital image created at 600dpi (dots per inch). When creating custom decals on the computer the 600dpi specification is necessary to ensure the printed image will appear realistic and smooth. 72dpi (Adobe Photoshop’s default setting) is nowhere near tight enough for creating 1/64th scale decals. Try creating a 1/2″ square decal using Photoshop’s default settings and, when printed, you’ll end up with a very miniscule image. You see, six inches on your computer monitor’s screen is not the same as 6″ printed out on paper. The printed version will be much smaller, hence the need for higher resolution… in this case, 600dpi.

Some decal makers will scan the sides and or tops of the body on their scanner – then print them at 100% – this should give you a good gauge for testing your decals and if custom making them give you a design pallet for layout drawing, scaling and coloring.  In some cases, the scan on the car itself is laid under a transparent file (called “layering” within the design program and designed right on the side of the car.  Then it is removed or closed to reveal the final decals.  This is a more advanced process but eliminates (especially for custom made designs) the need to specifically scale the decals to the car.  

Programs – There are a number of great programs out there for making, Resizing and adjusting existing decals.  Adobe PhotoShop and Adobe Pagemaker are great pieces of software and are fairly easy to learn.  QuarkExpress is also great but tends to be on the expensive side.  Visio has also bee used by some with good results – although it is currently a Microsoft product.  Although some people use Microsoft Publisher and even Microsoft Powerpoint for making decals, it is not recommended by many making custom decals due to there self-adjusting nature on things like sizing and colors.  What you think you are getting and what prints may be two different things.  

Decal Printers – Next step, would be purchasing a printer capable of printing decals or finding someone to print them for you. If you desire to be able to print your own decals, whenever you’d like, then you really should look into Alps “thermal transfer” printers. These printers fit somewhere in between traditional ink jets and more expensive color laser printers. They use a process called “thermal transfer” that results in instant-dry inks that are waterproof, fade-proof and smear-proof.   The Alps MD-1000 or MD-1300 are both excellent for printing decals. The 1300 has the advantage of being able to print in chrome & gold I believe, in addition to standard colors. They run $299 and $399 respectively. An even more advanced Alps printer is offered, in the form of the MD-5000, which is capable of generating higher resolutions, but the entry fee jumps up to around $700-800. Standard water-slide decal paper can be purchased at most hobby shops or online.

Traditional ink jet printers cannot adequately print on decal paper… the ink simply doesn’t dry fast enough. So using a traditional Ink Jet Printer can be difficult sometimes.  You must let the ink dry thoroughly and not be disturbed or it will run/smudge.  When completely dry it must be clear coated with a waterproof clear to be able to withstand the waterslide process.  With most ink-jet printers you get what you pay for so the quality of a $59 printer and the scaling is going to be much different from a $499 printer.   Both Micro-Mark and Micro-Format, Inc. offer decal paper for ink jet printers.

But if you’re not rich, not in the market for a new printer, and you don’t know anyone who owns an Alps printer, don’t give up… there are other options:

Other Options – If you have the digital artwork (as described above) prepared and saved onto disk, select commercial print shops (like Kinko’s, Copymax and such) will print the decals for you. Please check with these guys before showing up with a disk and handful of decal paper though!

Other Decals – If you don’t need custom decals, but want something to spiff up your latest creation, there are a few different avenues you could take. One is utilizing Slot car decals which are avaailble from many sources on the internet – simply search Slot Car Decals in any search engine.  While some will say theyare not sized correctly, the decal sets they sell will also work on most 1/64th scale diecast.  And finally, you might want to check your local craft or hobby shop for dry-transfer “Pinewood Derby car” decals. You know, those cars you whittled out of a block of pine to race down hill while in Boy Scouts?

*******

Application – For best results you should apply water-slide decals after the color coats, but before the clear coat[s] – see below. If you’ve never used water-slide decals, the process is pretty simple:

1. Cut out the decal you want to apply, depending upon the decal you should cut very close to the design to eliminate “flashing” which is extra clear film connected to the decals.  This may show on your piece after it is applied.
2. Place the decal into a dish of luke-warm water.
3. Watch the decal curl up and then slowly uncurl.
4. Remove the decal from the water after about 60 seconds. 
5. Place the decal near the surface you wish to apply it to, then gently slide the decal off the backing and onto the car.
6. Adjust and align carefully before blotting dry.  Q-tips are great for blotting, although they get saturated quite quickly – a dry, thin cotton towel is recommended.
7. Repeat steps 1 thru 6 for any other decals to be applied.
8. Allow to dry overnight for best adhesion.

Most Waterslide decals – whether bought or made can be clear coated with the car when detailing and decaling are final.  This is a great way to seal the decals to the vehicle and give a seamless look to the car.  Testing your clear coats prior to spray over those prize decals and paint is highly recommended as decal type and clear type may not interact well.