OK, this is a mess and I'm gonna need help... (56k warning)

[tigeraid]

You know how you hear those horror stories about that one-in-a-hundred resin supplier that just casts really really horrible stuff? I found him:











This is from Tom Mills. '93-94 Caddy Fleetwood Brougham. My god it's awful. But, the guy I'm building this model for says he wants me to give it my best shot anyway, since it's the only model of a 93-96 Fleetwood that any of us have been able to find.

The rest of the kit (yes, it's a "complete" kit) is even more absurd, just a piece of tin with 4 holes for metal axles and 4 poorly-cast resin wheels, and an interior tub that consists of seats and nothing else. ... The rest doesn't bother me though, as I was planning on using a Revell Impala chassis/interior anyway.

Here's an attempt at progress:





The amount of putty remaining after sanding should give you an idea of how wavy the body panels are on this thing. The trim is just as bad. So clearly, Tamiya putty is too fine to work for this application. I need a putty that's gonna help me smooth the panels out--what do you guys suggest I get from my LHS? The instructions (HAH) in the kit suggest some type of "army green" filler that military modellers use?

Any other tips of getting the body straight, and more importantly the pinstripe and window trim, would be highly appreciated. I think my buddy has too much faith in my abilities

[freakray]

Wow, I hope you didn't pay too much for that!

I don't think your buddy has too much faith in your abilities, I've seen your work and I believe you turn that around too!

[toyota00]

Wow that thing looks like a mess until you cleaned it up. I hope you didn't pay that much either.. Goodluck

[willimo]

You could use some epoxy putty like Tamiya's, but it's hard to spread. A lot of figure modelers use polyester putty, which apparently dries hard but is easy to spread and mold and smooth while wet. I'd probably give that a try.

For straightening the pinstripe, window trim, and rub strips, I'd actually sand them all away and replace them with styrene strip and rod. They'd actually make a good reference point for smoothing the body panels, too.

[tigeraid]

Originally Posted by freakray

Wow, I hope you didn't pay too much for that!

No, *he* paid $40 usd for it

I suppose sanding and re-doing the trim is an option... The putty you see there is the Tamiya "Basic Type" putty and I used a TON on every panel just to get the progress you see there. There's gotta be some other putty I can use in larger amounts that can be smoothed out, bondo style...

[Macdaddy4738]

I imagine the Military Green putty that its talking about is SQUADRON GREEN.

Easy to find, but GTMike will bust it down in a second, he hates that stuff. Id use some sort of Epoxy putty for that much work. Squadron green dries by evaporation, and thus shrinks. If you paint over it before its done shrinking, then you will see that in your paint job! Epoxy dries by chemical reaction, therefor no shrinking

[stevenoble]

Use some car body filler the stuff they use in auto body shops.You mix it with hardener and thus can vary the drying time to help you get the right shape before it sets up hard.Then use the finer modelling putty over this to smooth it out.I agree with the comment about sanding away the trim and replacing it with styrene strip.It would be the best option.Good luck with it.Steve