What's your Eleanor?

[TheSyndicate]

Have you ever built a kit many times, but have always had something go wrong? Do you find yourself buying the kit over and over in attempts to finally get it right? I can truly say its really frustrating when it happens, and I'm sure some of you have an "eleanor" (gone in 60 seconds anyone?). Post about it. The kit, what seems to go wrong, and how many times you've done it.

Mine is the revell-monogram Ford Lightning.




The first time I brush painted the body, and that was all i painted. This indeed was my 2nd kit when I started this hobby, so I suppose it's acceptable. I tried to restore it by rubbing it down with nail polish remover (mistake #1), then I dipped the clear pieces in nail polish remover (mistake #2), and then I went at the body with some 80 grit sandpaper (OUCH! mistake #3). I can say I SURELY learned from my mistakes!

Next time: Bought the kit, painted the chassis, engine, etc. So basically all the underpinnings looked great (well sorta, I used the nasty tube glue). The body i did not prime (didn't know about primer at the time), and then I painted it with some really bright orange-ish red. Sadly I did not know about CSC at the time so I went at it with some 200grit sandpaper. After about 4 months of it sitting on the shelf, I csc'ed it as much as I could, and then I sanded it down partially smooth, filled in the scratches I made when I used a hobby knife to clear off the paint (!!!). Sadly a lot of the parts were missing so I filled in the headlights and taillights with putty, and I painted the interior jet black (before it was a nasty tan color). Painted it a really bright baby blue color (it seems the spray can lied to me about the color).

Final(but not last) time: Everything went pretty good, underside got painted, little details here and there, and the interior was painted a fair color, with the seats a two-tone gray. Body was not primed before painting (!!), and it was painted over with FLAT BLACK (OMG. ) There were some bubbles and runs in the paint, but I was glad to have somewhat succeeded for once. This is the model I showed in my model pics thread a while back. I'm not quite happy with it, but I leave it displayed as the one time I came close to conquering "Eleanor"!

NOW!: Engine painted in proper colors (steel, alum..etc) and slight rust added to headers and exhaust. Suspension is painted in the right colors, and wheels attached (which is a mistake because I just ordered some 19" vip wheels from hlj that I want to put on this model). The body was then primed with 3 coats, and then I ATTEMPTED to paint it Model Masters "blue angel blue" (great color), but I went too heavy on the last coat and had to CSC it. Attempted this two times, but csc'ed again and decided to paint it testors "black pearl". ALAS! The paint went on well, but for some STUPID reason I decided to clearcoat it before it had fully dried and hardened. The bed of the truck came out fair, except the clearcoat has some tiny bubbles in it which i have tried removing. The cab of the truck was a different story and the paint smeared around under the clearcoat. I left it in CSC for a week, and just an hour ago I finally got the paint off it. Seems that krylon krystal klear coat and csc aren't too friendly. I filtered out the csc and I put the cab of the truck back in it to clean off any existing clear coat and I think the primer is still on it..



Kind of a timeline from before the modeling forums, and after!

[tonioseven]

I've tried many times but no luck yet!!! I have 1 left but it'll probably never get built!!!

[daggerlee]

Haven't been been modeling long enough yet :o The one unfinished-but-started kit I have is a 180SX, and hopefully I'll be able to complete a 180sx modified by Fly, to "end" this "streak"

[turbos86]

Fujimi Integra Type R DC2, the old one

I've got one in the gallery, to be honest, it really sucks! The body is not painted, and that parts that are, are only brush painted. Only the front is lower, and the link between the 2 front wheels snapped. I wanted to tint to window so I painted it black?! I didn't know better back then. And last week, I took it off the shelf for cleaning and starring....and I manage to drop it on the floor. Now the front lip has a crack, no biggy.

But don't worry, now my skills have improved, my next DC2 will look much better! Hopefully

[kicker1_solo]

Not really my Eleanor, but a kit that I have built over and over and it has only gotten better each time.
Revell Acura ITR
First one-it was red. Painted some of the parts, still had sand paper marks on it when I painted it, visible to this day. A couple fingerprints and smudges on the paint. No detail at all, very sloppily put together.
Second one-irridescent. Beautiful paint, some detail on the engine, nice interior, great looking car.
Third one-yellow. Nice and smooth paint, came out very nice. Lots of engine detail, some interior detail, overall great looking car. Probably my favorite so far.
Fourth one-in progress, will be blue. I've shaved lots of parts on the body. Molded the bumpers on, custom made body kit, dual exhaust, lowered, full roll cage, racing seats, lots of little custom things. Tons of engine detail, even a cold air intake. This is probably the most I've ever done to a kit, and I like it so far.
There's been 4 so far, and will most likely be more.

[Hawk312]

Revell/Monogram 1/12 scale `69 Z28

And unfortunately, this is an expensive kit to have as an "Eleanor". I`ve had 3 kits so far, and the paint on the body in each case was a disaster. Since I usually paint the body first, the rest of these kits just laid around untouched since I wont build them if the body looks terrible. So i had three $50+ kits laying around with painted bodies that werent going to be built. I just recently picked one of the kits up again. I had it sitting around for almost two years, and decided I`d strip the paint and give it another go. I just painted it yesterday, and it looks like it will turn out. Although there are alot of dust "nibs" in the clear coat that concern me. :rocket: :rocket: :cry: :flamer: :flamer: :cry: :cry:

[Slippery]

My "Eleanor" is the CocaCola 75 Matador Ive had the kit for about 2 years and everything is finished and ready to be put together but I cant get the body to look right.....Its the Red White and Blue paint scheme but no matter what kind of masking tape I use it always bleeds through......I found the clear coat trick on here so Im gonna try that when I try and tackle it again

[Dorikin]

My Elanor is....every model. I swear to god every goddamn model ive done, something is wrong with it, THE Fujimi DC2 has given me the most trouble, however the Aoshima Chaser was my worst. Painted it Testors gunship gray and got huge gluespots.

[S Brake]

I got owned by the Revell Shelby Series 1, That model sucked ass.