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Second that. Like Pantherman, I'll cut as much of the clear carrier film away as I can. It's to reduce silvering as much as possible. You get air trapped under the film, in the tiny pits and pockets in the surface. That's why many modelers apply a gloss coat before decaling, to fill those...

Nice finish! Even for the level of quality of its time, you got a nice model. Speaking of the Wisconsin and her history, wasn't it she who damaged her bow in a collision, and was repaired with the bow from one of the unfinished Iowas, the Kentucky, I think it was?

OK, I have a followup...looking at Atlantis' website, I see they have an Iowa kit, too, and listed at 1/535. That one has got to be the Revell kit. This one must come from a different maker, but I still think it's a contemporary of Revell's kit and dates back to those first plastic...

If I'm not mistaken, that is the old (1955?) Revell Missouri, which Revell reboxed as each of the Iowas, over the years. It was one of Revell's first ship kits. It reflects the technology and expectations of its time. Atlantis lists it as 1/665 scale, though, whereas Revell listed the kit at...

Welcome to the Herd, Spica! I recommend Scalemates as well. A lot of people have contributed to it and uploaded content. I was born in the middle of your target years, and I can remember some space station models, but not that clearly. I'm thinking of Revell, but I don't think their kits fit...

Welcome to the Herd, Rob! I built those when I was a kid, too, and another drag racer but whose it was, I've long forgotten. I grew up on Monogram armor and airplanes, and Revell 1/32 airplanes, and their ships. I look forward to seeing your builds! Best regards, Brad

Scratchbuilding 101: Never throw anything out! :)

Welcome to the Herd! Sorry, I can't help you with an app to track building time. I don't track it, myself. If I did, I'd need something like Stonehenge, I build so slowly. I look forward to seeing your work! Best regards, Brad

Looks good! You made me curious, so I ran a web search on "soda city modelcon". Turns out it's an IPMS club that stages it, the Mid-Carolina Swamp Fox Modelers. We get their newsletter through the regional exchanges IPMS runs. Their website is https://ipmsmidcarolina.com/ I'd be surprised if...

I wonder if any manuals are available online?

Yeah, we want to distinguish between kit builders and kit collectors. Kit collecting (not the same thing as accumulating a stash) has become a hobby in its own right. Kit collectors acquire kits and look at criteria like other collectors do with their favorite subjects. For example, they...

Welcome to the Herd! Since we've mentioned hobby and craft shops, something else to consider is talking to the owner or store manager and seeing if he's interested in donating kits and materials. For the store, it's good publicity and it helps foster future customers. Best regards, Brad

They're yooge!

I get that with movies and TV shows. I see something that feels like it just came out a couple of years ago, and I realize it was 30.

Thanks, Momo! I found the image I have to illustrate the nozzle cap I mean: Yeah, 10 years sounds about right for when I first saw them on rattlecans sold here in PA. And the latest design, a pistol-grip, I just saw for the first time this past fall. Yeah, it may seem like a small matter...

The new nozzles haven't been around for 30 years, more like 10. Before that, they used the same design as every other rattle can. And I'm not the only one. I found comments online from people with the same experience, and talked in person about it. Like I said, they've changed the design...

And I'll add regarding proprietary thinners: there is a bit of a learning curve, depending on the product or brand, and the type of paint. For example, I learned to use Tamiya's thinner for their acrylic paints, for my best results. But I can use generic lacquer thinner to thin them for...

I agree with BlackSheep that the Vallejo primer may be the culprit, though I won't go so far as to agree with "Vallejo is garbage". But I have seen enough posts from people who have had similar issues with the products. But I've seen comments like Pantherman's, too-folks who use it without...

I just realized I misremembered the maker of those Star Wars kits-it was MPC, not AMT. Though AMT issued the original Star Trek models, and I loved the Enterprise kit-whatever Hyperscalers today might say about it. I never did get around to building the entire Star Fleet, though.

I only ever got the first generation of "Star Wars" models, when AMT brought them out in the wake of the first movie's release. I built them and enjoyed them, but I always wished they had also kitted the Y-wing and a regular TIE fighter, instead of Darth Vader's machine. I built their original...