1/18 Die Cast KITT Coming In December

[Squealer]

I really don't recommend using an eraser to get rid of the white lettering. The friction from the eraser rubs off part of the rubber on the tires and leaves scuff marks on the originally glossy tires. I recommend using paint thinner and lightly rubbing the paint off with a soft cloth. In certain angles you can clearly see it the scuffs. Also, I wouldn't even bother messing around and turning the tires inside out as you might stretch the rubber or possibly even break the wheel itself trying to get it off. Just use paint thinner!

Squealer- You have every right to be upset about any defect whatsoever on the models. I bought the Motor Max 1999 Trans Am Ram Air and it had a slight paint chip over a front wheel well. I simply took a black permanent marker and dabbed the spot with it, basically coloring the grey metal underneath black. If it weren't for the fact that I knew the chip was there to begin with, I would have not noticed it. Just an idea.

I wanted to try to use the black marker on it but hesistated... Tried on an old KR RC KITT and the effect was horrendous... Guess I'll just leave this scratch here for the moment... Now shall I get another more "perfect" one? I haven't even gotten the KARR yet... But I'm not really keen on KARR... If I get it, it would be for completion sake...

[imranbecks]

Oh and I just found out that the vents behind the front wheels are painted with a matt finish on the ERTL car. On the Aoshima, they are the same as the rest of the car, very glossy..

Very interesting, I wonder why ERTL elected not to paint it gloss black and left it at bare plastic. They probably cut a corner here, to save production costs. I'll decide later if I will paint mine gloss black...mark one point against ERTL on this one.

Its not that bad and is hardly noticeable unless u look at it up close.. ERTL's is still the best though IMO for the great, actually better looking foglights.. I actually almost bought the Aoshima KITT a few days ago at the store but the black dot in the center of each foglight was a real turn off.. So I changed my mind

[Dave Knight]

as i said on this thread many pages ago use ordinary Testors Brush Cleaner not thinner or turpintine, dip a paper towel into the bottle, squeeze off the excess and wipe off the lettering. sure you can remove the tires and turn em inside out cause the real KITT had no tire lettering at all not even white. but if you do this before turning them inside out you wont see the white lettering when they are inside out.

[imranbecks]

Actually, after watching a few episodes of KR recently, when they showed the tyres of KITT up close, there were the letterings of Goodyear Eagle GT, but they were colourless, if u get what i mean... So the letterings were on the tyres, it just wasn't white

[Skav]

afraid imranbecks is right....in killer kitt', a close up of the tyres with the writing is there but they are sprayed black.

so it's black writing.

[corlando52]

afraid imranbecks is right....in killer kitt', a close up of the tyres with the writing is there but they are sprayed black.

To be absolutely accurate, they are just cast with the letters raised. It's afterward they paint them white on some.

A suggestion for getting the white off the tires: Nail polish remover. Just use a paper towel, and wipe off the white. Then use another paper towel with water and wipe off the excess nail polish remover. I noticed the "lemon" nail polish remover not quite as strong as the regular nail polish remover, so it's less likely to do any damage to your tires. I've tried this on other cars and it works pretty good.
Just a suggestion.

Chris

[Dave Knight]

afraid imranbecks is right....in killer kitt', a close up of the tyres with the writing is there but they are sprayed black.

To be absolutely accurate, they are just cast with the letters raised. It's afterward they paint them white on some.

A suggestion for getting the white off the tires: Nail polish remover. Just use a paper towel, and wipe off the white. Then use another paper towel with water and wipe off the excess nail polish remover. I noticed the "lemon" nail polish remover not quite as strong as the regular nail polish remover, so it's less likely to do any damage to your tires. I've tried this on other cars and it works pretty good.
Just a suggestion.

Chris

i belive i just said something similar about halfway up this page lol and a couple of pages back, i guess i should just shut up, what the hell do i know i have only been doing model cars for 20 years, what the hell do i know about fine detailing anyhow

[DiggiDiDuck]

I recived my KITT on Sunday and at first I recognize the strange matt black frame around the trunk, which was already posted in this forum.
But has anybody tried to remove the frame???
I have been trying to find a reason why the manufacturer had done this.

[corlando52]

A suggestion for getting the white off the tires: Nail polish remover. Just use a paper towel, and wipe off the white. Then use another paper towel with water and wipe off the excess nail polish remover. I noticed the "lemon" nail polish remover not quite as strong as the regular nail polish remover, so it's less likely to do any damage to your tires. I've tried this on other cars and it works pretty good.
Just a suggestion.

Chris


i belive i just said something similar about halfway up this page lol and a couple of pages back, i guess i should just shut up, what the hell do i know i have only been doing model cars for 20 years, what the hell do i know about fine detailing anyhow

Sorry about that...I guess I missed it...And you're right...it's an old modeler's trick and who knows better than old modelers, right? I'm 52 and been making models since I was about 8. Worked in the ATT Art Department and then in the PW Art Department since 1979. So, yes, you pick up little tricks along the way, which obviously you have done as well.
If you have pictures posted of any KITTs you have made, I'd love to see them.

Thanks!

Chris

[Dave Knight]

its no problem, thats why i added the down the bottom of the post

[HondaSiR]

I recived my KITT on Sunday and at first I recognize the strange matt black frame around the trunk, which was already posted in this forum.
But has anybody tried to remove the frame???
I have been trying to find a reason why the manufacturer had done this.

That frame is there for a purpose, to ensure the rigidity of the mechanism while the trunk is opened and closed. I wouldn't mess with it, specially when the car is a bit "rare" right now and is not easily replaced.

Regarding the white tire letterings, I wouldn't dab too much solvent on them (thinner, nail polish remover, paint brush cleaner, etc.) It may harm the rubber in the long run, cracking them several years down the road. And don't remove them either, Lost Knight is right, the rubber might get deformed and stretched out. My suggestion would be to just remove the white markings with your fingernails bit by bit. While this may be time consuming, it would certainly be the best route in the long run.

[Lost Knight]

I recived my KITT on Sunday and at first I recognize the strange matt black frame around the trunk, which was already posted in this forum.
But has anybody tried to remove the frame???
I have been trying to find a reason why the manufacturer had done this.

I haven't tried to remove the frame because I haven't received my cars yet, and it doesn't look like much can be done about it either, but I'm sure the modeling experts out there may come up with something. However, I think the purpose of this frame is to basically just secure the plastic. Also, I think the purpose of the back window being tinted is to help camoflage the frame and possibly the trunk itself.

If you look closely, it's not only the trunk that has the frame, but the windshield as well. I took a closer look at my other 1/18th die-cast models and they all have this frame in some form or another whether it's distinct, subtle, or chrome. This appears to be the standard for these die-cast models in order to keep the plastic windows secure, only on some models it is more noticeable than others.

[Knight Racer]

Has anyone recieved an email saying your item has been shipped from diecastmart?It has a link saying if your item was sent by UPS use this link and ebay auction # to confirm.I checked it out and of the 16 winners,it only lists 9 were sent out.It felt a little like a general email you can send copies to everyone to.maybe he just forwarded the same copy to everyone who won from that auction

I also asked for my personal tracking number both in the envelope sent to him with payment and through emails.Has anyone else had these problems from this guy?

[Lost Knight]

Knight Racer- I received the E-mail as well. It does feel like an automated general E-mail, but at the bottom, the seller asked me to leave postive feedback when the item arrives and that he will do the same for me, so that part I think was written by him. For the tracking number of your item, simply type in the eBay item #.

[Knight Racer]

I used the link in the email and it took me to ups.I entered the ebay auction # and it showed me 9 addresses not mine though.We need to find out if anyone on the board actualy recieved or is scheduled to recieve it from this guy.

[TurbomanKnight]

I got that email too. I tried it but it didnt work. But after 4 days he sent a tracking number for ups. Which worked. My package is scheduled to come on the 17th. I just hope so. This seller is such a JACKASS!!

[HondaSiR]

I hate sellers who don't give feedback until feedback has been given for him first. It's a form of blackmail, if you give him a negative, he will retaliate with a negative. That's why regardless of what I intend to purchase in ebay, I always email him first before bidding so that I can have all my questions answered and find out if he is a nice guy or not.

Nevertheless, there is a sneaky solution if you want to give him a negative feedback without him giving you one. Just wait until the final day and hour/minute (usually exactly three months after auction's end IIRC) of the effectivity of leaving feedback. Just leave the negative at the precise time, he won't be able to answer back with his own negative. I've done it once (for my friend who was a seller, the person who won his item was a deadbeat) and the deadbeat couldn't retaliate with his own negative because time was out. He just put a lame comment under his negative feedback, that's all he can do. Revenge is sweet, but in order to pull this one off, patience really is a virtue.

[Lost Knight]

It's such a shame that things have to end up like this where people have to develop sniper programs and develop strategies for their items. Personally, I don't leave any seller feedback until I have the item in my hands and its in satisfactory condition. I rarely use eBay (I have only bought 4 items off it since I've been a member), and only use it when there is no other choice to get particular items.

Patience is virtue, but HondaSiR makes a great point saying that although there will come a time when these cars will be mass-marketed and available to everyone, the effect of owning them will not be as good as it is now, especially during the holidays. It's more than likely in the future we're going to get a plethora of "I told you so" people bragging that they got these cars for less money and laughing at us spending a lot to get it sooner.

In my opinion though, getting something when you need it makes it that much better. Who wants to finally get something after everyone seems to have it?...it kind of takes away from the overall enjoyment of owning something rare. That's probably why as a child every toy I wanted was usually rare and growing up, things I always wanted seemed to be discontinued, rare, or sold out.

[Knight Racer]

Its official,I'm at the point of the dance where he gave me a tracking number for ups but it says billing has been recieved whic does not indidcate drop off or shipment status.Sounds like a fake tracking number to me.I usualy get to see when the sched delivery is for the item if this is done.Maybe because it was done at a ups store on a Sunday.I'm not sure.I do know it takes 4-5 buisness days to recieve by ups so hopefully I will be holding my kitt on Friday

[Skav]

I agree on the feedback issue. it's really ebay policy for a seller to leave feedback for his customers PAYING FAST AND EFFICIENTLY.

it shouldn't mean the buyer can't leave a neg if the item is bad...it's not this way in stores, so why should it be for ebay?

there should be some sort of standard set for this, but i doubt much can be done about it except moan to ebay for the unjustly negative.

it's happened to me...i have 1 neg by a person over an item i never received and spent £50 on it.

they retaliated by saying i had bad attitude and didn't co-operate...like, why wouldn't i if it was ME buying the item??

ppl are stupid on there.

[HondaSiR]

Just thought I'd share three pics of my ERTL KITT...with some subtle changes. Check out my "not quite ready yet" turn signal blackouts (made out of thin cardboard) and newly painted rims (they were really a PAIN to paint, the square holes were really small). I also painted the front fender vents gloss black, I couldn't stand the flat finish of it any longer. Please excuse the poor quality of the images, I used the only digital camera at my disposal right now, my Nokia 3650 cellphone.

[Lost Knight]

Nice modifications, HondaSiR. I knew something wasn't quite right about the rims all this time. Did you use regular model paint for the rims, and what did you use to get in those hard to reach spots? Also, if you're going to make the turn signal blackouts, for complete accuracy you would need to make bumper grills to go over the fog lights as well.

[HondaSiR]

Thanks for the compliments Lost Knight...I used a Tamiya Flat Black (XF-1) enamel paint for the rims. In my opinion, flat black would be better than gloss black for that part. The brush I used is a Tamiya modeling brush with item number 87017...the smallest brush that I have, and it fits into the small holes...just barely.

I haven't given the fog light grills some thought yet. That is definitely a hard one. I would welcome some suggestions from you and the other members if they have some ideas.

[Lost Knight]

I also have another question...I recently painted my Corgi die-cast K.I.T.T. silver on bottom to make him K.A.R.R. and used a silver Pilot paint pen (I realize it's not modeling paint) to test how it would come out on top of a die-cast finish. It came out a lot better than I expected, but I noticed that the paint is a bit sticky and can come off if touched for too long. My question is, if I paint the 1/18th models with any other type of modeling paint like yours for example, will I have this same problem or will it have a smooth permanent finish to it?

[HondaSiR]

Tamiya also makes paint pens, and when they dry, it should not be sticky. However, if you plan to paint large areas of 1/18 diecast cars (such as whole doors and hoods), it would be better if you use model spray cans. They dry easily and looks more professional looking, as compared to brush painting. Just mask the parts you don't want painted and spray away (practice spray painting on an object first to get the desired result before painting the actual car).

Using a brush to paint the model is ok for smaller sections like door handles, emblems...and such. Brush painting a large area wouldn't look very nice IMO but it is still possible (by using a very large brush perhaps).

Oh...and model paint really wasn't designed to be touched often after painting since model cars were made to be displayed rather than played with. Some modelers spray a clearcoat finish over the paint for protection.