Help with multi-media Alfa Rome 159 F1

Thank you so much for the info, it's the best I've found so far...the superglue I was referring to is the "Instant KRAZY glue which I gues is cyanoacrylate. So I guess what was referred to by Chris as CA is one and the same? With your having build over a hundred of this models, I'm sure you know where I am at having t be a real novice at this type of kit. I'm anxious to get started but don't want to get messed up and theeby discouraged. Hope to here more from you as I have more questiions come to light! Thanks, Eric on GUAM USA. BY the way, glad to hear this morning we got Hussein! Good job to our men and women in IRAQ!

Eric, Is it about 3-4 inches long ? If so what you have is probably 1/43rd scale. If its much bigger then its either 24th or 20th. I'm not sure what larger scale that Renaissace do.

I've built over 200 of these and they are tremendous fun and produce very fine looking models.

You say superglue is no good. This is TOTALLY wrong. That is ALL I use, unless what you mean by superglue is different to me superglue is that cyanacrylate (?) stuff sometimes known as cyno of CA. It bonds the different media perfectly. The other glue to use is expoxy but I find that too messy and incovenient and wasteful because you have to continually mix small portions.

I do as Chris says to remove pe but I also use a set of nail sissors for the fine etch. Be very careful when handling as they have a habit of flying off and they can be devilish hard to find.

The resin body will need to be sanded and checked for pinholes and other slight surface irregularities. If any filling is ncessary then any filler will do from an automotive filler to the Tamiya plastic filler, the latter is what I'm currently using and have used the Squadron "green putty" previously with good results. Once prepared all parts need to be washed in soapy water to ensure all the mould release agent has gone and all finger oils are removed as well. All parts (resin and pe) need to be undercoated, again I generally use the automotive spray can undercoats but Tamiya's spray undercoat is fine too. From then on its just the same as any other kit but with plenty of dry fitting.

Ride height is one thing you'll have to watch so you'll need to dry fit and temporarily fix some of the suspension parts and wheels to ensure its all correct front to back and side to side.

Have fun!

Good point about the resin. I've never messed with that yet. I know that when useing pe with plastic you have to use super glue because regular tube glu works by melting two pieces of plastic together. All I use anymore is CA cause it's alot cleaner with out the stringy stuff and dries faster. You might be able to post a question about how to go about attaching pe to resin in the techniques topic or general model discussion. The only other thing I could think that might work would be epoxy.

Chris What do you mean by CA glue, I don't mean to sound stupid,(there are no stupid questions) but super glue is no good for these types of models, resin body photoetched metal parts, you seem to understand the picture. Maybe I can email you some pics of the kit to your email address and you can maybe coach me a bit from there. I really want to build this as it poses quite a challenge to me. Like I said I've neve seen one before.

Use a new hobby knofe on a hard surface to get the pe of the tree. Try to cut as close as you can to the part so there is not a bit sticking out. If there is you can take a file and take it off carefully. For parts that you need to bend either use a tool made for pe or take a razor blade and put the edge on the bend line and take another razor blade and bend the piece with it. I've just recently used pe for the first time also and this is just what I have learned. One other thing, use CA glue aka super glue for the pe. Good luck and I'll try to help you out more if I can.