All advice given here is good.  I would just like to add one thing.  With aircraft and armor most of the painting is done after assembly, with little prepainting.  It's the opposite with car models.  LOTS of prepainting.  Just ask Doog he found out the hard way without being warned.  His results are still very good though.

As mentioned, Scale Auto is a good place to start.

In regards to car modelling, here are a few tips:

1) The fundamentals don't change, no matter what you build.  Always read the instructions first and familiarize yourself with the parts before you break out the glue.  Take the same care with mold lines and sprue attacment points as you would with an armor or airplane model.

2) You may not be used to working with vinyl or rubber tires, which most car kits use.  A helpful tip is to sand the tread surface of the tire to knock the shine off and give it a realistic look.  Also be aware that enamels will not cure on vinyl, if you need to paint the tires (sidewalls, lettering, etc.) use acrylics.

3)  Cars have a glossy finish (if you're modelling a new one, or a show car).  The advice above regarding paint and polishing materials is good.  Surface prep is key - make sure you remove all mold lines, ejector-pin marks, sink marks, etc from the body before you paint it.  The smoother the surface, the smoother the final color coat will be.

4) Clear parts - you may be somewhat familiar with them from building aircraft, but they're a big part of car modelling.  They are very brittle, so have care removing them from the trees; it's easy to get careless and crack a window.  Use white glue or epoxy to glue them in place, as these two adhesives dry clear.  Plastic cement can leave nasty marks, and super-glue fumes will fog up the parts (this also happens to chrome plated parts).

5) Bare-metal foil is a gift from God.  Nothing else simulates chrome trim or window surrounds better.

6) Cars are easiest to build in sub-assemblies.  I usually complete the body, engine, chassis and interior, then combine these during final assembly.

7)  Rear view mirrors are my bugaboo.  I'm always forgetting to paint them!  Then when I do try and add them on, they break.  Add a small length of wire to the mirror post and drill a hole where the mirror mounts to the body for a positive attachment point and added strength.  Do this before painting if the mirrors are the same color as the body.

8) Paint the body pieces at the same time to ensure uniformity of color.

Lastly, if you are not proficient or interested in detailing, don't obsess over it!  You can build a nice-looking model car right out of the box with care. 

 Oh, and have fun!  

Another good source of information is modelcarsmag.com

M1 A1 A2 Tanker wrote:

...I am new to car modeling...any suggestions for build car models?...

 http://www.scaleautomag.com/sca/default.aspx

Subscribe and take a look at what others have done/are doing.

 

Hey there Scott, my suggestion to you is just to paint your model either w/ an airbrush or straight out of the rattle can, preferably the latter. Tamiya paints are perfect for this use and sometimes very forgiving. Make sure you mist your first 3 coats first, don't just dump the paint, you want to make sure to have some "tooth" for the next layers. Do this every 20 minutes or so and once you are done, wait at least an hour or so and then put on 3 wet coats making sure to obtain complete coverage. Also, make sure you warm up the paint well, it will not only flow better out of the can but it will settle on the vehicle a lot smoother thus eliminating the ever popular "goose bump" look. Make sure you let it dry for at least a week before handling and when you are ready to handle it make sure your hands are always clean. Wet sanding and polishing paints is a good habit but I think that you should complete a few models first just to get a good feel for it. Once you perfect the art of polishing you will really enjoy building cars probably as much as planes and armor. If you go to italianhorses.net, you will see various techniques on how to build model cars by a very talented and well known modeler among the Automotive Modelling community. There he also shows the polishing technique among other things through tutorials and pictures. Hope I was of some help!!

60's Fastback?  There are a lot of places to look at really.  Mustang fan club sites etc.  The glossy finish is the biggest difference between auto and armor.  You'll need a polishing kit or some McGuires Scratch X or 3m Finesse it II polishing compound.  Depending if you care to go box stock or all out, there are several aftermarket companies out there.  Pro Tech and Detail Master are the best two in my opinion.