Not sure how many of you converse with Carlos Pinto via Email, but several months ago he rolled his car in a traffic accident. He did not come through completley unscathed either and was banged up pretty badly. There "were" (assuming they still are) pics of the accident posted on his FACEBOOK page titled TUGAZ Z SCALE. Despite that, Carlos continued to push out orders and you'd hardly know anything happened. I did however get an Email from him yesterday with the following comment: "I continue to do treatments on my spine and hip... physiotherapy. I do it every day of the week after work and come home very late. this being a moment in my life that I didn't expect to happen. I've been a little discouraged." Carlos has done the Z-scale community a wonderful service by producing vehicles for era's we would probably have never seen otherwise. Like others in the Z-scalel community that have contributed something, I always feel a debt of gratitude to the likes of Carlos and others. If you have a few minutes and are so inclined, drop him a few words of encouragement at his Email address: carlos.pinto@live.com I am sure he would really appreciate it. Oh, and I just received the 1953 MACK B61 semi and 35ft trailer that I ordered from him --- these are simply fantastic!!!
Dang, that's a strong willed man right there! God Bless him, glad he's still with us, love his vehicles!
Thanks Scott. What impresses me is that Carlos is still committing what time he does have to producing and shipping Z-scale vehicle to us. And some kind words go along ways too.
I have purchased a few vehicles previously from Carlos, but today's parcel from him leaves me stunned. The GMC bus is amazing enough. The detail on an item that small is wonderful. But truly amazing is the Chevy COE automobile carrier. The carrier trailer has incredible detail. What also left me speechless is that I was able to identify the automobiles that came with it, I love the 1957 Belaire, a Nomad station wagon. Such perfection and for sure worth the price. Thank you Carlos, I hope you're feeling better as the weeks go past.
Agreed! Nice to have Carlos producing the selection that he does. I’ll step out here and say I’m not sure some other individual making vehicles for Z-scale, would’ve chosen the same vehicles to produce that he does. Carlos just seems to have an innate sense of choosing those vehicles that will accommodate and yet highlight any layout. I have a nice little collection of his vehicles going, although none of which I have started painting yet. Too busy with building buildings and planning my layout, etc.
Z Friends, Anyone who can share any experience and learnings with regards to painting the awesome Pinto vehicles? Prime yes or no etc.. My youngest son would like me to paint one like Optimus Prime. Before I start ruining these nice vehicles I thought I’d ask. Thanks! -Tiest Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Tiest, There are several postings on the forum dealing with the priming of Carlos’ vehicles. You should be able to find them by just doing a random search on Carlos Pinto. The basic answer is yes, you should prime them. Also there’s several great pics of completed and painted vehicles which should give your son some inspiration. Lance
Hi, Tiest I have posted some photos of my work with Carlos Pinto's vehicles. Most recently in December I posted pics of his Greyhound bus kit. I made several of them. The most important part is to prep everything first. Wash each piece in warm, mild dish soap. A small jar with a lid is perfect. Gently swoosh them around in the warm water and soap. Do this a few times and then let them sit for a bit. After they have sat in the water for a bit, rinse them in cold water and let them air dry on a paper towel. Once they are dry (next day) prime them with Tamiya surface primer. I prefer dark grey. The following items are very useful for the process of painting and detailing them. Tamiya 1mm and 6mm masking tape (yellow-except no substitutes.) Molotow 1mm Liquid Chrome marker. Faber-Castell, Pitt Artists pens, item 56 71-37 and Krylon "Short Cuts" paint pens. I recommend beginning with one of the buses first simply because it is linear and much easier to mask. I have been using aerosol spray cans to paint the bodies. Carefully mask the areas you do not want to paint. Be very careful around the windows. Try not to get any paint in them after they are primed. I also use a hole punch to punch out the sticky part of a "post-it" note. I use the punchouts as masks for the wheels. Tedious but worth it. The windows should be filled in last using the Pitt pens. Simply trace in the outline of the window with the smallest size pen and then fill in between the lines. A wet fine tip paint brush and sponge dauber will clean up any overages. Once you get used to it it goes quite smoothly. An optivisor is also very useful. I also have started to use decal stripes (1/64 and 1/32) for separating one color from another. The paint pens work well for the roofs and side panels. They flow on very smooth and dry quick. If all fails, and it has, they can simply be dipped in paint-thinner and started all over again. Carlos has provided holes in the bottom of most of his stuff to insert a skewer while painting and handling. Handle them as little as possible between steps. I know there is more but I think this will get you started. Best. Jim
Just an update, but last I conversed with Carlos via email, he seemed to be doing very well. This original post was from quite a while back. I think he’s well on the road to complete recovery. I know he still continues to be very inspired by the demand for his vehicles. What started out as a test on eBay, quickly became something Carlos did it in order to fill a much needed void in the Z-scale community. Ha, and now he’s even doing 1/700 scale vehicles and some trains. I guess the model ship guys pressed him to do some smaller stuff and he answered. Crazy small.
I just purchased Carlos's 1920s-30s truck set, and I can't wait to see them. The posts by Jim and others who have painted his vehicles will be helpful. Scott
I'm a big fan of Carlos' vehicles. I have quite a few and keep acquiring more. I just sent an email to him to see how he's doing and to offer some words of encouragement as well as prayers. Thanks for letting us know Lance. The advice Carlos gave me when I first started purchasing his vehicles was to simply clean the parts with a little alcohol to remove oils from handling etc. and after they dry to apply a good primer. I like the Tamiya primer. Carlos mentioned that he uses Vallejo paints almost exclusively. They do spray and brush very nicely so I've been following his lead. Steve W
Good info Stephen. Thanks for the response in regards to Carlos as well. Yeah he’s a class act. I have yet to paint any of the vehicles I have amassed from him. LOL. But I’m getting excellent tips from everybody on this forum about the right way and wrong way to do it. So at least I’ll have a knowledge base when I do start.
There really is no right or wrong way. We all have our own approach to reaching our goal. My goal is to have fun in my spare time. Jim
He said he's quite busy but will try to accommodate a special request that I had. I asked him to do an Aerodyne version of his Kenworth K100. I've been working on my own version but I'm still pretty new to Fusion 360 so it's taking a while. I'd much rather have a Carlos version! Steve W
do you have his Facebook or website, to review what he has? Later this year, I'll need more vehicles. PM me, if needed.
Jeff, Here is his FB page: https://www.facebook.com/carlosminiszscale And on eBay he's pinto.carlos: https://www.ebay.com/usr/pinto.carlos/ Steve W
If you’re an eBay novice (which I hardly doubt that you are), I generally just put a search in titled “Z-scale semi truck”. From there I open up one of Carlos’s ads and then search sellers other items and you’re basically looking at only the products he sells. I figure you know this, but just in case……….. He’s got quite a few offerings. But don’t snooze too long. If you see it and you like it get it now. You’ll also see some 1/700 scale stuff in there as well.
