What Did You Accomplish Today? (Model Car Work)

[TransAmMike]

2 hours ago, Zippi said:

Did some paint/Gloss testing today on some spoons as I'm trying to find something what works for me and I can repeat.  I used Anita's Glossy acrylic red paint and for the Gloss finish I tried Pledge Revive it, Tamiya Clear, and Rust-Olem Gloss.  I think the Rust-Oleum came out on top.  We'll see what it looks like tomorrow after it's cured for 24 hrs.  Since the Rust-Oleum is an enamel it can still be wet sanded which is something else I need to do some testing on.     

Well Bob, your skill is improving quickly my friend.  The Rustoleum Clear I have is Lacquer. Which Anita's red is that? I'm pretty sure its the red I will be using on my '55 WIP.

[Zippi]

11 minutes ago, TransAmMike said:

Well Bob, your skill is improving quickly my friend.  The Rustoleum Clear I have is Lacquer. Which Anita's red is that? I'm pretty sure its the red I will be using on my '55 WIP.

Thanks Mike.  Yeah....they label their paint as enamal but it is lacquer.  My bottle of Anita's Glossy Red says it's a Permanent Arcylic paint.  I'm going to wet sand the spoon tomorrow after the clear cures for 24 hrs.  It looks good on the spoon but it's always a horse of a different color on the body right ☺

Edited April 26, 2021 by Zippi

[TransAmMike]

 

2 minutes ago, Zippi said:

Thanks Mike.  Yeah....they label their paint as enamal but it is lacquer.  My bottle of Anita's Glossy Red says it's a Permanent Arcylic paint.  I'm going to wet sand the spoon tomorrow after the clear cures for 24 hrs.  It looks good on the spoon but it's always a horse of a different color on the body right ☺

OK, the difference in the Rusto Clear is you hve the 2X, the one I have (and use) is the "Automotive"  Crystal Clear Acrylic Lacquer.

As for the Anita, what does the color on the bottle say? Mine says "True Red"

[Zippi]

4 minutes ago, TransAmMike said:

 

OK, the difference in the Rusto Clear is you hve the 2X, the one I have (and use) is the "Automotive"  Crystal Clear Acrylic Lacquer.

As for the Anita, what does the color on the bottle say? Mine says "True Red"

Mine says Glossy Red.

[Mattilacken]

I scratched up some fuel cells. How do most of you cut styrene sheets? I tend to put down my measurements with the “caliper” and then scribe it with a good blade. Does not always end up straight so i have to file it straight. Have no good saw but might have to get one.

[CabDriver]

4 hours ago, Mattilacken said:

How do most of you cut styrene sheets?

My wife gave me one of these that she wasn’t using - it’s been a game changer!  Use it all the time!

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LFH2MGH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_4T2DG8PHW3GJC0K98FC2

That or an engineer’s square to keep everything straight teamed up with an X-acto works well for me
 

 

[CabDriver]

Shot some graphics on my MPC Mail Box trike body and tank today.  I’ll be shooting candy over the top of them to mostly hide them, but I wanted a cool little ‘something’ for people to spot if they looked a little closer...

 

[Tom Geiger]

Got my Valiant decals printed and on the car. Speedster is coming along. Did more work but nothing photogenic!

[ChrisBcritter]

On the '70 Wildcat, cleaned up and pinned the drive belts from the GSX engine to fit the '69 430 (now 455) engine and made a mold of the one valve cover to get a second one - and made molds of the '65 Chevelle SS wheel covers and '66 Corvair 13-inch steelies while I was at it. 

[CabDriver]

I don’t usually polish my frames when I’m doing hot rod builds - Testors enamel clear is glossy enough that I shoot that nice and wet, avoid getting dust in it and call it good.  

In the interests of pushing myself on this one though, I decided to go through my usual polishing process (only VERY carefully so I didn’t end up breaking it or snapping any of the doodads off).  Came out ok (although my hard work would’ve shown up better if I hadn’t gone with a flake-y base color and just gone straight black instead 🤪)

Still not quite done, but I like polishing in the daylight and I ran out of it.  I’ll give it a second round with fresh eyes tomorrow...

[Zippi]

That "flake-y base" looks good to me.  I'm getting to the point where I don't like the Testors paint anymore.  It never seems to dry.  For me anyway.  

[Straightliner59]

51 minutes ago, Zippi said:

That "flake-y base" looks good to me.  I'm getting to the point where I don't like the Testors paint anymore.  It never seems to dry.  For me anyway.  

Gee, I have the same problem with Rustoleum. Do you suppose there's a correlation? 😀

[Snake45]

51 minutes ago, Straightliner59 said:

Gee, I have the same problem with Rustoleum. Do you suppose there's a correlation? 😀

I sprayed some Krylon last week that's STILL stinking. 

[CabDriver]

4 hours ago, Zippi said:

That "flake-y base" looks good to me.  I'm getting to the point where I don't like the Testors paint anymore.  It never seems to dry.  For me anyway.  

 

I bake mine for 24 hours in my little dehydrator, but prior to having that option I gave any parts painted with Testors enamel (always cut 1/3rd with lacquer thinner) 3 weeks to fully cure and gas out before polishing them.

I experimented with different techniques and different waiting times and that seemed to be the sweet spot - the paint is plenty hard enough by then that you can polish it out to a perfect gloss finish.

We used to have really high humidity some days when we lived by the ocean in NY, so I'd wait for days when the humidity was 40% or lower - that seemed to help a bunch too.  If you don't mind the wait times you can get a really nice glossy finish with a relatively shallow learning curve with their enamels, I've found.

[Straightliner59]

14 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I sprayed some Krylon last week that's STILL stinking. 

Wow! That's something! Krylon is just about all I use, anymore, excepting some model sprays, and the occasional Dupli-Color. I really don't like Rustoleum!

[PatW]

On 4/27/2021 at 3:42 AM, CabDriver said:

Shot some graphics on my MPC Mail Box trike body and tank today.  I’ll be shooting candy over the top of them to mostly hide them, but I wanted a cool little ‘something’ for people to spot if they looked a little closer...

 

Just superb! I wish we could get more of this type of kit in the UK.

[PatW]

I bought the Gecko ATMP kit (Army Stretcher Carrier)in 1/35th, but I thought it would transfer to a beach patrol/surfboard carrier!

Just putting the chassis together: It has scooter type steering. Yet to fit seats/ rollcage etc. and make surfboards in scale.

[PatW]

On 4/28/2021 at 4:08 AM, CabDriver said:

I don’t usually polish my frames when I’m doing hot rod builds - Testors enamel clear is glossy enough that I shoot that nice and wet, avoid getting dust in it and call it good.  

In the interests of pushing myself on this one though, I decided to go through my usual polishing process (only VERY carefully so I didn’t end up breaking it or snapping any of the doodads off).  Came out ok (although my hard work would’ve shown up better if I hadn’t gone with a flake-y base color and just gone straight black instead 🤪)

Still not quite done, but I like polishing in the daylight and I ran out of it.  I’ll give it a second round with fresh eyes tomorrow...

But black would be boring! Keep at it, it looks great!

[cobraman]

Working on the Fujimi Cobra. It has separate trunk but no hinge. It has some funky C shaped things that are called out to go under the body but no way is it or will it ever be a hinge. So,  for the first time ever I decided to try and make one with what I had on hand. Using a paperclip and some plastic tube I was able to fashion a hinge and it works ! It is clumsy and too large but for a first attempt I can live with it. The arms that go to the trunk should just been glued to the trunk but I put them in plastic tubing. Need not to have done that.

[CabDriver]

Got some clear laid down - had a relatively low-humidity day today so got 4 coats on my trike build:

And I’ve really been wanting to build an oval car so I pulled an MPC Rat Trap off the rack and started puzting with that:

As usual, I was thinking “meh, I’ll build it stock and see how it goes” and then mocked it up and found 10 things I want to replace right off the bat 🤪

[Snake45]

9 hours ago, CabDriver said:

As usual, I was thinking “meh, I’ll build it stock and see how it goes” and then mocked it up and found 10 things I want to replace right off the bat 🤪

I hate when that happens. 

[NOBLNG]

On 4/28/2021 at 7:25 AM, Zippi said:

That "flake-y base" looks good to me.  I'm getting to the point where I don't like the Testors paint anymore.  It never seems to dry.  For me anyway.  

Get yourself a cheap food dehydrator (one with adjustable temp control) to use as a drying booth. It is also good for keeping your paint cans warm in colder weather. There is a sticky in the Q&A section on them.

Edited May 3, 2021 by NOBLNG

[Xingu]

Just a reminder to everyone - Use this thread for small updates on projects that there are not separate WIP threads on. No need to post it here AND in the Workbench section. We are trying to cut down on the double update posts.

[CabDriver]

4 hours ago, Xingu said:

Just a reminder to everyone - Use this thread for small updates on projects that there are not separate WIP threads on. No need to post it here AND in the Workbench section. We are trying to cut down on the double update posts.

Oh, I've totally been doing that - my bad :D

[Straightliner59]

I rearranged the model stash in my shop closet. Partly because they needed to be straightened up, but, mostly, so I would have different stuff to look at!