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Top-Hat Tee! ?


CabDriver

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On 9/15/2020 at 4:11 AM, CabDriver said:

And now, whilst I wait a couple more weeks before I dare attempt polishing that thick ol’ enamel tractor paint I can start detailing some of the assemblies ready to mount to the chassis (which is also in thick ol’ tractor paint so it’ll be a little while before THAT’s ready to mess with too ??)

More soon!

You might find the tractor paint doesn't react the way normal enamels do. We used them at a previous job and it was awful to flat, even after 2 months it gunked up the wet n dry paper. The boss tried using the machine polisher on it and it wrecked the mophead with the amount of colour that came off. We found out later that its just a spray and forget type of thing to be used on industrial stuff where the finish isn't so important

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7 hours ago, Modelbuilder Mark said:

Very cool. That putty is good for making shifter boots and all kinds of other stuff, nice to have handy, 

Shifter boots are a good idea too!  Thanks Mark!

6 hours ago, stitchdup said:

You might find the tractor paint doesn't react the way normal enamels do. We used them at a previous job and it was awful to flat, even after 2 months it gunked up the wet n dry paper. The boss tried using the machine polisher on it and it wrecked the mophead with the amount of colour that came off. We found out later that its just a spray and forget type of thing to be used on industrial stuff where the finish isn't so important

Ruh roh ??.  That does make sense - I’ve got a few extra little parts that I sprayed with this stuff to practise on...if it’s tricky to polish like you say I’ll figure out a plan B.  Luckily, I managed to get a fairly nice gloss out of the can, so it won’t need a tonne of work hopefully anyway...guess we’ll see!  

I usually leave enamels three weeks before polishing, which normally works ok for me...and three weeks is this Friday, so we’ll see in a few days I guess! 

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On 9/21/2020 at 9:37 PM, CabDriver said:


I usually leave enamels three weeks before polishing, which normally works ok for me...and three weeks is this Friday, so we’ll see in a few days I guess! 

You may already know this, but throw your enamel painted parts in a dehydrator. That technique dramatically speeds up the cure time of classic Testors enamels, and might help you in this situation. 

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4 hours ago, Mr. Metallic said:

You may already know this, but throw your enamel painted parts in a dehydrator. That technique dramatically speeds up the cure time of classic Testors enamels, and might help you in this situation. 

Oh yeah, it TOTALLY would help...didn’t have room at our old apartment in New York for any MORE tools and toys, but a dehydrator is totally on the list now we moved somewhere bigger ?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Polishing day!  Was nervous to see if this stuff WOULD polish - do people polish out tractor paint-jobs? ??

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Turns out that they should - this stuff polished up pretty nice!  

The million dollar bill test...

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I’m not quite done with it at this point, still needed a round of buffing with Scratch X and Novus but it’s not bad!

Some Scratch-X and buffing later...

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I’ll give it my traditional second-round of buffing tomorrow when I’ve got the daylight to work with, but it isn’t too bad!  With that done, I can mask up the roof ready for a fabric top panel:

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Then hit it with a coat of my favorite black:

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Followed by a coat of matt clear, to stop it getting dinged:

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I shot this clear coat from a few inches further back than I would normally to try and add a little texture to the surface - worked out ok!

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And now we just need to finish the polishing process and get a frame for this thing to sit on!

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I did mock it up on a stock T frame last week for my own amusement - looked kinda cool on there too!  
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More soon!

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Thanks fellas!!  A little more on this today...

Got some work done on the frame and interior (what there is of it...)

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Made and mounted the glass - this tape was a tip I saw @Tom Geiger post up about.  Worked great!

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Contemplated a change of wheels and tires...

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And made a license plate...when in Rome... ?

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More soon!

Edited by CabDriver
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1 hour ago, Tom Geiger said:

Kewl!  Glad you are using the tape!

Michael’s had all their Martha Stewart supplies marked down to a buck or two...I didn’t much care for any of the paint in her range, but I got a big stack of tape! ?

2 hours ago, AmericanMuscleFan said:

Great paint job (as usual...) Jim!  I love the way the cabin look on the frame.  Another superb build in the making sir!

Thank you sir!  You’re always so generous with your comments - I’m very much enjoying your Dodge build!

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Got tired of seeing this on my bench so gave it some more attention today...think it’s almost a wrap!

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Couple of little bits to add once the glue’s dried enough for me to handle it but I can about call this one done...will make a decent shelf model next to my other T build from last week anyway!

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Beat me to it! The deep chrome reverse rims on from the AMT 57 Chevy would look perfect on this - just the right amount of glitz for an otherwise understated coupe.  Or even just the rim off a 1/24 scale wheel glued over the top of the silver wheel to give it some depth.

And Jim, the photo with the two Ts together is just perfect - love it!

Cheers

Alan

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  • 3 months later...

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