1970 Ford Galaxie: WIP (Photos Restored)

[David G.]

A couple of weeks ago, I started another kit. I haven't finished my hearse yet, but I felt the need to finish something, so I started this one.

 

I did have some trouble aligning the exhaust manifolds to the pipes. The manifolds wanted to tuck right up next to the engine block as opposed to where the pipes are.

 

The chassis, though rather plain, lends itself well to some detail painting.

 

I'm still trying to learn to use acrylics in my airbrush. Acrylics tend to dry quickly in the airbrush and gunk it up. A better airbrush might help too.

 

Too bad I'm not making a watermelon.

 

As always, comments and criticisms are welcome.

 

Thanks for taking the time to look.

 

David G.

Edited September 30, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[Eshaver]

You can use it to go Turkey shooting in the woods .......................

[slusher]

l have always wanted to build one of those 68 fords..

[PappyD340]

Keep at it David you will get the hang of it!!

[Agent G]

Builds looking good.

Acrylics are a different game man. I always say the problem is the nut that hold the airbrush.

I used Lifecolor on a PzIV build, thinned with their thinner. The paint was great when I painted the basecoat. I darn near went crazy when I went to add the camo pattern. The paint was either too dry or too thin. I finally reached a happy place by turning down the PSI and adding a drop or two of thinner. Tamiya usually never gives me a problem if I use their thinners. MM Acryl is hit and miss, mostly miss like the Lifecolor. Keep a cotton swab dipped in thinner handy to clean the tip of the ab.

I blame the weather. The lack of humidity here contributes to how I paint. Acrylic is a real "B" in the summer. Adding thinner, retarder, and all sorts of things to the paint makes it seeem as if you arent really going to cover the surface.

Keep trying.

G

[David G.]

Builds looking good.

Acrylics are a different game man. I always say the problem is the nut that hold the airbrush.

I used Lifecolor on a PzIV build, thinned with their thinner. The paint was great when I painted the basecoat. I darn near went crazy when I went to add the camo pattern. The paint was either too dry or too thin. I finally reached a happy place by turning down the PSI and adding a drop or two of thinner. Tamiya usually never gives me a problem if I use their thinners. MM Acryl is hit and miss, mostly miss like the Lifecolor. Keep a cotton swab dipped in thinner handy to clean the tip of the ab.

I blame the weather. The lack of humidity here contributes to how I paint. Acrylic is a real "B" in the summer. Adding thinner, retarder, and all sorts of things to the paint makes it seeem as if you arent really going to cover the surface.

Keep trying.

G

Right now, it looks as if my best option for acrylics is to paint for 10 to 20 minutes, then do a complete tear-down and cleaning on the airbrush. With enamels and lacquers, it seems to be enough to run lacquer thinner through the airbrush between colors.

I've also been advised that my Harbor Freight Central Pneumatic AB may be contributing to the difficulty I'm having. Other information suggests that the Central Pneumatic AB is not necessarily bad, but at best it's merely good. I have no prior experience with ABs for comparison.

But I've got some good looking Alclad sprayed on the chromie bits and I managed to get a satisfactory shade of green for the body using rattle cans.

It all works out in the end. And if it doesn't, it's only plastic, grab another kit and try something different.

Thanks for the input,

David G.

[David G.]

Some more pics.

 

I got the old green stripped off and the yellow base coat laid down.

 

No, I'm not building a taxi. The green I'm going for is on the wheels. This is a test-fit.

 

The black grille and bumper will be "chromed" with Alclad paint.

 

Again, thanks for taking the time to look and of course, all comments are welcome.

 

David G.

Edited September 30, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[Wonderbread Kustomz]

I need to get this car too... I love these old 4 doors...

[Tom Geiger]

You mentioned the issue of getting these pipes to line up. I always drill mine out and insert a small length of straight pin. That forms a great connection that will line up perfectly and never break. See the below photo to see how the pins go in:

I pin together much of my model. Much more positive fit than the kit supplied nubs. The exhaust manifold is pinned to the block too.

Hope that helps!

(I just replaced the picture. It seems that the one I originally posted is missing on Fotki)

Edited September 13, 2013 by Tom Geiger

[David G.]

You mentioned the issue of getting these pipes to line up. I always drill mine out and insert a small length of straight pin. That forms a great connection that will line up perfectly and never break. See the below photo to see how the pins go in:

I pin together much of my model. Much more positive fit than the kit supplied nubs. The exhaust manifold is pinned to the block too.

Hope that helps!

The trouble I had with the pipes lining up was that when the exhaust manifolds were placed in the "proper" position on the engine block, they were only about 1.5mm from the transmission housing. What I did was use a method similar to the one you describe above to attach them to the sides of the engine block using wires. The wires gave me enough flexibility to "bend" the manifolds into a better alignment with the pipes. I then back-filled the resulting gap between the mating surfaces with CA and putty.

I have tried this method to align pipes and manifolds, but I seem to have trouble properly centering the holes on the two separate pieces.

Thanks for the tip though.

David G.

[David G.]

A couple more pictures.

 

I got some Alclad sprayed on the "chromie" bits.

 

This is the final color.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

David G.

Edited September 30, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[Tony T]

Looks good David!

Alclad came out nice as did the body colour!

[David G.]

Thanks Tony!

David G.

[charlie8575]

Nice job on that AlClad. Some people seem to have trouble getting it to work well on big parts like that. Good to see you didn't.

Charlie Larkin

[slusher]

Alclad looks great and very nice shade of blue on the body...

[Guest]

Looking good.

[David G.]

Nice job on that AlClad. Some people seem to have trouble getting it to work well on big parts like that. Good to see you didn't.

Charlie Larkin

Thanks Charlie.

I find that, for me at least, it's all in the base coat. It's got to be smooth and flawless, if it's not, I strip the paint and prep it again.

David G.

[David G.]

Alclad looks great and very nice shade of blue on the body...

Thanks Carl,

I wasn't sure about the color at first, but it's beginning to grow on me. Besides, my wife really likes it, so it must be a good color.

Looking good.

Thanks Lee.

David G.

[Greg Wann]

Hey David, I sent you a PM.

[David G.]

^{I finally got some time to do some work and finish the interior.}

 

It's a fairly basic interior without a lot of detail. There are no pedals and I didn't bother to add any. I did add a gear shift and turn signal lever to the steering column.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to look and feel free to comment freely.

 

David G

Edited September 30, 2021 by David G.
Photos Restored

[Mike Kucaba]

For you or anyone else using Acrylics. Hobby lobby, Michaels etc have acrylic retarders and flow enhancers. Using them will help get the smoothness you desire. Keep a supply of denatured alcohol handy when air brushing and using a pipette drop a squirt or two into the cup if the paint keeps drying on the tip. It shouldn't though with the additives .

[slusher]

lnterior looks great David. Nice work..

[David G.]

Mike- Thanks, I'll look into that.

Carl- Thanks!

David G.

[my80malibu]

lookin good

[David G.]

lookin good

Thanks!