AgRacer

Thanks for the compliments. The finish looks much better in the photos than up close. You can see the fine scratches in the 3rd photo. Tried to get them out but just could not get it done. Will have to try Novus next time. This is my first build in a long time and learned a lot about paint/polish. Will put a wash in the exhaust for sure and the black marker is a good idea. Didn't think about that and wasn't sure how I would do that with paint with out screwing it up.

There are actually several. The BRIGHT yellow from ScaleFinishes is 4305 Giallo Modena. I first got the 102 Giallo

Ferrari 360 WIP Tamiya Ferrari 360. Scale Finishes OEM Ferrari 322 Rossa Corsa

Finished. Post more later.

Tough to say. It's not what I would call ear plug loud, but it's not exactly quite either. You can have a conversation in a normal tone of voice standing 5-feet from the fan. Also, I would consider one of those spray booths on amazon before I build another one. The blowers are close to $200 now and by the time you pay for that, the flex hose, cabinet material, time...etc...you've spent more money than if you bought the paasche replica off e-bay from which seem to get really good reviews. Unless you have some excess materials laying around and a line on a good but cheap blower that is rated to give you 100 feet per minute across your opening? The transition from the square blower outlet to a round flex duct is also a pain. I had the blower, transition, and flex duct from my original build 10+ years ago before Amazon had everything you could possibly want to buy.

Almost there. Those side windows were a PITA to get in. Had to tape them in and then glue in place. Rear view mirror was not fun either. I would finish tonight but I had to re-glue the rear view mirror as it fell off when I was cleaning the clear parts. Don't want it to fall off after I put n the body!

OK, I'm still working. Just that real work got in the way. Got the body repainted and polished. This really my first full polish attempt. Micromesh 3200, 3400, 4000, 6000, 8000, 12,000 and then Meguires Scratch X 2.0, then Rubbing Compound, then Modelers Final Detail Wax. It came out OK. You can still see some micro-scratches in the finish and I got thru a few places to the paint (need to make sure my primer is smoother before I color coat).

Got the old paint off and put on a new basecoat and clear. Polishing has started. Taking a while to get it all smooth. I've learned that the first polish cloth is really the most critical. I saw an example where some guy used a plastic spoon and showed how to get a good shine. I realized that I've been using the polish all wrong and if I do not get that first cloth done and all the paint looks dull, the remaining polish cloths leave those 'gaps' there and it looks terrible. When I get a chance I'll upload some pics.

Just be sure and buy a large enough fan. The box can be made of anything, but the melamine gives a nice clean surface. I used 3/4" b/c I had some left over from a garage work bench. You could probably use 1/2". HD has a 16" x 72" piece for $30. The corrugated plastic was $5. you wan the air velocity at the opening to be >/= 100 feet-per-minute. Example, My booth is 12" high by 18" wide at the front. So 1ft x 1.5 ft = 1.5 square-feet. To get 100 feet per minute, I need 1.5 ft^2 x 100 ft/min = 150 ft^3/min (CFM) So I need, at a minimum a 150 CFM fan...but you actually need more. There are pressure losses in the system (hood in, fan in, fan out, flex duct) that add to the static pressure requirements for the fan. So the fan needs to be RATED for 150CFm at the static loss. Probably close to 2" when you add it all up. The home depot bathroom fans and in-line fan are not enough. NOTE: Home-Depot sells a "250 CFM" in-line booster fan. That fan is NOT 250 CFM. It is 250 CFM if there is already pressure behind the unit. It's designed to be mounted in an existing HVAC duct and boost air flow to a room. As a stand alone unit, it's only rated for 160 CFM and ZERO inches of pressure loss. It won't be near enough for your hood unless it's very small. I used a Dayton blower (found at Grainger) rated at ~545 CFM at ZERO inches of static pressure. Those units are $200 now. Just FYI for everyone. A bathroom fan really won't do anything to remove fumes. You need a good fan, and respirator. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-3-4-in-x-16-in-x-72-in-White-Thermally-Fused-Melamine-Shelf-57199/203806543 If the hood is 12" High x 20" Long (12 + 12 + 20 + 20 = 64" < 72"). I used some 1-1/2" long #8 wood screws to hold it together (pre-drill the holes). This will give you a 16" x 20" work surface. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Plaskolite-18-in-x-24-in-Corrugated-Plastic-Sheet-1TW1824A/202043334 Glue this to the back side and use a box cutter to cut off the excess. Use the extra as a baffle inside the unit. Seal everything with some silicone bathroom/tile sealer. THIS Fan will not work well enough. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Suncourt-Inductor-6-in-In-Line-Duct-Fan-DB206/100067594

I started to polish the paint and it just looked terrible. Their was just to much texture in the paint finish. My fautl, I guess I just did not get a smooth coat of gloss down on the model so it came out with a lot of orange peel. I tried to polish but I could never get it to smooth out. Airbrush was too far away from the model (I'm guessing) when I put down the gloss finish. That, and the Mr. Surfacer was really showing through making the hood and roof look terrible. So I'm in the process of stripping the paint off and starting over. The gloss coat came off in layers (litterally peeled it off). Hopefully tonight I can get the rest of the paint off, get the body cleaned up and start again. I ordered the yellow and if it gets here by Thursday I'll paint it yellow. Matthew - My paint booth is a simple box made of 3/4" Melamine with a corrigated plastic back (to let more light in). I used corrigated plastic to make a baffel at the top (that piece at the top inside at an angle). I have the fan mounted on top and the baffle pulls more air from the work area. If I did not have the baffle, the fan would pull a lot more air from the top of the opening and kind of bypass the lower part where the actual painting is done. The fan is a 500CFM Dayton blower. I cut a hole in the top, glues some foam matting around the hole as a seal agains the fan, cut up an HVAC filter and put it between the fan and the foam. The fan just discharges to a 6" flexible duct that I blow out the window.

Put on the base coat tonight. I was going to do yellow but found out the Ferrari Gaillo 102 is a pale yellow, not the bright yellow I wanted so this one will be red. I'll do my Enzo in Yellow. My Eduard Photoetch Cockpit set arrived for my 1/32 Tamiya Corsair and I want to get that started ASAP so i didn't wait for the yellow...oh well.... Coat 1 Coat 2 Coat 3 Clear Coat x3 Wait for 24 hours to dry then polish and finish assembly.

I'm not sure what type of paint the primer is, but I had a heck of a time getting it cleaned out of my airbrush. I finally got it with testors airbrush thinner. I also learned you have to keep mixing the paint as the pigment falls out very quickly. I loaded my color cup in the Paasche dual action, and while I waited 5m between coats, the pigment fell to the bottom of the cup and clogged up the intake tube. LESSON: For Scalefinished Primer, after you paint, you need to keep stirring the paint in your color cup while you wait between coats. The primer will clean with testors airbrush thinner (#1799). The while sealer coat is an enamel type paint that cleans with lacquer thinner from the hardware store.

Got the primer coat on today. It goes on very thin. At first I did not think I mixed it well enough. It is a very thin and fine pigment gray primer. I put ~4-coats, waited 40m and put on the white sealer. Put on 3-sealer coats and let it dry. After it was dried, I saw that I did not sand down the Mr. Surfacer well enough and it was showing through the white sealer and would look lumpy when I put on the base. So I sanded down the hood tonight and put on primer and sealer. It will dry overnight and I'll start the base coat tomorrow. Primer Sealer coat. You can see the Mr. Surfacer in the hood.

Local hobby store had it. You can also find it online. You can apply with a brush, let it dry, then cut out where you want paint. It makes a nice tight seal and no bleed through. I started using it many years ago for airplane canopies. I just coat the whole canopy, then cut out along the frames. Much easier to use than masking tape. A little bit of dry fitting parts. This showed up today! heat shield...

Painted the under body and windows. The liquid mask worked great on one side, but for some reason it was a bear to get off the other side of each side window. I had to 'scrub' it off with a toothpick. Still some work to do (those little black specs on the windows are liquid mask stuck on plastic. New paint both worked really well..no fumes in the house at all. Even spraying lacquer to clean the air brush...not smell at all. Pealing off the mask