StevenGuthmiller

That is just plain sweet!!! Steve

Not necessarily. Testors clear enamel will yellow horribly almost the second that you apply it. It is especially noticeable over light colors. Stay away from it unless you are using a very dark color. Testors lacquer clear coats are pretty much only lacquer in name and are very benign. You can use them over enamel with no ill affects. Just be certain that your enamel is completely cured before clear coating. Unfortunately, that can take weeks. In either case, you might need to do some polishing to get a good shiny finish. If your color coats are sufficiently thick, and a solid, non-metallic color, you can polish the color without a clear coat for just as good of result as with clear coats. Steve

That's the best way to do it in my opinion. The type of paint can be anything that will not attack the chrome finish, but to be safe, acrylic craft paints are completely benign. It's really no different than the way that I do a number of these sort of tasks, from body badging, to hubcaps and grilles. Wiping the paint while wet will generally net you nothing more than a smeared mess. Steve

Nice Bill!! I bought the exact same model back when X-EL was still in business, and I don't believe that you spent much more than I did back in the 80s! Great find! Steve

Nice save Ron!! Reminds me a great deal of the beginnings of a particular '58 Ford that I restored some time ago. Might have been the same original builder! Steve

That's one nice poncho Keith! Very nice job!! Steve

Terrific looking model Roger!! Steve

Looks terrific Bill! Very nicely done! Steve

I was hoping that I was wrong. I'm always on the hunt for up tops. Steve

Could very well be the individual that I picked it up from. Steve

I don't believe that the Lindberg '61 has an up top. At least mine doesn't. Later issue maybe?

I do need to ask how you did your vinyl top. It's very convincing and nicely done! Steve

Pretty nice haul Keith! I won't ask what you had to give up for all of that. But the '61 Ford truck and the '68 Coronet are pretty sweet! I'm pretty certain that following my '64 Grand Prix build, a '68 Coronet R/T hard top will be my next project. Haven't done a Hemi in a long time, so I'm thinking the Coronet will get one, if I can find a good set of "HEMI" PE badges for the quarter panels. Steve

That might work better, although I cannot say how well. As you can see from this jar of Scale Finishes metallic paint that I used not more than an hour ago, the pigment and metallic particles have begun to settle out very quickly. In this photo, you can see how much of that settling has already begun to take place. In a couple of hours, almost all of the metallic and pigment will have settled to the bottom, leaving an almost clear yellow liquid at the top. This photo shows how much of the metallic has settled to the very bottom, looking almost totally silver. If you poured off the top portion at this point and tried spraying that, I'm thinking that you would leave far too much of the solids behind resulting in very poor coverage. Steve

Final color coats were applied today, as well as finishing the scripts. At this point, no splotches or stripes are evident in the paint, but then again, I hadn't noticed any in the first attempt either. The true test will come with the completion of the first clear coat, which will hopefully take place this evening. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! Steve

That will likely not work. Generally, the metallic particles will sink to the bottom of the can. If you spray without shaking, you will get basically nothing but metallic as the can draws from the bottom as it sprays. Likewise, the pigments separate out from the paint and settle to the bottom as well. If you spray without shaking the can, it's pretty certain that you will just wind up with a mess. Steve

MCW has some of the best metallic particle sizes in their paint on the market. If they have the color that you are looking for, you will not be disappointed. Just as an example, I painted this 1958 Chevy Impala some years ago with MCW metallic "Cay Coral". The metallic particles are nearly imperceptible with the naked eye, but it has the metallic sheen that an object of this size should have to look in scale. Beautiful stuff, and I would use MCW paints over Scale Finishes all of the time if MCW always carried the color that I was looking for. Steve

That might be a little of a stretch. That's a little like saying that guys that build rat rods and junkers do it because they don't know how to paint. People have different interests and priorities. That doesn't necessarily equate with a lack of an artistic touch. I admire some of these back drops. They are very interesting. I don't avoid making one because I'm afraid of it. It's just something I'm not particularly interested in doing. Steve

I confess, I like the look of a background. I can just never justify the time to make one. Maybe one of these days, I'll pull out the old 90 minute quick set drywall mud that I worked with for 30 years and try to whip something up. Steve

Also sound advice. I will also add to be certain to "allow" for the thickness of the paint as well. There can be many instances where a couple of coats of paint can assure that parts will not fit properly. I can't count how many times I've seen a very nicely done model that the hood will not close tight on, because the hood fit perfectly before paint, but after a few coats of primer, paint and clear. it will not seat as it should. It's pretty hard to fix that after the fact. Steve

I use Testors flat white enamel myself. It covers better and dries faster than gloss white, and you can change the finish to gloss very easily with a coat or two of testors clear gloss lacquer. I buy virtually zero gloss jar paints. I don't like how it performs. Steve

I'm liking it!! Since finishing my '68 W-30, I have really developed a soft spot for the '68. Steve

Agreed. The adhesive on the gold foil is pretty weak compared to the regular chrome foil. Likewise, it's thicker than the regular, more in line with the "Ultra Bright", so it's not as easy to work with. And be warned, the gold foil is not gold all of the way through. It's just a finish applied to the top of the foil. So stay away from it with any solvents or polishing equipment or compounds after it has been applied. By the way, your project makes me want to build another '57 Chevy! Stellar work! Steve

Thanks guys! The Scale Finishes order arrived today. Another bottle of Sunfire Red, and a little bottle of Pontiac blue enamel for the engine. Should be back on track now. Steve

I usually detest modern aftermarket wheels! Those aren't half bad. Nice job! Steve