StevenGuthmiller

Now we're talking! Steve

I don't drink coffee. Steve

You're asking me to identify something that I got about 52 years ago?! I don't remember what I had for breakfast! But if I had to guess, I'd say the Monogram '55 Chevy "Bad Man" kit. Steve

Thanks, but I know for a fact that there are a lot of builders out there that put my work to shame. I have no delusions. I just do what I do, and try to continue to learn and experiment, and try to improve upon the skills that I do have. But I thank you! It’s always nice to have fellow modelers appreciate what you do. Steve

I don't consider Testors lacquer to really be "lacquer". It's an entirely different animal than the lacquer that most people have in mind when they're talking about lacquer. There's acrylic lacquer automotive paint, which cures extremely quickly, and then there's paint like Testors "lacquer", which is formulated for plastic models. I don't really know what the heck it is. But I do know that it requires more curing time than automotive lacquer. Steve

Can't tell you how they compare, but I have a PS-290 and I like it. Steve

Just so everyone is aware, about half of the posts since Saturday have been about hijacking threads. Way off topic. You should all be ashamed. Steve

A quick tip for future projects. For things like the exhaust manifolds, as well as exhaust pipes, etc, paint the parts with whatever metal look paint that you desire, then, from about 2 feet away, spray a very light mist of red oxide primer until you get whatever degree of rust you desire. A little of the metal base color will show through, covered with a stippling of “rust”. A little for light rust, or more for a more weathered look. Then proceed with the same washes that you’re using on the rest of the parts. I realize that there are more convincing and involved procedures for producing convincing rust, but this is an extremely simple way of producing rust without spending a lot of time and thought on it. You can see how this technique works by looking at the exhaust pipes and E-brake cables on my ‘64 Bonneville chassis. Steve

I personally would never mask anything for a next day 2-tone paint, especially if it’s Testors paint. Even their lacquers take much longer to cure properly than a true acrylic lacquer automotive paint. Allowing a couple of days at least is always a good practice. For the life of me, I can never understand the need to rush through these things. That said, it has become evident to me over the years that the best practice for masking is to basically avoid masking tape as much as you possibly can. It can be full of little surprises such as this. I use just the very minimum of tape, most of which is Tamiya, and then do as much of the masking as possible with masking paper. As a rule, the only tape on the body once I’ve finished masking, is Tamiya tape on just the demarcation lines between the two colors. I find it very beneficial to never let regular, or blue painters tape touch my paint. Steve

You might be very surprised at how little I do know about this kind of stuff. ? I just applied stuff until I thought it looked good. ? Steve

True. The first thing that happens when you start up an engine, is that the heat burns the paint off of the exhaust manifolds in very short order, leaving bare metal, that rusts almost as quickly as the paint burns off! ? Steve

Either or. Sometimes I’ll use something under it, sometimes not. Doesn’t seem to make a lot of difference as far as I can tell. Steve

I appreciate that Charles. I just want people to know that weathering such as this is not difficult. This is only about my 2nd attempt at weathering a chassis and engine bay, and I’m pleased with how it turned out. People just need to remember that it’s really not possible to mess up dirt. ? Steve

Yes, I’ve cast parts like this before, but this time I wanted to try a different approach. The issue is that I still would have had to make 4 pieces from scratch anyway, as their are 2 each of front, rear and vent window cranks, (all slightly different sizes) and 2 door handles. I figured I just as well go ahead and make them all from styrene. Steve

And it’s my view that it’s pretty hard to screw up weathering. Grunge doesn’t have standards. ? Steve

What paint did you use for the wash? That’s one of the advantages of using craft paint. If you don’t like the result, you can easily wash it off with warm water. Steve

If it were me, I would strip the body, sand any areas that crazed, and start from the beginning. It's just my feeling that doing it correctly from the onset is a better approach than throwing more things at the wall and hoping that something sticks. Just my opinion. Steve

Not necessarily for any particular weathering purpose. If the part was originally supposed to be shiny, I shoot it with gloss. If it wasn't, I don't. If you look at the '64 Pontiac chassis you'll most likely be able to tell that some of the parts were painted with gloss paint, (or gloss coated) and some were not prior to weathering. I think this approach gives a good mix of textures and sheens. The frame itself, as well as most of the suspension parts were gloss. The chassis pan and exhaust pipes were not. The front fender wells were also painted satin black. Steve

When dealing with any hot lacquer paint, you have to be diligent and go slow. Cover your backside and use plenty of primer, followed by a couple of light coats of color, then heavier coats. Allow plenty of drying time between each coat. There is no re-coat window with either the Duplicolor primer, or MCW lacquer. The longer you allow each coat to gas out, the better the protection will be from the next coat. I will usually allow at least an hour or so between primer coats, and most often 12 to 24 hours between color coats, and let the primer cure completely before beginning the color coats. I let it go at least over night. This will help insure that the plastic is well sealed before starting with the color. It may take longer than what you would prefer this way, but it takes much less time than stripping and starting over, or sanding or replacing a body. I know that there are individuals that will prime, paint and clear, all in one day, but it seems to me that you're opening yourself up to all sorts of problems going that route. Better to be safe than sorry. Once you get a good, sealing base of a couple of light coats of color, then you can go with heavier wet coats of the lacquer. It’s a basic principle that rushing through anything in life is probably going to net inferior results, so take your time, use the right materials for the job and plenty of them, and you’ll go a long way towards preventing problems down the road. And remember, lacquers adhere because the hot solvent will eat down slightly into the previous coat. That's what you want it to do. Remember that basic principle when devising your painting strategy. Anything applied to the body that completely prevents the primer or paint from doing so, is very likely to cause adhesion problems, and if you have any masking to do down the road, that's not a good thing. Steve

Here's another example of light weathering, but to a lesser degree, if you're looking for something a little less "dirty". Again, done with cheap acrylic craft paints exclusively. Steve

No reason why you can''t use Duplicolor Primer Sealer under MCW paint. I do it on pretty much every project. You just have to make sure to use enough of it. Personally, I would never try to skimp on primer when dealing with any hot paint. One or two coats is living on the edge, especially if you are trying to protect a rare kit. As is always the case in my opinion, when using hot acrylic lacquers, use plenty of lacquer primer of whatever type you want, but spray it in multiple light coats, as some lacquer primers are hotter themselves. Then, spray at least the first couple of coats of MCW color in the same fashion. I believe that the biggest mistake that people often make with lacquers, and why they inevitably end up with crazing, is because they're trying to hose on the paint far too heavily, especially with the initial coats, at which point, the solvents eat down through the primer, (especially if there's not enough of it) and into the plastic, causing it to craze. I've been using my particular painting technique using the exact same materials listed in the OP's first post for a long time, and I haven't had a single crazing issue in probably close to 20 years since I've begun doing it this way. Again, at the risk of becoming repetitive, the example below (as almost all of my models) has 5 coats of Duplicolor "Primer Sealer", followed by about as many color coats, and as many clear coats. I'm as set as I ever could be in my confidence of my system. I haven't had to strip more than a couple of bodies in the past 10 years, neither of which had anything to do with crazing, or any other paint anomaly, so there's no need to change anything. One was stripped because I didn't like the color, the other because my spray pattern was to narrow with a metallic paint, and there were overlap lines in the finish.......That's about it. In the end, the materials Len used are not the problem. Steve

I agree with the washes. Some dry brushing with a little thinned acrylic craft paint, and some dabbing and wiping here and there with damp Q-tips after it dries a bit can help to add typical dirt and grime to an engine and chassis as well. I used basically 3 colors of flat craft paint on this engine and chassis. A wash of oily dark brown. Then in select areas, a dry brushing of a rusty reddish brown, some dirty light tan to simulate road grime, an finally a little dabbing here and there with more of the oily brown. Just remember that once you start heading down this path, you're going to want to treat the engine bay and chassis in the same fashion to keep it convincing. There's no such thing as a car with a grungy engine and a squeaky clean engine bay and chassis. My objective with this project was to depict a vehicle that's been well used under regular, normal driving conditions for a few years. A well maintained body and interior with a typical grungy and dirty engine bay and chassis. Steve

Yeah. Whatever he said! ? Steve

The same gentleman that brought in his '56 T-Bird for his appointment a couple of weeks ago, drove in his custom 1946 Lincoln convertible yesterday morning. Steve

Or just use different glues. ? Steve