Technics

@meechum68 @Volzfan59 Wow thanks guys. It’s quite inspiring right now with experimenting. I’ve been admiring weathering across all genres for 30 years but never dared to try. I find it was tougher with information and less forgiving materials in earlier decades.. Certainly a long time coming. 😊

@espo That’s an awesome story thanks for sharing. That’s some scene ! Sounds like a movie scene really. What a cool period. @Perspect Scale Modelworks true, maybe that’s an avenue to take. I didn’t think of that. Still including some sort of marking on the tailgate and some window tint

Been adding and subtracting. Body, tires and wheels have had several passes of paint, wash and a touch of pigment. I attempted some damage on the rear, passenger door, and lower body. I’ve also been building up some shadow / dirt behind the wheels, wheels themselves, fuel area and surfaces lower to the ground. The wheels are painted in neuances of four different colours so no corner is the same really. Hard to read that via photos. Bumpers and window trim was painted with a “wet” generous brush to keep it as chrome as possible to contrast the body. I removed the molded in driver’s safety net and made one from medical tape. I think it works, especially once shaded and layed out “naturally” onto the model. It could use being made up of thinner profiles of fabric but think it still serves the model. I will keep it for now. I used a hollow metal rod to mimick the opened fuel filler. A few small decals, a fresh set of eyes in a while and I’ll call it done. The rear wheels could use moving forward a millimeter or two on this old kit as well to fit the wheel well perfectly. Harsh working lighting vs natural daylight photos of a earlier stage.

@Dragline @iamsuperdan @Zen Thanks guys! Mainly just a mock up for myself to see it not floating in space. Nevermind the part gaps or stance, No real physical progress there. Mainly a visual to help me mentally process what I will do next. I will cut and polish the “easy” reflection capturing surfaces. The rest will be varying track use soot. Fun side by side with some vintage metal. Not sure they’re the right to scale to be seen together. Just a neat progress picture I thought. Plan is to have the wheels in satin bronze.

I decided against the police theme, I spent 3 hours making off trim areas on the body and clear parts. I divided it into three sessions. It’s the only way I have found to result in sharp lines and without leftover residue. Mask, paint, remove immediately. The result so far is the cleanest I’ve ever managed to get. Thanks to luck with clear coat, ample dry time, following through with polishing. The body trim is near perfect. I fumbled one line by a few millemeters but it won’t matter in the final look on the table. The clear parts went less good, firstly the lenses came with some faint blemishes. Due to the kit design the areas where the parts connected to the tree and plastic was injected is horribly placed. What makes it worse there’s up to four corners to be trimmed on some pieces and all the glass is to be installed from the outside so it’s all visible. Seeing as it’s possibly my nicest build I decided to open second kit to redo the glass in attempt to make it as nice as the paint. I am manually cutting 2mm white tape down to 1 to get it to lay down nice curved masked lines. I ordered new tape ranging from 0.5-1mm to give it another attempt. Cutting masks out of large single tape pieces is nearly impossible for me to match the exact curves they should be I find masking manually is easier. I will use an alcohol or lacquer based paint for the clear parts as building up 2-3 layers to remove transparency with a water based paint caused more issues then solved. The trim on the body didn’t have any issues.

More progress! Stencil and the lightest shot of clear brought out the side lettering. Decided the stencil sample I made earlier this year was more then good enough in the name of progressing the build forward. In my mind rather it become compelte then stagnate trying to perfect and remain unbuilt forever, Nothing is perfect here. I made a pass in a desaturated earth tone as well as a black to shade the back half of the body behind the rear wheels and the rear end. The result is stuble, hard to capture on photos I’m content for now. Will possibly work on it more when everything’s buttoned up. Mocked up a basic distributor, and radiator plumbing. Will pepper on detail until I can’t stand doing so anymore.

@Daverde Thank you!

Had a few inspirational days and made heaps of progress, I’m really pleased I committed and pushing through to this stage where it sits today. The turning point was finally making the roof into some sort of additional point of interest which I feel helps conclude the look. Everything is still a wip and on stand by, need some distance from it again to finish off with fresh eyes ( and emotions 😃 ) It’s getting close.. some details and areas I want to weather before I call it done. Roof painted with patina, trims painted, light weathering has started and will continue. Some basic pluming and wiring will occur. I should go all out on detailing the motor but I don’t think I have it in me, it’s not my favourite part of modelling as much as I like seeing detailed builds I enjoy making the overarching impression of the model more. ( attention span of the builder ) The big learnings were already had during the main build process - deleting alot of body trim, making a clamshell of the front and opening it all up, making a basic firewall which was incredibly fiddly work in relation to the chassis body and motor, working the tires. Project I remains to have some fitment issues at full closed position of the front clamshell which is incredibly irritating. I usually solve such problems with the sledgehammer approach of sealing things off permanently with CA and hot glue! Given the subject matter it’ll never sit displayed in closed position and I rather like setting up scenes with the clamshell. Maybe I’ll tack it down with glue for final photos only. I can’t be messing around with it any more, a new project make use if the energy instead!

@Jim B@ismaelg@Roger U Thank you fellas!

Some final assembly photos. Project is concluded below. Thank you for following everyone !!

Model - Peugeot 205 WRC - Heller 1:43 Write up - A three week build. A vacation from structure, overly planning and ultimately myself I dove into a project that came to me by chance. Balsa pallet being my largest learning here, apart from just forging through an idea, project and issues that come up. Two primer colours, one matte coat, rest is hand brushed or hand applied on. Details - Balsa wood, photo etch parts, tape Modifications - Scratchbuilt pallet, out of the box otherwise, apart from adjusting the offset and adding black off plastic card into the fenders as the model was see through. Pros My first experience with balsa Representational weathering attempt Speed, three week build Tiny! 1:43 Cons Nothing really, other than it could be more realistic. Difficult to photograph, it’s far dustier and nicer in person 😃 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/scale_technics Build Thread -

@PatW As written, it is pigment. Weathering pigment to be specific. I used the equivalent of watered down white glue brushed onto the exterior and sprinkled on fine dust.

Final stretch! Brush paint, first pin wash, modge podge, pigment. Will cut it way back after it dries.

I’ve been editing a bit more adjusting the shape and adding more warmth to the tone. I’ve also matted down everything as I found it too shiny earlier and clashed with the look. I will deform a panel or two and bumpers. Continue to detail the body. Maybe some faded stencil or extra touch. I’m happy with the progress.

@Mattilacken Thanks buddy! Small is an understatement, this scale is truly tiny. Powered through the remaining decals, sealed them in matte clear, started to brush paint picking out details. The wheels / tires are one part making it plenty tricky to paint. They are on toothpicks to give you a reference the size. Insane 😅 I realised phone cameras are so good they pick out flaws and dust the human eye doesn’t register. I’m happy with where I am so far. My plan still remains I will coat it entirely in sand 😃

I made another pass to complete the rest of the tires. Took another comparison photo and a process photo describing how drastic painting it with cement changes the appearance completely.

Very nicely done. Love these belkits rally cars.

Next came a pass with some warm tones. I will continue to lighten things up, dust, and modify the footprint to my liking.

I began working the body based on feeling using mostly black but mixing in drops of either colour for some hue modulation. I’m using an uneven piece of sponge and having fun. Seems harsh at first but it gets toned way down through the process.

Applied the appropriate coloured prime and began the decals. I will matte coat everything, I don’t trust their adhesion.

@Daverde @slusher @Mattilacken thanks guys! It’s been a minute! There’s some “splash” of residue added, lamps, decals and quick panel release details added. I worked on the tires, I sanded them down with some coarse files and “painted” on Tamiya cement / lacquer thinner. It’s the first of a few processes I’ll try out but so far it improves the out of box kit look drastically imo. Original on the left. ( front tire ) example of painting back a darker finish with Tamiya cement.

The clear has been resting for a month. Polishing is a skill I want to improve. The finish I had was a great base, no runs, no imperfections or dust, ample clear, but not 100% CLEAR to look through and see a high resolution reflection back. I am sort of blown away by the dspiae rotary tool and the right combination of pressure, compound, and a decent amount of clear on a nicely painted surface. It took some experimenting to find the right set of steps but here are photos of a dry surface. It is a first for me very happy! The learning curve will continue as I try to get more surfaces done. Moments earlier This came up in my feed and I list say o am intrigued by a grey / gunmetal police themed finish. Wether its 100% accurate to reality or not it did look cool. I do believe this was accurate.

I bored out all of the holes on the wheels with a drill bit. Super satisfying, easy detail points. I mocked up two wheels to a piece of balsa and made a first attempt to simulate tension with two different tapes to see which one I liked best. The black was nice to work with, more durable and worked better with the scale. Fun little process to work out the ideas and issues, helps build confidence for the later stages. I’ll do a nicer job with the tape when it’s the final.

The pallet has some raisers now lifting it off the ground. I made a tie down “eye-end” latch test with a staple, and the other with a repurposed photo etch piece originally intended for a battery. Added an initial red tape and seeing how it feels in context to the wood and the model. Will look for something marginally thicker.