envious8420

that really looks full scale abe.

Hey bro, welcome back to the addiction and welcome to the forum! Building for your dad is an honorable undertaking, much respect. as far as your painting woes, always start with a clean subject. a bit of dish soap and warm water will kill all the dirt and oils. i start my prep by going over the whole body, smoothing any flaws with 400 grit paper wet wrapped around a good sanding block so everything is flat and smooth. then if there is any filling to be done i do it now and repeat the blocking in the affected area. wash again and dry well. this is when i will attach the body to the paint stand and shoot a light coat of primer, were not going for coverage just a light coat to get started. don't forget to shoot the wheel wells and hood, trunk, and other loose parts that are getting painted. give it about 10 min to flash off and spray a second light coat with another 10 min. flash time. after it has flashed off for 10 or so give it 1 last coat, this will be your coverage coat, if you did the first 2 coats correctly this one should be about as light as the first 2. i usually give primer 4 hrs or so to fully dry before wet sanding it out with 1200 grit wet again. this is just to flatten out the primer. do the whole body trying to use a block as much as possible. wash and dry again. heres where the fun begins, take your can of spray paint and put it in the sink and let hot water run on it for 10 min or so, let it get nice and hot. this will raise the pressure inside the can and will also let the paint flow a bit more. don't forget to shake well. now we are back to the paint area. lay down your first coat a tad on the light side, the trick here is like with the primer, light coats to build the color with 10 min in between again. again be sure to get the wheel wells and the other parts. when spraying metallics and pearls, i will tape the hood and doors and such on to the body from the inside to minimize any color shift. once all has been painted and allowed sufficient drying time, remove any taped parts (hood, etc...) and affix them to their own stands/holders or whatever, for the clear coat/s. if there are any issues/things you want to fix, ... now is the time. before the clear. get everything set up on stands or whatever and after running the can under hot water for 10 min. lay down your first coat of clear, now don't expect some glass smooth gloss with this first coat, this is just to give the clear something to hold on to. it should be laid pretty thin, especially with metallics and pearls. if your first coat is too heavy expect the base coat to re-saturate and settle. very ugly. the key here is light coats again not forgetting the wheel wells, window openings, the bottom side of any body lines. after 2 mist coats of clear your can start building your gloss, 3rd coat should be of medium wet coverage. then on your last coat is when you get that wet look. i go from start to finish minus the polishing part in less than an hour for a simple 1 color shoot. let dry for however long the can says, then double it. then polish it out. some of us use polishing kits from micro mark and such, which are great. they included a great foam sanding block and polishing cloths from 2400 grit to 12000 (yes thousand) and a soft waxing cloth with a liquid polish. i usually wait at least 30 days to let the paint fully cure before using any kind of wax. Ive been painting 1:1s for years. take a look around in my photobucket to see some of my work. I'm sure i missed a point or 2 in there that someone will pick up. i use acrylic lacquers exclusively. these instructions are for acrylic lacquer. i like the duplicolor line of paints for modeling, once in awhile ill snag something wild from the bodyshop, but thats another book. again welcome and i look forward to seeing some of your builds.

Thanks for the pics and the trip down memory lane Tom. i grew up in lakewood in the 80s-early 90s. seeing mahalls and madison park today was really neat. thanks again.

Well, OK then. coming up.

would anyone like me to do a painting faded flames tutorial? im getting ready to reshoot the maverick now that the hood has returned from the land of naught.

HE Double hockey sticks YES!

here is a pic of a built one i pulled off the net./\/\/\/\/\/\/\

as in clear gauges? ive had luck applying decals to the back side of acetate(facing out/through) and then just clearing over the back side to lock em down.

and a sealed A Team van. edit:fixed link and added van pic dont have them in hand yet, but they are coming from a trusted friend, we've swapped back and forth numerous times.

looks like harry's not being hard enough on you guys @ the RoM page.

DAVEZINNFANDAL.

fandal. {{{{{{{{great big honking clue here.

nope, keep guessing.

nope, good guess though

nada. keep thinking wine.

sorry, i slept in.

Welcome. and to think, we all come here to "relax" and hang out. ha

great idea abe! you can put your hose in the hole and know which bit to use.

now that is our fearless leader

actually microfiber is too course, it leaves behind micro scratches. best bet is soft flannel or soft cotton for final polishing.

i too use SS on all new or stripped bodys before primer. like marcos said it abrasive qualities rock. you can see areas that weren't thoroughly cleaned by the lack of scratching/scuffing of the plastic. it also scuffs up the surface just enough to except your primer coats. so no other scuffing is necessary

pretty cool work space nick! 1 bit of advise, flip your spray cans over the other way. i used to do that too until the tips stared getting clogged with the settled solids in the paints.

actually yeah i did, ha i was supposed to have the stitches removed today, then they called this morning to re schedule until wed.

thanks guys! i really burned the midnight oil on this one. gotta love those midnight brain races. you know the ones, where your mind keeps going around in circles around an idea.