SpeedShift

I'm trying to improve my painting skills - especially with regards to that high gloss thing. So I'm trying the MCW enamel line, after using Tamiya and Testors bottle enamel airbrushed with lacquer thinner (ala Don Yost) for years. I just used MCW enamel with their hardener, mixed and thinned to airbrush per the website. Results were very good...dried and cured quickly. Which is a big help in avoiding dust while it cures and hardens. After letting it fully cure for week and a bit of wet sanding on a spot or two, it lost the glossy sheen, although it was very smooth. So - I went for the high gloss finish with a wet coat - I tried their MCW clear coat with their hardener (w/o the hardener the gloss stays soft - according to their website) What a disaster. It didn't just orange peel.................it orange lumped. Never seen such a finish...looked like the surface of the moon in places. But it was glossy. So...my bad, - I guess I should have added thinner to the clear coat and hardener mix...and then mist coated it several times before laying a wet coat to get the glossy shine. Just didn't want to do light mist coats with the usual rough surface, especially after all that wet sanding. Fortunately, I can wet sand down the gloss surface "lumpy surface" and not lose the cured base coat, - as long as I don't remove details on the high points. While Tamiya is still the go to spray paint for ease in application and finish, the MCW line is so much more extensive than Tamiya. "Edit: they have a really crappy website with many dead ends. Unbelievable" LOL...yeah...the FAQ link goes to a policy statement on returns, and that's it.. This link on their website will take you to a rather brief PDF "MCW Finishes Enamel Instructions (pdf)" : Downloads and Order Form (mcwfinishes.com) I copy and pasted a much more informative guide to MCW paint on this website: MCW Clears, Hardeners, Engine, & Base Colors – HobbyNut Models Download their much more extensive use guide (PDF) for MCW enamels here: MCW Paint Usage Guide (pdf) I've noticed the club members postings from recent contests - that a high gloss flawless paint job is a prerequisite to even be considered, second only to a quality clean build. It's almost like car model contests have become painting contests.

Well done! A clean build, great detailing, like the wash on the supercharger to bring out the detail.

Figured out where the article on the Sakamoto Pharaohs figures was...Scale Auto Enthusiast December 1999 Vol. 21 No. 5 issue 126. Sculpting these in 1/25th scale, let alone getting the likeness right, was quite an achievement. Wish he had them mass produced.

Same here...not sure if the can was over pressurized, poor QC on the can seam, or temperature variation (although the cans were in my office/man cave in the house - not the garage, attic or basement).

Thanks for posting...this is the paint, Testors Model Master Custom Lacquer Ultraviolet Pearl 1996 (50305) Unfortunately discontinued. A really nice rich violet blue color...nicer (IMHO) than the current purples in the current Rust-Oleum/Testors line (Purplelicious) or MCW (Plum Crazy), which are a bit too silver grey in hue. BTW: Note the can seam failure at the bottom, not sure if that had anything to do with the frothing and excessive bubbling when sprayed from the rattle can. Decanting and letting the bubbles gas off in a jar before airbrushing helped to get a better result.

Beautiful build.

Looking good REAL GOOD.

Beautiful build, love the color and that pinstripe on the trunk...where is that pinstripe from?

Looks good..where are they from?

I've been using a light spray of Alclad chrome or aluminum over a black gloss undercoat, but handling the chrome parts during fit up tends to tarnish them. I'm now using AK super chrome which is really good stuff. The air cleaners and little moon hub caps are metal aftermarket parts.

Worked on chopped 32 Ford grill with PE insert, trial fit major parts. Had to mask over body shell for gloss (Testors Wet Look) spray.

Well done.

Did some more work on this one. Headlights, tie rods, and windshield with rear view mirrors

Thanks David. I see I posted a pic with the bare metal foil mask still on the bubble top...here's a better picture. You can see the blue is a bit uneven...kinda foggy. The lighting in each picture also creates a hot spot on the bubble top, making it less blue, more clear in each picture. Never tried to polish it out after my experience with the first try.

Fantastic work here, and a great tutorial,

I need to try a good tinting method myself...even with an airbrush it took several tries on these Roth bubble tops, using clear Tamiya bottle paint. Orange on the Road Agent bubble top came out ok (probably because I was adding clear yellow over the kit supplied pink bubble top to make it orange - (like the real car), but the blue on the clear Mysterion bubble top was frustrating. I overdid the paint trying to get the blue color to show up, ended up with too much color, and an annoying orange peel surface. When I tried to polish it smooth, I took off too much paint and it was so uneven in hue I ruined the first one. Definitely a trick to it, to get an even balanced hue across the surface. Guess that's why I haven't tried a candy finish yet...like Cany Apple Red

Thanks much...so far, so good. I need to detail the headliner - red trim lines between the roof pleats. Need to add some things....(now where did I put my Mooneyes gas pedal.......and the fuzzy dice. ?)

I think I have a use for that old pack of bare metal foil. Check out the carpeting. Read somewhere Geoge Lucas and film crew used that reflective carpet it to get uplighting on the film actors. ? Didn't see that carpeting on the Milner '32 coupe ........and that interior is darker.....all black.

My first experience with MCW enamel, after years of Tamiya rattle can (very good paint) and Testor's enamel airbrushed using lacquer thinner per the Don Yost method. I like this MCW paint, thinned with lacquer thinner and added a drop of their hardener - it airbrushes nicely. With hardener, it tacks up quick, so the chance of attracting dust is lessened. After shaving off door handles and other trim - applied two mist coats over airbrushed Tamiya white surface primer, then wet sanded. Dried three days. Then light wet sanding. First wet coat just applied. The sheen isn't quite as glossy on this first wet coat as Testors enamel w/ lacquer thinner (that method gets a real shiny finish - but stays tacky longer, attracting dust). This MCW doesn't orange peel as much either. Should polish out real nice.

Some more work on the interior. I see some clean up on paint edges is necessary. I'll post some reference pictures soon, the details on the real movie car are interesting...like the carpeting in front of the interior.

Great paint job...what brand of paint and color is it ?

While we're on the brief subject of the Pharoahs....Shuichi Sakamoto , a modeler in Japan, created some 1/25th scale Pharaohs figures to go with his American Graffiti car builds. The likeness of each was really incredible. Does anyone recall what modeling magazine featured his figures? Did an internet search, only found 1999 Fine Scale Modeler (November vol.17 #9) that featured his '32 Deuce Milner hot rod build.

Very groovy to see the 1:1 scale.

Thanks...I'll keep at it, though painting has never been my forte...and this subject does depend on it.