CadillacPat

" Route 66 BoneDragger " I've done graphics of my Route 66 brand on many HW, Jada and MBox castings. This HW TailDragger wears the Route 66 brand along with a BoneShaker engine. Hence the combination name BoneDragger. I named an earlier TailDragger/BoneShaker version the TailShaker, which took 2nd place at the 2005 Atlanta Nationals Convention. The HW TailDragger comes with lots of imperfections. Heavy raised casting seams and a deep long scar along the right front fender. Lots and lots of filing and sanding and the fender scar has to be filled in with putty. Filed , sanded and rubbed down with #3 Steel Wool, Headlights are drilled out for RhineStone inlay, Windows and wheel wells are all filed smooth and sanded. Using a Jewelers Saw, 2 identical slots are cut alongside the Hood's raised trim to fit the BoneShaker engine stacks, Primered, shot Shimrin White and then SnowWhite Pearl, I use the SnowWhite Pearl behind my Clear InkJet Decals to make them appear almost like they are lit from behind. High Resolution Graphics are applied, All Graphics are designed especially to perfectly fit body areas of this TailDragger. Tires are removed from the rims and the Rims are then AirBrushed first with Adhesion Promoter, then Candy BrandyWine and Red Pearl Powder, then ClearCoated. Custom Cut Chrome Center Caps are AirBrushed with Adhesion Promoter, then Candy Pagan Gold and Yellow Pearl Powder, then ClearCoated, then epoxied into the rims. Fat WhiteWall tires are then returned to the rims. Grey Interior is AirBrushed with Adhesion Promoter then with HOK Euro Red. Red Windows are robbed from another TailDragger to match the whole Black, Red, Gold color scheme. Graphics are masked off and the car is shot Black. Masking is removed, Rhinestone Headlights and Taillights go on, Body is then shot with House Of Kolor Candy BrandyWine with Pink Flamingo Pearl Powder, Then ClearCoated with House Of Kolor Urethane Enamel Clear with Brilliant Gold Pearl Powder. BoneShaker engine stacks are installed, Car is assembled and riveted together. Scroll down for remainder of post,

Thanks Mike, That's easy, I have more than enough DieCast and Plastic that I've never even considered anything made of Resin. Remember, the majority of what I do is Promotional Customs and I buy quantities of a single piece to produce Series' and Runs. Easy enough though, I would just unscrew a portion of the lightbulbs or use lower wattage as stated already. Still unclear if you are holding the Tamiya can while painting the Model or if you are using something else and then transferring the Model to the top of the can. The short Tamiya can doesn't give your hand much room for setting down a freshly painted Model. My Ovens are designed to accept the Paint Stands I use. Models stay securely attached to the Paint Stands all through the paint process. There is never any chance of painted edges touching anything and I always like to paint my subjects inside and out. With House Of Kolor Urethane Clear I shoot less than 5 coats and I have never had to polish anything, especially with the use of heated Ovens. Like you appear to be, I am a big fan of Green colors with Pearl. CadillacPat

CadillacPat

" AREA 51 CUSTOMS Divco Cruizer " AREA 51 CUSTOMS is another of my Custom Brands. It originated along with my Flight 19 Customs. The Jada Divco Cruizer Delivery Van is a perfect canvas for Promotional Customs. The real life Divco came about in 1926 and was produced in different models for 60 years. This $4 casting as opposed to HotWheels Mainline $1 castings comes with very nice chrome mags and rubber wheels. The bodies consist of an almost white metal, very smooth, requiring less filing and sanding than cheaper DieCast cars. Here's a couple of shots of the casting stripped, filed, sanded and rubbed down with #3 Steel Wool. Before I drill out the existing Headlights and holes in the front Fenders, And after I drill out the front end for Rhinestone inserts, Primered, the Fenders are then shot Black, Fenders are shot with InterCoat Clear, taped and then the rest is shot Shimrin White, InterCoat Clear over the whole thing, Sides, Fenders and Upper Panels Windows are taped, leaving Roof, Hood, Upper Rear and Beltline exposed to be shot Neon Green. The Neon Green got a little Planet Green mixed in to increase its opacity. A Baggie is used (saves on time and on Tamiya Tape) to cover the casting leaving only the Hood exposed. A dash of InterCoat Clear and the Hood is taped leaving only the Grill portion exposed to be shot Black. All tape is removed. Another Baggie is used to cover everything but the Roof and a section is sprayed Shimrin White just smaller than the size of the Decal. This White layer is the key to placing Clear InkJet Decals on what appear to be dark colored surfaces. The narrow Black border running the perimeter of the Decal hides the edge of the White layer. Decals are all laid down. Rhinestone Headlights inserted. Grill pieces reinserted. Front and Rear Windshield Trim hand painted. Cleared with HOK Urethane Enamel Clear and a dash of Sparkle Gold Pearl Powder. All Products Used Are Exclusively House Of Kolor, Of Course!!!!!!!!!!!! The Decal images are created completely from scratch in PhotoShop. Decals are all created using Clear InkJet Decal paper from Papilio.com Bar Codes accent the Number 51 on the sides for a Black Ops nondescript characterization Scroll down for the remainder of this post,

That's why I show people to build an Oven at the size they need. My Ovens dry colorcoats in minutes and HOK Urethane Clear in an hour. I know a few other guys using a dehydrator, mostly because they don't want to build their own Oven. 110 degrees is room temperature here in Houston, not much help in assisting paint to dry quicker than just siting in the open air. My Ovens operate in my Shop where temperatures can fluctuate between 55 degrees and 110. The Ovens give me the edge I need for a constant temperature. If it works for you then great. Do you have a picture showing how you place your Model in the Dehydrator so that the fresh paint does not touch anything. Assurance that the paint does not get touched while handling the Model going in and out of the Oven is of utmost priority. I would not want the Dehydrator for the fact that it circulates air, and circulating air which can carry dust, is not what I want in curing my Models. CadillacPat

Mike the Ovens have nothing to do with a quality paintjob. Proper prep, mixing, layering and spraying make a quality paintjob, and your job looks fine. The Ovens are used to speed up the process. CadillacPat

Okay, that spark you saw would not be nough to ignite paint, perhaps a house full of hydrogen gas but not paint. Pat

Jdurg, I've used my Ovens for 13 years. There is just not that much vapor excaping from a paintjob. Lightbulbs won't ignite the minute amount of liquids that cooks off from the paintjob of our scale Models. I hear the same flammable vapor discussion whenever I post my TableTop Paint Booth about using bathroom exhaust fans. Reducer and other paint component vapors cook off in the first few minutes, they don't linger around and collect. Paintjobs, unless you like the thick molasses on a candied apple look, are minutely thin. Most of the Reducer is dispersed as the paint emerges from your AirBrush. As far as safety concerns on these homemade PaintBooths and Ovens, just make sure you have your wiring correct and secure. For all the worrying, in the same amount of time you could already have built you one. I built my large Oven, 37" W x 23" H x 22" D for less than $100 with 3/4" Plywood and double sliding glass doors making up most of the cost. My Medium sized Oven pictured was made with 1/2" plywood and the door hardware made up most of the expense since I wanted one of those push and open doors like you find on stereo cabinets. There is a reason companies use scare tactics about safety regulations, so you'll buy instead of build your own. I won't argue my methods, I speak from experience, years and years of experience. I've got an old Paint Booth thread here that has pretty much discussed this. Just curious but what do you mean by a "faulty LightBulb"? If they are faulty, they won't turn on. CadillacPat

Somehow I don't really think that people who smoke crack are susceptible to public service announcements. CadillacPat

Simple is good Dave. I've shown guys doing small scale diecast how to take a 3lb. coffee can, cut both ends out, wash it and dry it and get a $7 gooseneck lamp from Target to bend over the top. The can warms up evenly and paint and clear lay down like glass. Give some thought to the wattage of the bulb and the proximity of the lamp to the paint. That's one more benefit of the Ovens, that warming the paint makes it flow out nice and smooth. All one needs to remember is the presence of dust being circulated if you must assemble your Oven each time you use it. Wipe the lamp, bulb, and inside of the Oven down before each use. All my Ovens have doors on them so they stay nice and clean inside. CadillacPat

Thanks Man, What part of Louisiana are you from? I grew up in Chalmette/New Orleans CadillacPat

Thanks Rob, and Dr. Cranky, Sadly due to picture limitations I had to break down my post into parts, always leaving the chance that other replies will be placed in the middle of it. I Emailed Gregg again to find out if posts are limited and to what extent. None of my Tutorials would come close to submitting without them all being rewritten into several successive Replies. Thanks again, CadillacPat

My largest Oven which holds 55 1/64 scale bodies, Here you can see some of the '59 Caddy's that Jenna Jameson contacted me to produce for a premiere of one of her Movies. You'll notice a reoccuring theme with the sheet of tempered glass just below the lightbulbs. This glass serves multiple purposes, It warms up and distributes heat consistently and evenly throughout the Oven, It serves as a platform for quickly curing bodywork (metal bodies only) and also quickly dries them after they are washed just before Primer goes on, It keeps dust off the painted bodies as they dry. Remember you don't want to cook your paint. You merely want to gently assist paint while curing by adding a little heat. Different wattage and loosening or tightening any number of lightbulbs in the larger Oven allows you to control your temperature. Here's about 1/3 of a Convention order I used the larger oven for, CadillacPat

Absolutely!!!!!!!!!!!! Whether working with DieCast or Plastic. I couldn't do without mine since they perform not only as dry staging areas but are functional for quickly curing MilliPut, Apoxie Putty, JB Weld and QuikSteel all of which I use. Additionally they serve to keep bodies and pieces clean until I move onto the next step of paint. I came up with my CadillacPat Fact-O-Bake Ovens back around 1998 and started showing others at Custom Contests and Conventions how to make their own. They are very simple as Form follows Function and they can be sized to fit anyone's needs. I use 3 separate Ovens since I sometimes do short runs of Promotional Customs and sometimes as many as 850 in a run of a single style. Here's some pics, My oldest Medium size Oven with my tabletop Paint Booth stacked on top. Very user friendly allowing me to place bodies in it right from the Paint Booth. Holds an easy 25 1/64 scale bodies or a single 1/18 body. A much smaller portable Oven that I haul around and show others who work on smaller quantities of stuff, Holds about 9 1/64 scale bodies, Continued in Reply, Scroll down.

Laying down paint, no wait, AirBrushing a classy paintjob, is the "piece de resistance" of finishing a build. It defines a huge part of your expertise as a Builder. Yet, we are actually seeing answers concerning Respirators like, "Just don't paint the Model." Or, "The air is already polluted so why bother with a Respirator." And, you don't need to change to contact lenses because of the Hobby's needs. Forum, the company's who manufacture Respirators didn't just forget that some people wear glasses. Believe me it went into the design process. The Respirators, whether they are full or half face do not impede the fit of glasses on one's face. And, a Respirator is most assuredly necessary whether you are spraying waterbased, waterborne, Enamel, Lacquer, Acrylic, Automotive or any other chemical makeup of paint. When I write a tutorial I impart the methods I use for a process but I won't spend my time fighting people once they've stated they don't think certain steps are necessary. Some want to take shortcuts and some search happily to go the extra mile for better results. If you are only painting one Model a year then go ahead and paint in the Kitchen if you care to, But, If you are the kind of guy who is always adding tools to your shop, then get and wear a Respirator approved for the type paint you use. Perhaps this thread being in the General Section is the reason more seasoned Builders are not weighing in on this issue. Just get you a Drop Down or Half Face Respirator from Home Depot approved for Automotive Urethane Paints and the use of all other types of paints will fall under and into those safety requirements. About $22 to $30, with replaceable cartridges and you are good to go. Keep the Respirator in its original bag or a gallon Ziploc out of direct sunlight. CadillacPat

I wear an Automotive Paint Approved Respirator and in no way do my glasses interfere with the way it fits. CadillacPat

This is becoming so politically correct. First people were saying to always reply something "nice". Now they are saying if you don't reply then the Builder's confidence might be irreparably harmed. I thought Parents were supposed to raise their kids, not us. I don't think Builders who are serious about their art will intentionally slam someone, that's not what they are after in this Hobby/Pasttime/Part Time Business. Instead of us biting our tongues when replying, or denying ourselves replying, how about the original poster learning to take comments without freaking out. If someone comes in and blatantly degrades someone then the Administrator can take care of it. Or we can all walk around on eggshells. I don't care one bit about replies. I post up my builds so people can view them. Posting my builds shows what I do. If someone wants to talk trash that shows who they are and more than often what they aren't capable of doing. You can always find the Sandbox kids on any forum. I came here looking for involved discussions on Techniques and Products to better what I do, and to teach what I know, like I have done for the past 9 years online and 13 years at Car Shows and Conventions. CadillacPat

Technology is what it is but "advancement" in automobiles is debatable. CadillacPat

That's perfect G, One of my brands I manufacture is named Area 51 Customs. CadillacPat

I appreciate the precision of all my Iwata's. The gun here is actually a 3/4 oz cup, .5 mm tip, still large enough for clearing most models up to 1/18 scale. While it is great for priming, basecoating and clearing scale models it is more intended for laying down large graphics or cutting in jams, hence the larger paint cup and the price. I have no problem with the $402 price from Coast AirBrush (I don't even know if Dixie Art carries it) but for priming and clearing large areas you can also try the Paasche Talon (also available with fan tip) that you can buy with a .66 tip and 3/4oz. cup for $72. More flow and more paint. I use my Anthem or Talon for priming and clearing on everything, even large plaques I have made for charities. I like to lay down color coats with my Iwatas or even my Badger 100LG. Your video was nice and clear without the usual ummms and ahhhs of people stammering through unprepared thoughts. A+ CadillacPat

Thanks G, The rims, whitewalls and centercaps are also airbrushed and the headlights are my trademark inlaid rhinestones. Those are InkJet Decals and the car is HOK Black with an overlay of Emerald Green Pearl Powder changing the color of the car completely to Emerald Green without affecting the graphics. Now the question, how did I get Clear InkJet Decals (which we all know will disappear over dark colors) to show up on a Black surface??????? CadillacPat

I've done short runs of Las Vegas associated Custom Diecast the last couple of years. These are HotWheels disassembled, stripped, filed, sanded, prepped, with my own custom Decals and airbrushed with HOK. Here's a couple of pics of one series, I'll post a thread of how I create them once I find the appropriate section. CadillacPat

Wait a minute, It certainly IS that simple. Read my earlier reply. I don't know anyone here and I certainly don't know Harry, But, He is stating the exact truth and you Johnny are doing exactly what people here are complaining about. CadillacPat

Are people realy intimidated about posting their work because they fear someone will reply with words other than honey dripping praise????? What happened to self confidence or being proud of what you did??? What would happen if the guys in Research and Development of any business/manufacturer decided to withhold their findings for fear of being criticized? Nothing would ever get invented or improved. Thomas Edison proudly remarked when asked how his new electric light was coming along, "Not yet, but I have invented 2000 ways not to make a lightbulb". CadillacPat

Technology has always been around us ever since the first man or monkey used one tool to manufacture another. It's technology for the sake of technology that makes no sense. Some things are perfect just the way they are. The addition of bells and whistles don't improve a product they merely add built in cost. CadillacPat