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Showing results for tags 'tamiya primer'.
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I first saw these parts a while ago, but they were never in stock. At first I was only interested in the mesh for the trumpets of the Ford DFV to replace the solid, horrible things that came with the kit. Sometime later, I noticed the ignition/funnels detail kit and bought them both a couple months ago. I needed a break from my headache Benetton B192 kit, so it occurred to me to just pop these in after I had reason to look at how I did something on the Lotus. Not many parts... a simple and easy quick win to pause the frustration. I've read/seen a few forum blogs about MFH kit builds, all the various pluses and minuses of the metal parts, questionable fitment, etc. It would seem from my experience with this "quick win" that I need better glasses. Surely those other MFH threads talked about the prep work required. Here's my first encounter with MFH: These particular detail kits are super simple, not much to them: The parts felt a little clunky. For all the props directed at MFH, they seemed "cheap." And the fit was way worse than I would ever expect from a heralded manufacturer like MFH. So out comes various files — sandpaper is next to useless, it seems — to fix all those fitment problems and mold leftovers on every, each and every one, of parts. What I missed in all that I've seen about MFH builds is how careful you need to be when filing. It's like an amateur haircut, a little more on this side to even it out, and then back again, until you're bald. This is all the parts to paint with a couple coats of Tamiya TS primer (and proof of life for the B192). It says on the can of primer that it's good for plastic and metal. I've always thought that a dubious claim that they make a metal primer. It's that, or they're just gouging us by selling a metal primer. I'm going with the dubious claim theory. This is what one part looked like after two coats of Tamiya primer, two coats of Tamiya semi-gloss black lacquer, and the handling required to append the addon styrene (more about that later). Even after repainting and almost no handling, paint has come off corners and whatnot. The fact that little of all this will be visible (and still we put in the hours!) makes it less frustrating, but I can't help thinking I got something wrong. I washed the parts with dishwashing liquid and even took a brass brush to some of them. As for the brass brush, I must have misunderstood a modeler when I read that he used a Dremel with a brass wire brush. I did that and regretted it. I had to go back over the parts I used it on to return some of the detail that the wire brush muted. It left the surfaces looking pitted. Shiny bolt heads were now dull and the like. Lesson learned, but I'd like to know the correct procedure for prepping and painting metal parts.
- 35 replies
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- lotus 78
- mfh detail kit
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