1972 Pontiac GTO

[Harry Joy]

1972 Pontiac GTO, AMT. Originally, I was going to outfit this like the old family Pontiac LeMans, hence the green, but my wife got involved and asked for a hot rod. She even helped a little! I've been trying to convince her to build one herself - maybe someday.

[Snake45]

Would have looked right at home back in around 1977-79!

[Harry P.]

A couple of suggestions...

Those wheels are just crying out for a black wash to make them look realistic and not no "model car." And your paint looks a bit "crinkly." Don't know if you have ever used a polishing kit, but you might want to check it out. They are basically a set of very fine grit cloths that you use in succession, from coarsest to finest, each successive cloth removing the scratches left by the previous one... and smoothing out the surface of the paint until you get a nice, smooth, glassy shine. Just a suggestion... 

[Harry Joy]

Thanks Harry. I did polish the heck out of the base green coat, but overdid the clear coat a bit. And that I didn't polish. I'm not up to speed on techniques for polishing the clear coat, if you have any hints!

A few things gave me fits - the rear bumper and wing in particular, and I wasn't happy with the cut I made on the hood.

The tires screamed model to me, but when I looked up similar wheels, they looked similar to the model. I thought about spraying some Tamiya smoke on them - might still do it. On the Riviera I posted a couple of weeks ago, and on the Buick I currently have on the workbench, I colored in the rims with India ink. This set of rims though, I let be as is.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Harry Joy

[Cardz]

Overall look is good, its very 70s street machine.

I use tamiya smoke, works great. clear is polished same way.

[slusher]

Nice build

[Harry Joy]

Overall look is good, its very 70s street machine.

I use tamiya smoke, works great. clear is polished same way.

Thanks! I'll shoot some in a day or so and see how it looks.

Next time, I'll try polishing the clear coat. Wary of that as it did no good when I tried before.

[fseva]

 On the Riviera I posted a couple of weeks ago, and on the Buick I currently have on the workbench, I colored in the rims with India ink. This set of rims though, I let be as is.

My latest black wash (I've tried a lot of commercially available washes, but was always disappointed), is Createx Transparent Black, with a lot of water and a drop or two of dish soap. This allows the wash to really flow well, and once it's in the lowest crevices, I just let it dry.

[Againmikewins]

I used the Vallejo acrylic black wash on my '64 Merc and I really liked it. To me, it makes the chrome look more realistic. 

[DumpyDan]

Looks good

[Harry Joy]

Thanks guys. I will hit it with the Tamiya Smoke by airbrush in a few days. The Buick 87 GNX looks very tight with the India ink - it worked much better than I hoped. I'll have it posted in a few weeks.

I'm open to tips on how to polish a clear coat - I'm very apprehensive about trying it. How do you get it back to perfect gloss? I've sanded and smoothed clear styrene many times over the years doing airplanes, but doing it to a clear coat intimidates me.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Thanks guys. I will hit it with the Tamiya Smoke by airbrush in a few days. The Buick 87 GNX looks very tight with the India ink - it worked much better than I hoped. I'll have it posted in a few weeks.

I'm open to tips on how to polish a clear coat - I'm very apprehensive about trying it. How do you get it back to perfect gloss? I've sanded and smoothed clear styrene many times over the years doing airplanes, but doing it to a clear coat intimidates me.

Clear coat is just paint, same as any other.

As a matter of fact, you're much better off polishing clear coats than color coats.

Polishing color coats, especially metallics, can lead to all sorts of undesirable results.

The trick is to have sufficient clear coat thickness to prevent burning through to the color.

I usually use up to 5 coats.

First of all, what type of paint & clear are you using?

If it's a lacquer clear coat, I've never seen it orange peel like that.

This '62 was painted with about 4 color coats followed by 5 clear coats & then polished.

 

Steve

 

[Harry Joy]

The clear is Testor's Wet Look. The base paint is Duplicolor. The first model I did a couple of months ago actually looks better than what I've done since - and I only laid one coat of clear on it. This one was giving me fits, because the hood and the car were painted simultaneously - yet the hood looked a lighter color. The more clear I kept putting on it, the closer the colors matched. I rubbed it out a little, but did not sand it.

[StevenGuthmiller]

You could try some Duplicolor clear.

it doesn't go on as shiny, but it sprays on thinner so multiple coats are easier than with Testors.

I used 3 coats of Duplicolor clear, followed by sanding to eliminate any orange peel, followed by 2 more coats of clear & then polishing to shine it up.

Duplicolor is a harder more durable clear than Testors so it will hold up to a more rigorous polishing.

Just try to stay away from body "peaks" and panel edges when polishing.

That's where you're most likely to polish through the clear coat.

 

Steve

[Harry Joy]

Thanks! I bought some Duplicolor clear a few weeks ago, and didn't like the level of shine on my test piece, but that was only one coat. I'll experiment with it more. If it's more durable to sanding, that might give me more confidence.

A friend of mine warned me about the peaks, valleys and edges. I'd already learned the hard way on the Olds 442 I shared a few months ago, which is part of why I was shy of shining clear already.

 

Thanks for the tips! I'm still learning every day!

[StevenGuthmiller]

Thanks! I bought some Duplicolor clear a few weeks ago, and didn't like the level of shine on my test piece, but that was only one coat. I'll experiment with it more. If it's more durable to sanding, that might give me more confidence.

A friend of mine warned me about the peaks, valleys and edges. I'd already learned the hard way on the Olds 442 I shared a few months ago, which is part of why I was shy of shining clear already.

 

Thanks for the tips! I'm still learning every day!

No problem Harry.

This is just what's been working for me.

There are a million other methods that may work just as well for you.

Just remember, while the Duplicolor clear is more durable, it will also be thinner coats, so I would recommend using multiple coats to help guard against "burn through".

And although the shine might not be what you were expecting right after application, it will shine up nicely with polishing.

Steve