MPC 1968 Dodge Coronet R/T

[espo]

Great looking paint finish and the tail panel looks good. 

[oldrevellfan]

Great job, so far !

[StevenGuthmiller]

Thanks guys.

 

Didn't get a lot of time at the bench this holiday weekend, but I did manage to get the headliner sprayed with some Tamiya TS-46 "Light Sand", the front of the radiator bulkhead shot with flat black, and the wheel well portion of the firewall "undercoated" with some MCW "vinyl top" paint.

 

Next I will shoot the top, and then the front fender wells.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[David G.]

Nice progress on this, every little bit adds up.

David G.

[mustang1989]

It's been a while since I've been on here due to various things in real life but I'm glad I'm back so I can see cool stuff like this. I can't get enough of your work Steve. I've incorporated alot of your techniques into my own builds and it's made a world of difference in the outcome. Looking forward to more of this amazing project.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Thanks everyone!

 

My next task was to mask and spray the undercoating on the front wheel wells.

What a masking nightmare!

I wound up masking and spraying one side at a time to make the masking more manageable.

It worked out okay, but what a PITA!!

No room for getting any over spray on any exposed surfaces at this stage of the game!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

 

 

[radiohd10]

26 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Thanks everyone!

 

My next task was to mask and spray the undercoating on the front wheel wells.

What a masking nightmare!

I wound up masking and spraying one side at a time to make the masking more manageable.

It worked out okay, but what a PITA!!

No room for getting any over spray on any exposed surfaces at this stage of the game!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

 

 

it's always these little tasks which are most nerve-racking.  i just finished my first candy paint job on a 69 gto and i'm fairly happy with it, but i have a feeling i'm going ruin all that hard work when i black out the engine bay.  we shall see. 

speaking of masking...how do you handle the window/windshield trim when you spray your vinyl tops?  do you mask the trim, or do you just mask the body, spray on the top, and then sand the texture out of the trim after the paint dries (so you can apply foil over a smooth surface)?  I've been doing the latter and it's worked out ok, but it always seems to leave just a liiiiiittle bit too much texture under the foil which drives me nuts. masking may be the solution, but i'm worried i won't get the "vinyl" paint all the way to the edges of the chrome.  maybe i just need to get better at masking...or sanding...or models in general haha

anyway - the coronet looks awesome so far and i can't wait to see the finished product!

[StevenGuthmiller]

4 minutes ago, radiohd10 said:

speaking of masking...how do you handle the window/windshield trim when you spray your vinyl tops?  do you mask the trim, or do you just mask the body, spray on the top, and then sand the texture out of the trim after the paint dries (so you can apply foil over a smooth surface)?  I've been doing the latter and it's worked out ok, but it always seems to leave just a liiiiiittle bit too much texture under the foil which drives me nuts. masking may be the solution, but i'm worried i won't get the "vinyl" paint all the way to the edges of the chrome.

Thanks Ryan.

 

On past projects I've used regular flat paint for the vinyl top shot from a distance to give a little texture, and then just lightly sanded the trim smooth.

But in this case, I'm planning on using a textured paint, so I'm going to try an alternative approach.

 

My plan is to foil the trim prior to painting and then I will clean the paint from the trim with thinner after the top is finished. (The foil under paint technique)

I use this technique liberally on other aspects of a build, and although I have yet to use it in this circumstance, I'm pretty confident that it will work well.

I'll be finding out quite soon.

 

 

 

Steve

[radiohd10]

22 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

My plan is to foil the trim prior to painting and then I will clean the paint from the trim with thinner after the top is finished. (The foil under paint technique)

Nice - I’ve contemplated that as well but the area around the rear windshield/trunk worries me.   My gto is getting a vinyl top too so maybe I’ll just wait till you do yours and then go to school ?

good luck!

[Bucky]

2 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Thanks Ryan.

 

On past projects I've used regular flat paint for the vinyl top shot from a distance to give a little texture, and then just lightly sanded the trim smooth.

But in this case, I'm planning on using a textured paint, so I'm going to try an alternative approach.

 

My plan is to foil the trim prior to painting and then I will clean the paint from the trim with thinner after the top is finished. (The foil under paint technique)

I use this technique liberally on other aspects of a build, and although I have yet to use it in this circumstance, I'm pretty confident that it will work well.

I'll be finding out quite soon.

 

 

 

Steve

And, if it fouls up, it can probably be removed and replaced with fresh BMF.

[StevenGuthmiller]

32 minutes ago, Bucky said:

And, if it fouls up, it can probably be removed and replaced with fresh BMF.

Right! ?

 

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

Here are the results of my vinyl top plan.

 

As I stated above, rather than try to mask the trim, or sand it after paint for foiling, I decided to use the trusty "foil under paint" technique and foil it first.

I foiled, then masked to try to get as little paint on the trim as possible.

Then I shot a few light coats of Duplicolor black primer, a couple of light coats of MCW "vinyl top paint" and then a final coat of black primer.

I then gave it a little rub down with some WD-40, followed by a washing to shine it up a little.

 

I made one very advantageous discovery during this operation.

The paint that I used did not stick well at all to the foil, which made it very easy to remove the paint from the trim with nothing more than a little light scraping with a sharpened tooth pick!

No thinner required!!

Keep in mind though, that being as the paint did not adhere well, that the foil needs to be cut close to the trim to be certain that it does not flake off where you don't want it to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Mike C.]

This one is really continuing to look incredible. Love that vinyl top and the redlines look perfect. Good stuff. ?

[absmiami]

Very very very nice

does the WD 40 give it a little sheen ??  ???

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, absmiami said:

does the WD 40 give it a little sheen ??  ???

Yeah, but that was just me experimenting.

I had never used the MCW vinyl top paint before, and I thought it looked a little too shiny.

So I sprayed another light coat of the black primer over the top........at which point it looked too dull.

 

So I rubbed a little WD over it to help bring back a little of the sheen.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Repstock]

I'm amazed at how well you've handled the foiling. I've used it almost since it came out, and I'm having adhesion and other difficulties as of late. Can you offer any insight or advice?

Goes without saying, but I'll say it...Beautiful car!

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Repstock said:

I'm amazed at how well you've handled the foiling. I've used it almost since it came out, and I'm having adhesion and other difficulties as of late. Can you offer any insight or advice?

Goes without saying, but I'll say it...Beautiful car!

Yeah, I still have some of the old BMF. ?

 

 

 

 

Steve

[mustang1989]

How cool is THAT??!!!!  Great work on the masking off and application of that top Steven.

[TooOld]

The top looks great Steve , I like the paint you used for the vinyl top even if it is too shiny , I'll try some on my next top and deal with the shine somehow .  I'm also surprise that the masking tape didn't pull the BMF off , I bet you were very very careful !

[David G.]

That top came out great Steve!

Thanks for sharing your technique with us.

David G.

[gtx6970]

If it matters and hopefully im not to late.

BUT the stripe should be a lot farther back than that. Almost right next to the side marker bezel

 

 

just an fyi

[StevenGuthmiller]

5 hours ago, TooOld said:

The top looks great Steve , I like the paint you used for the vinyl top even if it is too shiny , I'll try some on my next top and deal with the shine somehow .  I'm also surprise that the masking tape didn't pull the BMF off , I bet you were very very careful !

Yes, I felt that it was too shiny as well. 
I’ve already addressed this by adding some more black primer over it.

It might be a little more dull than desired, but I like it better. 
 

I’ll post a couple of photos later.

 

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

24 minutes ago, gtx6970 said:

If it matters and hopefully im not to late.

BUT the stripe should be a lot farther back than that. Almost right next to the side marker bezel

 

 

just an fyi

Yes, this was already brought up earlier, but there’s no changing it now without a complete repaint.

I’ll have to live with it.

 

 

 

Steve

[Keef]

???…….ok that’s it…….after seeing this build come together I quit ??

 

Beautiful build sir, I keep going back and look at the pics as the build has progressed and I am absolutely blown away by the level of detail that you have done to this car.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Thanks everyone.

 

After some contemplation, I decided that I wasn't happy with the finish on the vinyl top.

It was too shiny for me.

So I added a couple of coats of black primer, rubbed it down a little, and finished with a little Armor All.

 

It's still a little blotchier than I would like, but then again, this model is supposed to represent a car that's a few months old, so it shouldn't be perfect.

In any event, I like it better now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve