Dual 1970 Pontiac Trans Ams.

[Dragonhawk1066]

I decided to start on my Revell 1970 Pontiac Firebird kits. I'll be trying to do both at once, and hopefully be successful since they're low parts count kits. I'll be doing one in Blue (as close to Lucerne Blue as I can get), and the other in White with blue interiors for both. I'll be doing both with all craft paints, and have ordered a decal sheet from Keith Marks that has the Trans Am script for the fenders and rear spoiler for both cars, since they're missing from the kit decal sheet due to licensing issues. This should be easy enough to stay on track with and keep updated with pics, but with my forgetful mind nothing's guaranteed, lol. These have been my favorite Muscle Cars for a long time, so I'm hoping to do them justice in kit form.

[Bullybeef]

Ambitious project sounds like it could be a fun one to follow along.

[GMCMAN52]

nice project l always love the Bird and have built several of them over the years. will follow your build 

[TransAmMike]

Gotta be my favorite year also Craig (with maybe exception of my own 2002 of course).

And since I've decided I really like using craft paint I hope you'll elaborate on your process.

Will be looking forward to these bad boy's.

Edited February 6, 2021 by TransAmMike

[Dragonhawk1066]

2 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

Gotta be my favorite year also Craig (with maybe exception of my own 2002 of course).

And since I've decided I really like using craft paint I hope you'll elaborate on your process.

Will be looking forward to these bad boy's.

The '98-'02's with the Ram Air hoods are just plain mean looking in my opinion, and they run like the devil too! I most certainly will try to get as in-depth on using the craft paints as I can!

[Dragonhawk1066]

I actually started these last week, and I finally got some time to spend on them again after being kept busy all week by a variety of other things. I finished prepping the bodies by sanding down the mold lines, trimming the flash, and deepening the panel lines. I also glued on the front ends, tail panels and rear spoilers. All of the other parts are trimmed as well, and the engine halves and seats have been glued together and the seams filled and sanded. After seeing that the grille/headlight piece would be tough to install after attaching the front end, I decided to cut the part in half on both kits and went ahead and glued on the front ends. Everything is ready for primer now which hopefully I can start spraying on Monday. 

[Bills72sj]

Nice color choices. I will be following as well.

[KWT]

Sounds like a cool project

[TransAmMike]

5 hours ago, Dragonhawk1066 said:

The '98-'02's with the Ram Air hoods are just plain mean looking in my opinion, and they run like the devil too! I most certainly will try to get as in-depth on using the craft paints as I can!

Yep I do agree, this is my car.

 

[xbazzarex]

Very nice kits, most 2nd gens look good(except for the mid 70s, those bumpers were hideous). Im personally a third gen guy, but our cars are getting hard to come by for any generation. 

[Dragonhawk1066]

18 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

Yep I do agree, this is my car.

 

Very cool!! That's exactly what I'm talking about, to me that just looks mean, especially in black! A lot of folks call the Buick GN/GNX's Darth Vader, but that T/A more looks the part to me!

[TransAmMike]

15 hours ago, Dragonhawk1066 said:

Very cool!! That's exactly what I'm talking about, to me that just looks mean, especially in black! A lot of folks call the Buick GN/GNX's Darth Vader, but that T/A more looks the part to me!

Agree on all points!! I love my '02. Looking forward to progress pics on the '70's, cool project Craig.

 

[Dragonhawk1066]

A little more progress made on the Firebirds. I stripped the chrome off the wheels and alternator/power steering pump assemblies using LA's Totally Awesome for about 24 hours. It's weird that the chrome from one of the kits was a little more stubborn coming off and required another 24 hr. bath. I mixed up a batch of Stynylrez primer in an airbrush bottle using mostly white with 5-10 drops of black for a light gray. It's better and easier for me to gauge coverage this way, as white on white is too hard for me to see where there's coverage. It should also be light enough to spray the white paint over without too much trouble. In continuing my love/hate relationship with Stynylrez, the black primer for the chassis and other parts gave me some clotting problems, even when thinned. Hopefully it's just this batch, as my first batch of the white/gray/black worked very well. I'm also expecting to be able to finally try my other airbrush, a cheap dual-action purchased on ebay last year. I had not been able to try it yet due to needing a quick connect fitting for the  air hose and for my Paasche H airbrush. I have both now, but still need a 1/8 to 1/4 inch adapter for the air hose. Why can't airbrush companies make their fittings the same size, lol??? Anyways, everything's primed and awaiting paint. More adventures soon, lol.

[Geno]

Craig, I cant wait to see these done. I love this kit. I also used the decal sheet from Keith and they are great.

[Dragonhawk1066]

Got the interiors painted today. A custom mixture for the blue, and some semi-gloss black for the other. I had previously drilled the small holes on the steering wheel spokes. I also painted the engines and transmissions and the gas tanks. I might get the bodies painted tomorrow, then onto all of the detail painting.

[TransAmMike]

Keep up the good work Craig, looking great.  You mentioned "love hate relationship" with the Stynylrez primer. I just got some at the recommendation of DaveG and hopefully using his thinning method I will get good results (if the cold wet weather ever decides to depart). Up to now I have used rattlecan Krylon as a primer but with my new airbrush I decided to to the airbrushing the primer route.

 

[Dragonhawk1066]

I got the bodies painted yesterday, sort of, lol. The white didn't cover over the light gray primer very well, so into the sink it went with some warm water and a toothbrush to take it back down to primer. I then sprayed a coat of white primer over the light gray and will wet sand it today and re-paint hopefully Monday. The blue on the other hand covered very well, but has a bit of a texture to it. I'll work on that today or tomorrow and see if I can save it. I'm pretty sure I can, but we'll see.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Dragonhawk1066

[TransAmMike]

Did you use the Deco Art?  I used it on the Mustang model in progress and did'nt like how it looked so used some Anita's Metallic Black Craft I had previously and it went on smoother and actually with a bit of gloss.

[Dragonhawk1066]

Well, after spending a few minutes on the hood I decided not to bother saving the blue paint job either. So into a container of warm water it went for a few hours. One of the great things about craft paint, strip it in some water, or at worst LA's Totally Awesome and just peel and scrub the paint off with a toothbrush. I'm pretty sure I know what I did wrong, so here's hoping for better results tomorrow or Tuesday.

Did you use the Deco Art?  I used it on the Mustang model in progress and did'nt like how it looked so used some Anita's Metallic Black Craft I had previously and it went on smoother and actually with a bit of gloss.

Yes, I did use the Decoart, I've had really good results with it before this. I liked the Anita's too. I've been thinning the Metallics with Pledge and that usually levels and glosses pretty good, I just didn't thin either color enough, my own dumb mistake. That Mustang looks great too!

[TransAmMike]

So Craig, what ya going back with??  If it were me, not DecoArt.  And I'm not too sure about just thinning with pledge. Just me tho.

[Dragonhawk1066]

On 2/14/2021 at 8:01 PM, TransAmMike said:

So Craig, what ya going back with??  If it were me, not DecoArt.  And I'm not too sure about just thinning with pledge. Just me tho.

I did give the Decoart one more try and thinned with windshield washer fluid. I tested it on a spare hood and it came out wonderfully, so onto the car it went. Third time was the charm! I had been working on color mixtures, and thinning with Pledge last month with great success, but I just couldn't seem to get the ratio right on this one.

[Dragonhawk1066]

So I got the white sprayed on Monday and it turned out quite well. I'm pretty happy with it, and now just have to make sure nothing stupid happens to ruin the paint before I can get a coat or two of clear on it (white paint shows everything!!). After the second botched blue paint job, also on Monday, I'm happy to say the third time's the charm. I ended up thinning it with windshield washer fluid, and after a too thin first coat, managed to get the perfect consistency and the paint job looks great (at least to me, lol). Now to protect this on until I can clear it as well, lol.

[TransAmMike]

They look good Craig, I'm thinking you are better off with the WS fluid.  I don't know how long you're waiting to clear but I had an experience with The 66 GT350 MUstang I'm finishing up. I got impatient and cleared it with the Rusto Acrylic Lacquer about 4 hours after spraying  the craft paint.  I used the hair dryer several times duing the wait then went ahead and sprayed it. I felt like it was my best paint job yet, just minute orange peel, looked great.  Well, after a couple of days with the clear on it I can now see a few minor scratches from the light sanding then steel wooling prior to applying the paint and ghosting of the emblems I had to remove that weren't visable after priming and painting. I guess the paint shrunk. Anyway, take it for what it's worth. I guess my impatience bit me in the azz.  I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get this  body painting process down.

[FLHCAHZ]

The Trans Ams look great!

 

I’ve been having good results thinning with was and clearing with future. I found an old bottle of the original future under my sink.  I just posted up a ‘66 mustang body I just finished in wip.  

I bought some metallic white craft paint that I had in mind for an early Trans Am

[Superbird McMonte]

They look really cool! That’s a project I’d like to take on myself. I’ll be watching intently!