MPC 1/16 1979 Firebird

[FLHCAHZ]

Really coming along. Looks great! And cool cat

[Ceaser_Salad]

Alright so I may have painted the body...

The blue bird is going to look really cool I think.

The paint has imperfections, and I do not know whether I want to risk trying to fix them. This paint is super finicky and I think I would only make it worse if I tried to fix it. I will just call the weird white spot on the hood bird poop and just be ok with that.

My mother says it looks like a Bond car. I'll take it as a compliment.

[Ctmodeler]

Lookin good so far man ! Also working on 1/16 mpc firebird here, just the 1982

[Ceaser_Salad]

15 minutes ago, Ctmodeler said:

Lookin good so far man ! Also working on 1/16 mpc firebird here, just the 1982

Thank you! I have been watching your build as well, I look forward to the completion!

[Mattilacken]

Looks good, to bad about the paint not coming out as you wanted. I guess only way to improve what you have is to clear and polish, other attempts, except removal and respray, as you say would ruin that paint. Some one more knowledgeable than I can tell you ?  cool chrome look?

[FLHCAHZ]

The blue is going to look good over the silver!  If the paint bothers you.  Just let is cure, wet sand, and spray again 

[David G.]

The silver you picked looks great Declan! It's nicer looking than what Pontiac used back then which looked more like metallic gray.

Your detail work on the interior looks good too. This should be quite a build when you're through.

David G.

[Ceaser_Salad]

5 hours ago, Mattilacken said:

Looks good, to bad about the paint not coming out as you wanted. I guess only way to improve what you have is to clear and polish, other attempts, except removal and respray, as you say would ruin that paint. Some one more knowledgeable than I can tell you ?  cool chrome look?

Thank you! I will try the clear and polish.

2 hours ago, FLHCAHZ said:

The blue is going to look good over the silver!  If the paint bothers you.  Just let is cure, wet sand, and spray again 

I don't really know how well that would work out with this paint... its really hard to work with in my opinion.

1 hour ago, David G. said:

The silver you picked looks great Declan! It's nicer looking than what Pontiac used back then which looked more like metallic gray.

Your detail work on the interior looks good too. This should be quite a build when you're through.

David G.

Oh no.... everyone likes the chrome look.... I cleared it with a satin so now it is more of a silver than chrome. The metal finish was rubbing off somehow, and I just really needed to tone it down (at least I thought). I will post a picture tomorrow or later tonight.

OTHERWISE: Thank you David, I was pretty happy with the interior.

 

[Ceaser_Salad]

Right well, I officially hate my paint.

I wet sanded the T-top area.... burned RIGHT through the clear AND paint. The paintjob on this is so bad that everywhere is pitted and unsavable. I thought (as advised) that sanding and polishing would help. Nope. This firebird is a complete wreck.

Before sand and polish:

 

T-Top after sand and a little polish: As you can see by the dark spots, I burned through.

I don't even know what is going on here (below)

Quick polish of the hood without sanding:

If anyone has a body that isn't terrible let me know... I may just huck this one on the shelf and restart.

I am beyond disappointed in this...

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by Ceaser_Salad
I am an idiot

[gbtr6]

No need to chuck the body. Try stripping first. You can probably get it off, and start over. One thing, try light coats. Let it dry thoroughly between. 
 

Perry

[Mattilacken]

That sucks man. To bad it didn’t work! 

It’s a setback but the model is not scrap. ?Just strip the paint with a cheap break fluid, these problems happens often to any modeler. Yes it’s a pita and it sucks but after striping the paint just start re prep it. Can you get hold of tamiya paint? Gow witht them and look a tortourial on YOuTube.

[Modlbldr]

Yeah, it's not too far gone. Go ahead and strip it, give it a good sanding and clean it really well. Then you can start over with light coats. I once painted a body 6 times with Tamiya paints. Dropped it, had something greasy on the body, someone gropped something on top of it while drying. You name it...It ended up costing me almost $70 in paint alone but it turned out to be one of my nicest customs.

Keep after it! You'll get it.

Later-

[doorsovdoon]

That's either moisture in the air or the paint hasn't mixed properly being too cold. It's unbelievably frustrating when that happens but give it a day or two and come back to it with a cool head. Stripping the body gives it a kind of prep for the paint and usually ends up looking amazing on the second attempt!

[Ceaser_Salad]

6 hours ago, gbtr6 said:

No need to chuck the body. Try stripping first. You can probably get it off, and start over. One thing, try light coats. Let it dry thoroughly between. 
 

Perry

Thank you all for the suggestions.

4 hours ago, Mattilacken said:

That sucks man. To bad it didn’t work! 

It’s a setback but the model is not scrap. ?Just strip the paint with a cheap break fluid, these problems happens often to any modeler. Yes it’s a pita and it sucks but after striping the paint just start re prep it. Can you get hold of tamiya paint? Gow witht them and look a tortourial on YOuTube.

Not really sure what could go through clear coat though, I don't have break fluid. MAYBE there is some at my nearby convenience store, but I am a ways off from most places. Anything else that could work?

4 hours ago, Modlbldr said:

Yeah, it's not too far gone. Go ahead and strip it, give it a good sanding and clean it really well. Then you can start over with light coats. I once painted a body 6 times with Tamiya paints. Dropped it, had something greasy on the body, someone gropped something on top of it while drying. You name it...It ended up costing me almost $70 in paint alone but it turned out to be one of my nicest customs.

Keep after it! You'll get it.

Later-

As for tamiya, is the suggestion meant for tamiya spray paint? I am incapable of using my airbrush right now as it is not one of the fancy (functional) ones and I have no idea what on earth to do to make it work correctly. Too thin, it will spray but will just push the paint around because it is mostly thinner. "Regular" 50/50 thinning doesn't spray.

2 hours ago, doorsovdoon said:

That's either moisture in the air or the paint hasn't mixed properly being too cold. It's unbelievably frustrating when that happens but give it a day or two and come back to it with a cool head. Stripping the body gives it a kind of prep for the paint and usually ends up looking amazing on the second attempt!

 

But I digress, I will try to strip it. Not a turn I really wanted to be taking. I really hope as many of you say that redoing the body actually does make it nicer the second time.

 

[Ceaser_Salad]

I should add:

Thank you for the encouragement. On another (let us keep it unnamed) forum, I do not think I would have gotten much understanding for my lack of ability/ skill.

Perhaps this is my Gen-Z self talking haha! ?

[Mattilacken]

Break fluid can be found at any store carrying auto parts. Might even be some at the gas station. ? 

[Ctmodeler]

On 8/13/2021 at 5:24 PM, Ceaser_Salad said:

I should add:

Thank you for the encouragement. On another (let us keep it unnamed) forum, I do not think I would have gotten much understanding for my lack of ability/ skill.

Perhaps this is my Gen-Z self talking haha! ?

I feel ya man. I dread painting bodies. Yours will be fine it's not that bad. Amazon will deliver you anything if you need it. This stuff happens in modeling. Like I ruined the exhaust crossover pipe on my 82 and was so pist . Had to bend a piece of a tree to make something that looks remotely close. You'll see every model you build you'll have less problems. It's a learning process and I'm there with ya man. 

[Ceaser_Salad]

2 hours ago, Ctmodeler said:

I feel ya man. I dread painting bodies. Yours will be fine it's not that bad. Amazon will deliver you anything if you need it. This stuff happens in modeling. Like I ruined the exhaust crossover pipe on my 82 and was so pist . Had to bend a piece of a tree to make something that looks remotely close. You'll see every model you build you'll have less problems. It's a learning process and I'm there with ya man. 

Ah much appreciated! I try to avoid using amazon, but maybe this is a moment I might use it.

I know that these mistakes are pretty common and problems do occur. I usually am ok with them, but at this scale it just isn't worth leaving it alone.

Sorry about your 82, is the below image of your remade one? If so, WOW you did a good job, it looks really good.

[Whosurdaddy209]

On 8/13/2021 at 5:24 PM, Ceaser_Salad said:

I should add:

Thank you for the encouragement. On another (let us keep it unnamed) forum, I do not think I would have gotten much understanding for my lack of ability/ skill.

Perhaps this is my Gen-Z self talking haha! ?

You can use purple power to strip paint, just submerge it in a plastic tub with a lid for a few days and the paint will peel right off, ive stripped many many models this way for a few years now.

[Ceaser_Salad]

4 minutes ago, Whosurdaddy209 said:

You can use purple power to strip paint, just submerge it in a plastic tub with a lid for a few days and the paint will peel right off, ive stripped many many models this way for a few years now.

Thanks! If what I am using right now doesn't work, I will try that.

[Zippi]

Looking good so far on the build.  Paint is always my down fall and I'm still working on it.  Like mentioned, strip the paint and give it another go.  I've stripped a body 3 times before until I got something I was satisfied with.  

[David G.]

It's a bummer about the paint Declan but as is said the paint can be stripped. I would recommend SuperClean over Purple Power as the former offers better performance in removing paint and chrome plating from model car parts.

Here is a link to an MCM discussion on the topic from a few years ago. 

Hope this helps.

David G.

[Ceaser_Salad]

Car is reprimed and I am shooting colour on it today! The body is a little bit rough in spots but I do not care anymore. I just want to paint it and get it done.

Pictures later today!

[Ceaser_Salad]

Here is the paint so far. It is a little rough, but I seriously am not in the mood to redo it again. I will do a 3rd light coat in a day or so and that should fix most of it. The rest, will be ignored.

[David G.]

It looks quite workable so far.

I wish you better luck on this go around.

David G.