Metallic Blue '62 Bullet Bird...locked and loaded!

[rightrudder]

Thanks guys! Just shot the mist coat on the bodywork this morning.

With Tamiya acrylic, do you think an hour between coats is sufficient? My plan is to shoot all base coats (maybe three total) today, then shoot the clear tomorrow. Ordered a Molotow chrome pen to touch up the edges of the bumpers where I had to trim away some light flash.

[rightrudder]

I went ahead and sprayed it, and spent time between coats deflashing the wheel knock-offs (tedious!). It turned out great! There's just one minor booger in the hood, so when that fully dries I'll sand it off very gently and apply one last coat, but the body is done.

Mr. Hobby clear for tomorrow. Fortunately, good painting weather is forecast.

 

[cobraman]

Nice progress, very sharp interior.

[rightrudder]

22 hours ago, cobraman said:

Nice progress, very sharp interior.

Thanks, Ray!

Got the clear coat on today, one mist coat, one wet coat and one super wet coat. The clear really deepens the blue, exactly what I had hoped for.

The body itself has very few flaws, but the biggest one is a small bulge on the cowl, on the right side between the wiper attachment point and antenna. You can't see it in these photos...just wanted to give a heads up to future builders who might want to shave or sand it down. The panel lines are pretty deep right out of the box, though I did some light scribing.

 

 

[Dragonhawk1066]

Looking fantastic so far! I like that interior, and the Metallic Blue is a beautiful color!

[rightrudder]

5 hours ago, Dragonhawk1066 said:

Looking fantastic so far! I like that interior, and the Metallic Blue is a beautiful color!

Thanks! I'm not touching it for two full days! I want to avoid that big fat fingerprint in the paint.

[rightrudder]

Cleaning up some of the fiddly chrome bits, and I'll touch them up when my Molotow pen gets here...hopefully today!

Had to sand the edges of the vent window glass a bit to get them to fit in the frame recess. I used Pacer Formula 560 canopy glue for this (lots of rc planes in my past). It's white and dries clear, and the best thing is if you make a mistake, it peels off like rubber cement. Won't cloud the clear plastic at all.

Windshield is a perfect snap fit into the frame, so I probably won't use glue whatsoever.

[rightrudder]

Well, the reverse rake continues to bug me. Chassis sits just a little too nose high, so I think I'm gonna split the difference between the axles on the stock spindles and the lowering spindles (in pic). There's a difference of about 2.5 mm, so I need to come down 1 to 1.5 mm, which puts the axle pretty much centered in the spindle.

Fortunately, even when everything is glued together in the front suspension, you can pry the control arms apart and pop the whole spindle/wheel assembly out. I figure I'll epoxy some aluminum tubing to the modified spindle, and run piano wire inside it and through the control arms.

A pain, but the stance has to be right!!

 

 

[rightrudder]

OK, new front ride height. It's a subtle change but I didn't want it too low, and it sits nicely level now.

 

 

 

 

 

[rightrudder]

All done! Time to clear off the hobby table for the next one.

I'll post some pics soon in the Under Glass section.

 

[Bronzekeg]

turned out beautiful!

[bisc63]

Soooo nice! Beautiful 'bird.

[rightrudder]

34 minutes ago, Bronzekeg said:

turned out beautiful!

Thanks!!

[rightrudder]

1 minute ago, bisc63 said:

Soooo nice! Beautiful 'bird.

Thanks! I appreciate it! I just posted some shots in Under Glass.

[Modlbldr]

Beautiful Bird! I love the color and the clear really made it shine! Can you show some.pics of the paint and clear you used? I've got a build planned that the color would be perfect for.

Later-

[deuces wild]

??

[rightrudder]

18 hours ago, Modlbldr said:

Beautiful Bird! I love the color and the clear really made it shine! Can you show some.pics of the paint and clear you used? I've got a build planned that the color would be perfect for.

Later-

Thanks!! Here you go:

 

I thinned the metallic blue 1:1 with 70% IPA. I tried a test with Mr. Hobby Leveling thinner, but the color turned out way too silvery, so I went back to good 'ol rubbing alcohol. I applied 3 base coats with 45 minutes between coats, and let it dry for one day (70 degrees F high temp) but I think in the future I'll let it dry for 2-3 days before spraying clear.

Don't go too wet on the clear coat; mist coat, and then 2-3 medium coats.

I did a little bit of hand polishing with Meguair's Ultimate Compound, but if you were to take the time to machine polish I bet it would be super glossy!

 

[Modlbldr]

1 hour ago, rightrudder said:

Thanks!! Here you go:

 

I thinned the metallic blue 1:1 with 70% IPA. I tried a test with Mr. Hobby Leveling thinner, but the color turned out way too silvery, so I went back to good 'ol rubbing alcohol. I applied 3 base coats with 45 minutes between coats, and let it dry for one day (70 degrees F high temp) but I think in the future I'll let it dry for 2-3 days before spraying clear.

Don't go too wet on the clear coat; mist coat, and then 2-3 medium coats.

I did a little bit of hand polishing with Meguair's Ultimate Compound, but if you were to take the time to machine polish I bet it would be super glossy!

 

Thanks! That helps a lot. I've used that Tamiya paint before in my airbrush so I don't k ow why I couldn't picture what you were talking about. I'll have to pick me up some.

Later-