Simo5555 Posted February 16 Author Share Posted February 16 1 hour ago, Musclecarbuilder said: I built a '55 bel air from AMT for a friend that was black. I wet sanded it with 4000-12000 grit polishing cloth than I hit it with the Tamiya polishes. After using the Tamiya polish I rubbed the car with Meguiar's cleaner wax that took out 95% of the micro scratches. Hope this helps! Your car looks sick! Definitely adding this to my "future builds" list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Another product to consider when chasing some fine scratches is Meguire's Plastx cleaner & polish. Works great in scratched taillight lenses in your 1:1 ride as well. Boat owners can use it for your plexiglass windshield. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moparman18064 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 That really looks menacing, kudos! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill-e-boy Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 "I also glued a piece of white plastic to the rear corner And sanded it down with a file and sandpapers. Got it pretty good" - I had the same issue with my build - see current thread You are doing an nice job and the paint is looking good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musclecarbuilder Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 8 hours ago, Simo5555 said: Your car looks sick! Definitely adding this to my "future builds" list Thanks man! I appreciate it. 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bainford Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 The Charger is looking great. You can drive yourself nuts chasing swirls and fine scratches in back paint. It helps to start with the finest grit you can get away with. In an effort to solve this problem on my current build (which is black), I started my colour sanding pretty fine with an 8000 Micro Mesh pad. The finish was pretty good to start with, but not perfect. It took a long time to give the whole body a thorough workout, but it avoided the possibility (probability) of larger grit creating scratches that are difficult to chase to their end in the final polishing stages. After the 8000 grit rub, I went right to Tamiya fine polish (skipped the course). A couple rubs of fine polish, then a couple rubs of finish polish. The result was my best, swirl-free black paint yet. Like you, the colour sanding/polishing is one of my favourite parts of the build. It also helps a lot to finish it all off with a rub with Tamiya wax, or similar. It hides and blends those fine, remaining micro scratches, and gives the paint a nice, authentic luster. It also helps to resist finger prints. Only apply wax after all decals, foil, etc have been applied, because nothing will stick once the wax has been applied. Also, beware that when applying the wax, the body will become unexpectedly slippery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo5555 Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 10 hours ago, bill-e-boy said: "I also glued a piece of white plastic to the rear corner And sanded it down with a file and sandpapers. Got it pretty good" - I had the same issue with my build - see current thread You are doing an nice job and the paint is looking good It seems that the moulding is off with this model. The same issues that you had, the dimple on the passenger door, corner of the rear quarter missing etc, i had too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo5555 Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 (edited) Day 10: Trim work Time for some trim work. First it was masking. Tamiya tape is awesome, havent had any issues with it: Then i masked the entire body: Then i painted the trim with metallic chrome paint: Came out pretty good: Kinda looks like a Charger already Edited February 17 by Simo5555 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musclecarbuilder Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Man looking good! That paint is killer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo5555 Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 Day 11: Setback Dont really know what went wrong, but the chrome paint didnt stick at all. I left the body to dry for about 2 days, but i was able to rub off the chrome with just the slightest touch. Luckily the body itself is fine - so im back at polishing and trying to paint the chrome again. But, i really dont know what went wrong? Should i have used a primer for the chrome too? I just sprayed it onto the body as is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musclecarbuilder Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 3 hours ago, Simo5555 said: Day 11: Setback Dont really know what went wrong, but the chrome paint didnt stick at all. I left the body to dry for about 2 days, but i was able to rub off the chrome with just the slightest touch. Luckily the body itself is fine - so im back at polishing and trying to paint the chrome again. But, i really dont know what went wrong? Should i have used a primer for the chrome too? I just sprayed it onto the body as is. What kind of chrome did you use? If you used alclad that s probably why, it rubs off if you don't clear over it. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo5555 Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 6 hours ago, Musclecarbuilder said: What kind of chrome did you use? If you used alclad that s probably why, it rubs off if you don't clear over it. Hope this helps! I used this stuff: It specifically says on the bottle to not clear coat over it. I guess its an alcohol based acrylic paint? Have to do some digging around to find out what went wrong - i really do like the paint alot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo5555 Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 Day 12: Interior I had to redo the chrome around the window trim. This time i used the black gloss primer. Didnt take any pictures, but came out exactly the same. I also did some work on the interior tub. Wasnt too happy with the wood so i redid this too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo5555 Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 (edited) EDIT: Something weird happening with the forum It cloned my last post Edited February 25 by Simo5555 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo5555 Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 Day 13: Assembly day! Time to start putting this thing together. Firstly, glued the glass. Tried the Microscale Kristal Klear glue. This thing is awesome. Will definitely start using it more. Its a sticky white glue - much better than the PVA i was using before. Then the interior tub went in following the undercarriage. Then i started to build the front end. Cant say it all fits together nicely - there's definitely some fitment issues, but got it pretty good overall. (dont mind the fingerprints too much It still needs a proper wipe) But already looks good enough to display it with my other models 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickfzr61 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Beautiful looking Charger. Came out real nice. Great Mopar collection too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDC Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 On 2/10/2024 at 1:08 PM, Simo5555 said: Also tried to run the distributor wire to the coil - really dont know how you guys manage to do it. The wire itself is so small and fiddly. Spent a good half an hour just to get the one wire on. Cant imagine what the rest is going to be like This thing is looking good man, the details are really coming out in the engine, and the woodgrain looks great too. Let us know if you learn any little beginner tricks to wiring. I'm currently building my 4th model and won't be tackling wiring just yet, but I plan to give it a go very soon. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo5555 Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 Day 14: Finished! (yay! im out of probation. No more waiting for admin approval for my posts!) So, finaly got it together. Definitely was a tough build and didnt go smoothly at all. I was so close to just giving up at one point, but got it together. Overall, im pretty happy how it turned out. Still need a bit of cleaning before storing. Thank you guys for following along See you at my next build. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan Dan Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Beautiful build. Excellent paint and trim. Nice job! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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