Foil Casting

[StevenGuthmiller]

Well, this is my first attempt at this technique, and of course, I had to pick a tough one for the first shot at it.

Believe me, I really had no intention of ever having to try this, but it was born out of necessity.

 

I've been getting increasingly excited about getting started on replicating my 1:1 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix, and I'm finally beginning to feel confident that my skills are approaching the required expertise that will be needed to build this model to the technical degree that I have wanted to.

However, there are some hurdles that I had to find solutions to right out of the gate.

 

The first issue at hand was the long, pronounced sink mark present in the trunk lid of my kit's body directly above the GRAND PRIX script, making it nearly impossible to fill while keeping the script intact.

After a preliminary check to see if I could possibly find some PE letters that would pass as replacements, which was unfruitful for the most part, I decided that I would have to try the foil casting technique.

 

I followed basic suggestions from other members of the forum, and preliminary results appear to be passable.

The letters are very small and quite difficult to work with, but you're dealt the hand that you're dealt.

Installing these tiny letters will be a challenge unto itself, but it appears that I'm on the right track.

 

Of course I will feel safest replicating these letters at least a couple of times to insure that I have spares in case of loss or damage.

 

I will also need to replicate the letter "J" from the lower front quarter panel before eliminating the "SJ" from that location.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

Edited June 15, 2024 by StevenGuthmiller

[Bucky]

Looks like you're on the right track! Nice looking for your first attempt. I do have one question.  Do you think it would be possible to find a junkyard GP model kit that doesn't have the sink mark across the back?  Reusing a deck lid from an old built up might be easier. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Bucky said:

Looks like you're on the right track! Nice looking for your first attempt. I do have one question.  Do you think it would be possible to find a junkyard GP model kit that doesn't have the sink mark across the back?  Reusing a deck lid from an old built up might be easier. 

Certainly!

I would go that route if I could find one.

Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of them laying around.

There was a body for sale on eBay recently, but it appeared to have already had the scripts sanded off.

 

 

 

Steve

[Bainford]

Looks good, Steve. Dealing with small individual letters would be super tricky. Good result. 

[NOBLNG]

15 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

 

I've been getting increasingly excited about getting started on replicating my 1:1 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix, and I'm finally beginning to feel confident that my skills are approaching the required expertise that will be needed to build this model to the technical degree that I have wanted to.

Steve

Glad to see you’re stepping up your game a little Steven.? Good idea to make multiple sets just in case. I imagine you will be glueing them back on after the body work and before paint? Try slicing the original letters off with a chisel blade too. They will likely curl and be unusable…but better to try than just sand them away? Good luck.?

[Mike 1017]

Someone here uses this technique. I make a "SLOP Mold" using Silly Putty. Press it against the emblem or script and I fill it with JB Epoxy. I leave it cure for at least 2 days so it gets rock hard Then trim it and sand it as best I can.Then spray it with the body color And then using a toothpick and Molotow Chrome I pick out the lettering. I have made heads and valve covers using this Silly Putty "Slop Mold" technique. Whats nice there is enough Silly Putty in the egg to make 3 o4 of these "Slop Mold " parts at one time.

Mike