1972 Bobby Allison Southern 500 winning Coke Chevy

[MarkJ]

Good news. Not much rain this week so I can get to painting in a big way. Just hope it's not too humid. 

[MarkJ]

Just one more bar to add to the floor of the tub and I will be ready to start painting for a while

[MarkJ]

Added the bar on the floor of the tub that the cage connects to, it won't actually ever be glued to it because I have to keep the cage free till final assembly for painting. The cage is black, and the tub is red. I will paint the bar on the floor black after I paint the tub red with a brush. Also got the body primed and now I'm working on the grille with some black wash to make it look more like a grille. After the wash dry's I will rub the grille with a wood toothpick, and it will remove the wash from the eggcrate part of the grille, but the wash will remain in the little, tiny squares. I always like to do this to make the build a little more real looking. I think most of you guys do this too.

[Pierre Rivard]

I built this kit a few years ago and struggled getting the mesh grill to look right. The pattern does not offer a lot of depth to work with. Catching up to your build. Looking good!

[MarkJ]

6 minutes ago, Pierre Rivard said:

I built this kit a few years ago and struggled getting the mesh grill to look right. The pattern does not offer a lot of depth to work with. Catching up to your build. Looking good!

Thanks. Pierre. I think you're right. I scraped off some the dried wash last night and the paint in the little squares came with it. Looks like I might not be able to get rid of the toyish looking grille on this one. Have to go to some kind of plan b. Maybe involving a mesh screen of some sort like you have used on your recent builds. Are you possibly home from your travels?  If so, can we be expecting a new build from you soon? Thanks again for your input on the build.

[Pierre Rivard]

15 hours ago, MarkJ said:

Thanks. Pierre. I think you're right. I scraped off some the dried wash last night and the paint in the little squares came with it. Looks like I might not be able to get rid of the toyish looking grille on this one. Have to go to some kind of plan b. Maybe involving a mesh screen of some sort like you have used on your recent builds. Are you possibly home from your travels?  If so, can we be expecting a new build from you soon? Thanks again for your input on the build.

Wire mesh looks so much better. Easy to find on Amazon (search 80 mesh wire screen). 12x45 inch roll for less than $20... a lifetime supply!

Just got back.  1953 Ferrari resin kit might be next... whenever the build bug hits me...

[MarkJ]

1 hour ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Wire mesh looks so much better. Easy to find on Amazon (search 80 mesh wire screen). 12x45 inch roll for less than $20... a lifetime supply!

Just got back.  1953 Ferrari resin kit might be next... whenever the build bug hits me...

Thanks, Pierre. I think I have a mesh that will work. Hope the bug hits you quickly. That Ferrari sounds like a project that will be a feast for our eyes out here in mediocrity land . I will be on the lookout at the wip section where you usually are found. I'm guessing that is where it will be.

[MarkJ]

Had a really good day for painting yesterday high 80's and humidity at 66%. Wind only 10mph but mostly still, which I kind of wished it had stayed a slight breeze. But for southeast Texas this time of year that is very weird but good weather. I masked everything that needed masking and shot all the red areas of the build. I'm really loving this air brush and the Createx paint. I have finally got a good mix going that keeps the tip from drying up through the whole painting session.  I mix up a 10-gram batch with 2 different reducers and 10 drops of my own flow improver made from dish detergent. It makes the paint flow out better without making the paint run. Not a hint of orange peel either. Its slightly dull but when I shoot some acrylic Tamiya clear after I shoot the gold it should give me a nice gloss for decaling. I now need to mask for shooting the gold and wait for another good day. In the meantime, I can fix the grille and hand paint some small stuff and the engine and put it together and make an air cleaner that looks more authentic for this car. The rear bumper on this particular car was red and the front bumper was half red and chrome. Have no idea why.

[slusher]

Looks really nice ,Mark'

[MarkJ]

4 hours ago, slusher said:

Looks really nice ,Mark'

Thanks, Carl. I'm pretty pleased so far with my results. Hopefully the gold will turn out as well as the red did. I still have a group of black things to paint as well. This sure is more fun than having to paint each and everything with a bristle brush. 

[Rattlecan Dan]

Nice job Mark. Keep up the good work.

[MarkJ]

Thanks, Donato. It's been relatively fun so far compared to the last build. If I can figure out the grille it should be smooth sailing to the end as long as the decals don't come apart or something weird when I go to put them on. I don't know how old they are, but they have been in a zip lock bag since I got them so since they are high quality power slide decals I'm thinking they will be okay.

[TransAmMike]

Looking great Mark, I'm a Createx user also.   

Keep up the good work👌

[MarkJ]

17 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

Looking great Mark, I'm a Createx user also.   

Keep up the good work👌

Thanks, Mike for stopping by to weigh in on the build. Yes, the Createx has a lot of options as far as colors and types of paints you can get in acrylic paint. I for one really like the wicked lineup of paints they offer and when you get through the paint looks like any good enamel or lacquer paint job out there without the hazard to your health the others might cause. Cleanup of the airbrush can be done on the kitchen table with isopropyl alcohol instead of a lacquer thinner or whatever you would have to use to clean up an enamel job using an airbrush. Plus, Hobby Lobby sells it which is convenient for me.

[TransAmMike]

1 hour ago, MarkJ said:

Thanks, Mike for stopping by to weigh in on the build. Yes, the Createx has a lot of options as far as colors and types of paints you can get in acrylic paint. I for one really like the wicked lineup of paints they offer and when you get through the paint looks like any good enamel or lacquer paint job out there without the hazard to your health the others might cause. Cleanup of the airbrush can be done on the kitchen table with isopropyl alcohol instead of a lacquer thinner or whatever you would have to use to clean up an enamel job using an airbrush. Plus, Hobby Lobby sells it which is convenient for me.

All true Mark!!  

[MarkJ]

As a famous builder would say, yup.

[MarkJ]

Got the masking off the body and cleaned up the airbrush for my next chance to paint, if the weather gives me one. I need to paint all the black items this time. In the meantime, I can work on the grille and the engine.

[Kevinjr26]

looking good Mark!

[MarkJ]

6 hours ago, Kevinjr26 said:

looking good Mark!

Thanks, Kevin. I appreciate your thoughts on the build.

[MarkJ]

Started working on the grille. I found some mesh material about the same size as the plastic grille mesh. Somebody that I can't remember now but it was probably 15 years ago sent it to me. It has something to do with the filtration system on a fish tank. The photos below show how I used masking tape to get the size of the mesh I need, and also shows that I sanded off the plastic mesh and will paint that black. I will color the new metal mesh with a light coating of aluminum paint and try not to clog up the holes in the mesh so the black can show through. I will attach the mesh with tiny dots of canopy glue just at the 4 corners of the mesh. I will then add strips to the borders of the mesh to clean up the look of it all. If you can understand what I just posted, you are better than me. I just hope it works and gets rid of the usual toyish look of a kit grille that has been left alone.

[Volzfan59]

👍 Great work Mark. I really appreciate the detail work on your cars.

[MarkJ]

2 hours ago, Volzfan59 said:

👍 Great work Mark. I really appreciate the detail work on your cars.

Thanks, Steve. I'm getting more and more confident in a good outcome with this one. 

[Pierre Rivard]

Real mesh screen will make a big impact on this beauty. I used the same process on my 29 Mercedes and it added a lot of realism.

You obviously found your formula for the painting process. The red color coat looks very smooth. Can't wait to see the gold.

[MarkJ]

6 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Real mesh screen will make a big impact on this beauty. I used the same process on my 29 Mercedes and it added a lot of realism.

You obviously found your formula for the painting process. The red color coat looks very smooth. Can't wait to see the gold.

Thanks, Pierre. I got outside late yesterday after the rain finally stopped and painted all the black items on the car. Will post pictures later. I have been having trouble painting the mesh screen. I can't keep the tiny holes from clogging up. Do you have any suggestions how to paint the screen aluminum without clogging up the screen holes. I want the black background to show through. Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

[Pierre Rivard]

2 hours ago, MarkJ said:

Thanks, Pierre. I got outside late yesterday after the rain finally stopped and painted all the black items on the car. Will post pictures later. I have been having trouble painting the mesh screen. I can't keep the tiny holes from clogging up. Do you have any suggestions how to paint the screen aluminum without clogging up the screen holes. I want the black background to show through. Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

Hi Mark, I just painted the background styrene part flat black but the screen I used was 304 stainless steel and I left it unpainted.