Do you know who Norman E. Timbs is? Updated Dec 13, 2011

[Peter Lombardo]

All though it really doesn’t appear like it, I have gotten some more work done on the Timbs Special. My Brother and I completed the base work on the photo etch artwork that I will need for the grille, headlight surrounds, step plates and bumpers on the car.

My original plan was to fabricate the bumpers out of brass rod and solder them together and paint them with Alclad chrome. But after laying out the artwork on the computer over photos of the real car it became obvious that I will achieve a much high degree of accuracy doing them this way. They will be etched on stainless steel and look much better…..especially the round area around the headlights…having a perfect 360 degree circle with no variation is worth the price of admission itself. While we were laying out the pieces for the Timbs Special photo etch parts we included a bunch of ’32 and ’34 Ford grille inserts. Once you do one, you can copy it a million times so if there is room on the sheet, there will be something to etch. We have the space and why not, it doesn’t cost any more to add them….I even have a ’41 Willys grille insert too, so I guess I will add that to the sheet.

Of course, this is all assuming it will work properly…we have a few doubts in the ability of the printer, even though it is a professional system we are using, we need to get past a few hurtles first. The stainless must first be laminated with the photo sensitive layer and we are not totally convinced that that process will work properly…we’ll see. My back up plan may be better than the first plan. If this doesn’t work to our satisfaction, I will seek out a laser engraver, the guys who make trophies and such……..we think that will make for a more crisp etch…..we’ll see. I will go with the system that works best.

Anyway, the reason for this post is the paint is down on the car and I thought I would share the results of this facet of the build. The actual color of the real car is unknown to me. As you can see from the pictures of it, it is a deep burgundy and according to the article in the “Hot Rodders Journal” it has a fine gold metal flake in it. To replicate the color for this model I chose to use a custom blended GM paint called Merlot Jewel, which is what I had my 1977 MGB painted a few years ago. I am using it mainly because it looks just about right and I have a can of it and I love the look of it. The only problem with it is that it is a shade or two to light (red) in my opinion. In order to give the color a little more depth, I laid down a pre-base layer of Mopar Deep Amethyst Pearl Coat over the primer coat that was sanded smooth with a number of finer and finer sanding sheets. Here you can see the deep purple layer.

Once that was dry, I also sanded that down with a number of fine sanding sheets to where I was happy with the surface smoothness. Then I put down a number of fine layers of the Merlot Jewel color coat. Putting the Merlot down on top of the deep purple made the Merlot deeper and richer bringing it much closer to what I think is a great match to the real car. Here is the back end…..

And here is the front

Once that was dry, I did not sand that as I wanted it to have all of the metallic it was meant to have. I then mixed up a batch of clear lacquer with a bit of Ultra Mini Fine House of Kolor Gold Metal flake and sprayed that down over the Merlot. Once that was dry, I started putting down a number of clear lacquer top coats. These shots are after the top coats are completely dry, they need a few more days, and before the final sanding and buffing with wax.

Obviously, these were taken in not the greatest light, but you can see that once this is completely dry and buffed out, it will be pretty smooth and shiny with a deep pearl and fine top metal flake. I am loving this paint job. Thanks for looking and following along.

[bobthehobbyguy]

I just found this post and all I can say is WOW.

You have some great scratchbuilding skills. Thanks for sharing.

bobthehobbyguy

[jaymcminn]

That paint is amazing- the flake really brings out those curves. Good luck with the photoetch- have you thought about contacting Model Car Garage or another aftermarket company about doing a custom fret for you from your artwork?

[randx0]

Paint looks really nice. I cant wait to see it polished up.I am curious to see the photoetch stuff you are doing also.

[n8dogginz]

When this post is done the under glass pictures are gunna be a new candidate for my computer wallpaper, this is simply amazing. THEN you gotta do another one in the theme of how it was found in the boneyard!

[polandmob]

Amazing!

[Jantrix]

<-----floored

[crazyjim]

Looking great, Peter. SHINY :) RULES!

[trogdor]

Stunning work Peter, I can't wait to see it finished.

[Scott Colmer]

Another excellent display of scratch building!

[Greg Pugh]

Holy smokes!! How'd I miss this one.......?? This thing is going to be gorgeous!

[jjsipes]

Peter,

Did you ever finish this? Would love to see completed pics.