Carbon fibre and leather

[slant6]

Im starting a Porsche Carrera GT. The pictures I have show some carbon fibre parts. Ive found some carbon fibre decals, one even had cutouts for this car, but Ive never had to much luck using large decals on countoured parts. I tried it last on a motorcycle gas tank and it looked horrible. Does anyone have any tips on doing Carbon fibre. I also am wondering how to get a leather look for seats, if anyone can help with that.

[Jairus]

Will,

Decals – any decals – can be a royal pain! However, use of a decal setting solution can help considerably. Decal set is used to soften the carrier and get it to lay down flat regardless of the shape of the surface. I would ask the hobby shop owner to sell you whatever the military modelers use, as that will undoubtedly be the best in my humble opinion.

To get a sheet of carbon fiber decal to wrap around a sphere might be the most difficult and no amount of decal set will help. However, a fender is not too difficult… if you first take a piece of paper, cut it to fit the general area and then use the pattern to cut out the carbon fiber decal PRIOR to wetting it. Make a few relief cuts that allow the decal to fold over on itself and then apply a small amount of decal set and the decal should snuggle down tightly. The trick is to NOT touch the decal once it starts to dry. Decal set will make the decal look like new wrinkles are appearing and the whole mess will make you want to start over… but have patience and let it dry. You will be surprised how nice it looks!

A fender can also be covered in pieces as long as you match up the “grain†of the pattern. If you get a wrinkle or fold over after it dries… slice it off and add another “patch piece†over the first being careful to match up the carbon fiber pattern.

A nice gloss coat of paint over the finished piece will help bring it all together!

[MicroNitro]

hi, I ran the carbon shop for McKinney corp for years making carbon parts for top fuel and funny cars. On the 1/1 parts we also had to cut relief like Jairus said. So the relief cuts actually make the part more realistic. I put a coat of future wax over the carbon decals to finish it off it looks the same as clear but I'm always afraid of the clear paint eating into the decal (call me chicken).

[MrObsessive]

Another trick you can do if setting solution is unavailable, is to use a "hot towel" method. Dip a paper or cloth towel into hot water (as hot as you can stand it) and press on the decal contour for about 20 seconds or so. The heat will help the decal to conform. This comes in handy for contours around hood scoops or odd shape fenders.

It's also good to keep a sharp pin around to pop those air bubbles that always show up when you're about done!

[djway3474]

If the carbon fiber is a fine enough version you can lay down several pieces and you cant even see the edges. I tried this expecting the worst and it wound up that I could not even see the seperate pieces.

[Zoom Zoom]

Nobody else has answered your leather-look question, so I'll make an attempt

One way that's been mentioned is spraying a flat color, and rubbing your nose with your finger and then rubbing the oil over the flat paint to give it a sheen. Personally, I don't like greasy fingerprints/noseprints on my models, so do that at your own peril.

Most leather has a satin sheen, somewhere between flat and semigloss. When I spray interior colors, I generally clearcoat them in an appropriate level of gloss, if I've sprayed the seats in a gloss color, I'll tone them down with a few light coats of Testors Dullcote. If they're sprayed in a flat color, I'll apply a thin coat of semigloss clear; Dullcote separates in the jar, I'll partially mix it and then spray. Or I'll spray Acryl semigloss clear. The general answer is spray the leather areas whatever color you like, and adjust the level of shine with a clearcoat. Nothing is worse than overly-glossy seats; it's better to make them a bit duller than shinier. You could also try increasing the sheen on flat seats by carefully swabbing some Armor-All or similar cleaner/protector (keep it away from anything needing to be painted!).

[slant6]

Thanks, those were all great great tips. Ill be tryng them very soon. Im sure Ill have a few more in the near future. Now Ive jsut got to speed up the USPS so I can get my carbon fibre sheet.