My personal NNL-East challenge Mission accomplished!

[charlie8575]

Those who know me know I have three great loves in automobiles.

1. Pre-1970 American cars.

2. Anything weird.

3. (And the greatest, possibly,) station wagons!

With the sub-them of wagons this year at NNL-East, I knew I HAD to have something for this year. Unfortunately, the very cold winter, which super-refrigerated the basement where I usually paint, and about two months of not being able to use stairs easily due to a flare-up of sciatica, along with some other issues, made getting much of anything done impossible.

I took a look at one possible contender, and decided it was going to be more work than I could do, and I was missing some parts.

The other possibilities I had were simply too much to get done.

So, Friday, I went to my preferred hobby shop and was poking around for an idea. And found it.

The Revell Snap-Fit Chrysler PT Cruiser.

This is most of the kit. I don't have pictures of the glass, chrome or tires.

The car will be painted and detailed. And with that few parts, I'm not expecting this to take a long time.

There will be a small amount of body work due to a molding imperfection on the tailgate, in the form of a heavy ridge that will need to be sanded down, re-polished and then painted.

Can I have this ready before Friday? Given the low parts-count and minimal painting I need to do (the interior color is a dead match for the agate interior, needing only detail painting and a some semi-gloss and Dullcote to get the sheens correct,) I think it can be done.

The toughest part will be the body. I intend to use some of the ancient Testors Car Colors Garnet Red Pearl I have, which will provide a nice color over the red plastic, and, at least to my eye, do a good job of simulating the Inferno Red Tint-coat.

Let the challenge begin!

Charlie Larkin

Edited April 25, 2014 by charlie8575

[jeffs396]

Go Charlie, go!

[Bill Eh?]

Definitely go for it Charlie.

[charlie8575]

So I'm going for it.

So far, I've assembled the seats, gluing them together to eliminate the huge gaps between the halves. I'll give those a wash of The Detailer to even out the color/gloss a little.

The plastic used in this kit is the softest I've ever encountered. Six-eight swipes of 150 grit sandpaper, and the copyright info on the chassis was obliterated.

Before:

After:

I also like how they set up the window unit, with lots of texturing and recesses. It makes painting all the flat black stuff fairly easy. This is the results.

I also painted the floor flat black to help make it look a little more realistic.

Oddly, no shifter was provided. That will be addressed with a straight pin with a white head, as it'll actually look pretty close to the factory shifter, especially considering this car is supposed to represent the 5-speed.

More to come! I think this is going to happen!

Charlie Larkin

[charlie8575]

As slow as work has been this week, and where tomorrow is a state holiday (Patriot's Day- the commemoration of the Battles of Concord and Lexington,) I'm up painting!

I used Tamiya Smoke for the window tinting, and Testors Stop Light Red Metallic for the high-mount break light. The Smoke, I think, would've worked better either with a very wide brush or airbrushing. Lesson learned for next time. At least NNL-East isn't judged.

I also used the Stop Light Red for the inserts on the I/P. The flash makes it look much brighter than reality. Note for next time: use a white or silver under-coat, or solid red, as it turns out the Stop Light Red is semi-transparent.

Using the lesson learned, I painted the reflector/back-up light area on the rear bumper with Chrome Silver. The front/rear bumper and side-mirrors were painted with Tamiya S/G black to make them look a little closer to reality, as the real car accessories are far more black than charcoal. As I also intend to make a nicely-maintained car, regular treatments of Armor All would be pretty regular.

Tomorrow...well, after dawn, I'll be painting some more of the details, and priming/painting the chassis plate.

This is happening....

Charlie Larkin

[am73grand]

Looking good Charlie!!!!

[Bill Eh?]

This excellent so far.

[cobraman]

Keep er'goin'.

[Lunajammer]

Having just bought 2004 PT Limited (loaded, including the moon roof) I'm pretty jazzed about these things so I'm very interested in your project and thoughts about this kit.

[Mopar - D]

Great progress Charlie looks like you will have it done in time

[johnbuzzed]

You're a better man than I for this attempt. I'm pullin' for ya on this.

[charlie8575]

One minor setback.

The good news: the Testors Dark Red I sprayed on the red plastic was almost exactly the tone I wanted for the undercoat for the Garnet Red.

The bad news: The can puked all over itself and the body, resulting in, to parahrase Johnny Bench's old Krylon ad, "runs, drips, and errors." And a lot of bubbles, too!

Good news, with the paint still pretty soft, I suspect the Purple Pond will make quick work of it.

I'm probably going to get a newer (Heaven knows how old that can of paint was) can of dark red, and some Testors thinner, as this is near bare plastic, and I don't want to risk anything too hot. If this is going to be what I can expect, I'm seriously considering de-canting the Garnet Red and airbrushing it.

The chassis is painted flat black, and will be detailed after that dries. The nice thing about Testors flat black is it dries almost immediately (usually an hour or two, and with 65-ish degrees, low humidity and mild sun in the back yard, it should be pretty quick.)

Pictutres will be coming later today.

Charlie Larkin

[johnbuzzed]

Charlie, try Testors One Coat lacquers. They have "Mythical Maroon" and "Revving Red", a nice Wet Look clear to go over the colors (but you might not need it) and they dry FAST.

[charlie8575]

Charlie, try Testors One Coat lacquers. They have "Mythical Maroon" and "Revving Red", a nice Wet Look clear to go over the colors (but you might not need it) and they dry FAST.

John, have you attempted to apply those over bare plastic? I've been told they're plastic-safe, but don't want to experiment too much.

I was actually toying with using those, but where I'm on a bit of a budget right now, I'm trying to use what's on-hand.

Charlie Larkin

[johnbuzzed]

I don't blame you; I've been there all-too recently. Charlie, I used the maroon over cheap ( Wal-mart or Lowes) gray primer; I have not attempted to spray on bare plastic yet. Sorry I can't help you there.

[Foxer]

I'm rooting for ya Charlie!

I wouldn't hesitate to try the One Coat paint. Just test on a sprue from same kit .. you know. I've just been impressed how these paints go on and come out looking.

[Ramfins59]

Go Charlie, I'm hoping that you can pull this off.

[Tom Geiger]

Come on Charlie! I did the 24 hour build two years in a row! You've got 4 more days!

[horsepower]

That"ridge line" on the rear of the body isn't that bad when you remember that it's the body line for the rear door opening..

[slusher]

Charlie the one coat lacquer is safe for bare plastic. I have used it. Always test new or old paint on cardboard so you will know how it sprays...

[charlie8575]

Come on Charlie! I did the 24 hour build two years in a row! You've got 4 more days!

You've never seen what four days can look like for me, Tom, and one of them is completely shot. If worst comes to worst, I bring it Friday and finish up in the afternoon before dinner.

Charlie the one coat lacquer is safe for bare plastic. I have used it. Always test new or old paint on cardboard so you will know how it sprays...

Carl, I'll take your word for it. In that case, back to Michael's tomorrow to take advantage of the 40% coupon I couldn't because the dark red spray wasn't even stocked. They did, however, have the Revving Red lacquer on hand.

I checked the progress of the stripping. Looks like the body will be ready for Round 2 tomorrow.

Tonight, I'll be doing the chassis detail painting. The flat black sprayed right on with no trouble. I'm also quite pleased with the performance of that primer. It does seem to be a happy accident after all.

I think this'll happen. Gotta keep believing it.

Charlie Larkin

[Belugawrx]

You can do it Chuck

Duplicor sandable primer, White

dries in an hour ,....shoot the off red(duplicolor)

dries in an hour,... shoot ur clear (duplicor)

....

Work on the chassis

Leave the body alone somewhere dustfree

Keep going

Cheers

"YOU CAN DO IT" (50 first dates, Happy Gilmour, Daddy ) etc.

[blubaja]

I believe in you! LOL! And I KNOW I'll see it this weekend:)

[charlie8575]

Picture time!

I love Testors flat black. It covers well and dries nice and fast.

With Tamiya semi-gloss black to pick out details, and Testors Aluminum and Steel for engine and exhaust components, we have this.

The turn signal lenses on real PTs look almost like the orange for the turn signals are frosted under the red. The color isn't quite as intense as the camera would have you believe.

The red reflectors are painted. Once this dries, I'll apply white to the backup light portions of the light/reflector assembly.

Next will be detailing the interior as needed, mostly the interior door handles.

Charlie Larkin

[charlie8575]

More pictures.

The interior is together!

The PT Cruiser script on the dash is courtesy of a toothpick and Tamiya chrome silver. The gauges...well, not quite "stock," so we'll say it's an owner customization, which are very popular with these cars.

The kit did in fact include a gear-shift, but it's the auto selector for a clutch car. A straight pin with a white head was found on the cork-board, bent to size and position, and the cheap thin plastic worked to my advantage, as it melted the pin in place under the floor.

As you can also see, the chassis is ready.

The headlight chrome backer-plate thing has correct turn signals, thanks to Tamiya Clear Orange and a toothpick.

The body came out of Lac au Violette (it does sound a little more classy, and slightly less toxic than "Purple Pond,") and the body...well, it's stripped except for one small spot that I can work around.

What really disturbs me, though, is the condition of the plastic.

We all know Revell reads these boards- guys, PLEASE get a better grade of plastic for your snappers. The Super Clean actually leached some of the colorant out, and the soft plastic did not like the experience of having paint removed. Nothing will sour the adult hobbyists who like to use your otherwise nicely-done snap kits because of the cheesy materials. Similarly, if a kid is trying to paint and build skills, nothing will upset him more than a problem that could be easily avoided.

Tomorrow, therefore, is do or do not. The paint must be correct, or I'm in trouble. Right now, I have the body in some soapy water to clean off the residue and hopefully get it to the point where it will paint correctly.

Charlie Larkin