Love how your chassis turned out with the variation in semi gloss black. That truly looks so realistic. As for the issues of the front pipe to the exhaust manifold, then to the "can", and the rear pipe being a real bear trying to weave it up and over the rear axel, and finally getting everything aligned corrected without all those little extra twists, you did an excellent job of it. I can personally attest to just how realistic that is. I've done it (with a friend or two) on my back, and on a lift. A classic case for side pipes.

Joel

I recently tried to hand paint some exhaust with Vallejo silver and it was a disaster.

Can you provide some more detail on how you got those pipes looking so good? What paint you used etc?

I am seriously diggin' that chassis!

Looks like "Vader Black" by Empire Paints

FYI The undersides of cars are often painted body color, left in primer or a mix of the two. They only time they would black is if undercoated, usually done at the dealer and is a major ripoff. The wheel wells could be body color because they can be seen around the tire. I just went out to look at my truck and they painted the bed wheel wells the body color only where they could be seen from the side. Up higher into the well and it's primer. Fuel tanks were unpainted but sometimes were given the "undercoating" at the dealer.

Like you I painted my the undersides black.

Small update - Riddle for Joel

I have spayed the entire chassis and its sub-assemblies with Micro Gloss acrylic; no noticeable change to the general look - I just need to seal the metallic paints and to give an undercoat for the following oil wash. I have avoided to spray the engine, since that one had received already its washes.

And now the riddle:
The two of us (me and Joel) we have a particular preference for a particular black shade.
I have painted the bottom pan with "something". Let's see if he can guess the shade and the producer:


Cheers!
Gabriel

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I recently tried to hand paint some exhaust with Vallejo silver and it was a disaster.

Can you provide some more detail on how you got those pipes looking so good? What paint you used etc?

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Sure, Charlie, and glad to help!
This time was more of a trial and error and I gave some references in the blog, but I'm going to present the steps here, organized and simplified:
1. Krylon gloss black (any good enamel or lacquer will do), ;
2. Krylon silver 70% + Krylon gloss black 30%, heavily thinned (50% and above) (again, any fine enamel will do) right after the gloss black. I wasn't happy with the shine and the "aluminum feel" of the coat at this point;
3. Krylon gold 30% + Krylon silver 30% + Krylon gloss black 40%; now I was happy with the muffler cans, but not with the pipes. I masked the cans;
4. Testors silver 50% + Testors flat black 40% + Krylon gold10%

Notes
1. All proportions are approximate - the mixes were done "by the eye" but should be close enough.
2. Steps 3 and 4 were applied patchy, leaving small areas from the previous coat to shine thru, for achieving an inconsistent look to simulate very light exposure to heat.

I hope this helps!

Cheers!
Gabriel

Quoted Text

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Quoted Text

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I recently tried to hand paint some exhaust with Vallejo silver and it was a disaster.

Can you provide some more detail on how you got those pipes looking so good? What paint you used etc?

---

Sure, Charlie, and glad to help!
This time was more of a trial and error and I gave some references in the blog, but I'm going to present the steps here, organized and simplified:
1. Krylon gloss black (any good enamel or lacquer will do), ;
2. Krylon silver 70% + Krylon gloss black 30%, heavily thinned (50% and above) (again, any fine enamel will do) right after the gloss black. I wasn't happy with the shine and the "aluminum feel" of the coat at this point;
3. Krylon gold 30% + Krylon silver 30% + Krylon gloss black 40%; now I was happy with the muffler cans, but not with the pipes. I masked the cans;
4. Testors silver 50% + Testors flat black 40% + Krylon gold10%

Notes
1. All proportions are approximate - the mixes were done "by the eye" but should be close enough.
2. Steps 3 and 4 were applied patchy, leaving small areas from the previous coat to shine thru, for achieving an inconsistent look to simulate very light exposure to heat.

I hope this helps!

Cheers!
Gabriel

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Oh man Gabriel,

Sounds like I need some Krylon! They look amazing and may need to take a trip to the Wal-Mart to get a can or two!

How do these Krylons take to gloss coats? Is it best to stay in the Krylon family or can I use Dullocte and such.

Gabriel,
My go to scale black: Tamiya Nato Black XF-69. Sure wish that Mig would make that exact shade. Tamiya Dark German Gray XF-63 does come close, but not quite there as it's a shade or two too light IMHO.

Joel

Oh man Gabriel,

Sounds like I need some Krylon! They look amazing and may need to take a trip to the Wal-Mart to get a can or two!

How do these Krylons take to gloss coats? Is it best to stay in the Krylon family or can I use Dullocte and such.

Quoted Text

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Gabriel,
My go to scale black: Tamiya Nato Black XF-69. Sure wish that Mig would make that exact shade. Tamiya Dark German Gray XF-63 does come close, but not quite there as it's a shade or two too light IMHO.

Joel

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Joel, Damian's guess was closer than yours regarding the manufacturer. With the shade you were spot on. It is homemade Nato Black. "Pure black" + chrome yellow in this case. Just add drop by drop yellow to the black. First the black will lighten a bit; a couple more drops will make it steer towards green. You should stop there before your color turns to dark olive drab or Schwartzrun. Easy!

Gabriel

Wow Gabriel!

Not only are you moving fast, but this is looking great! Your tonal variation in color is really paying off! The body seems to be back too - looking good!

Very nice indeed!
Cheers
Nick

Great recovery on the body work Gabriel, and the running gear came up really well. Lots of detail and variation to look at.

Cheers, D

Gabriel,
The completed rolling chassis looks great. I certainly vote for a recessed panel line wash for those chrome hub caps. Just not so sure that gray will even show up. I can attest to the fact that Tamiya's Gray panel line wash is a complete waste of time, as once it's dry, you can't see it period.

I've gone in the complete opposite direction of you with clears these days. I had a bin filled with a good dozen of them. Today, all I use for air brushing is Mr. Hobby/Mr. Color Super Clear thinned with their #400 thinner/leveler. For hand brushing super small and tight areas like instrument gauge lenses, I use Tamiya X-22 or even Pledge if I run out of X-22. My original bottle of Pledge will out last me for sure.

As for the body shell, the color coat looks perfect. My method depends on if there is Orange Peel or just a slightly pebbly look and feel to the surface. Depending on the degree of Orange Peel it's either Tamiya Sponge 1,500/2,000/3.000 wet, and I let the sponge do the work. if it's just a sandy feel, I go only with #3,000 wet sponge. There should be no shine when your done, and the entire surface super smooth. From your pictures, as I said, it looks perfect.