I decided to mask from the sides this time, using the pre-cut edges of the tape. I also spent a few moments and plucked with a fine pair of tweezers the "paper hairs" where the cut was more rough.

Gabriel, that looks absolutely amazing! Super high shine and beautifully neat work my friend.

This is my method every time. I don't trust my hand or a new blade as much as a fresh tape edge wherever possible.

I'm so glad that your client approves, positive obscenities reinforcing the success!

Hi Gabriel - “wow” is simply too much of an understatement - the body looks beautiful! Very sexy in the limited light pic! Lol. As much of a headache as it was to strip and redo, the end result seems worth the effort.

Cheers
Nick

Gabriel,
Wow!! a perfect paint and then a perfect gloss finish . My only question concerning it is which of the 3 color body pictures is the correct color in room light? I've become so accustom to the 1st one, but from your description, #3 is what one would see up close and personal.

As for your assessment of the Tamiya tapes: 10mm, 18mm, 40mm, you've made some very interesting observations. Personally I only use Tamiya 10mm & 18mm tape, plus a generic 3mm tape, and Tamiya's Vinyl curvable tape. Like you, I did feel when I tried the Tamiya 40mm tape, that it contained more adhesive, and pulled up acrylic paint (especially water based paints like Mig), but not lacquer on a lacquer base as a general rule. Taking no chances, I used up the roll for taping glued up sections of aircraft fuselages and wings till the roll was finally gone.

the 10mm & 18mm have always preformed flawlessly, and very consistently. But I've always been super careful in body prep before priming or painting no matter the general rule that lacquer will eat through oils and various contaminants.

I follow a lot of Paul Budzik's procedures, and creating a clean edge on tape is one of them. Mostly It's done before being applied to the body. The key for me was not to cut the tape on a cutting mat, but rather using a piece of safety glass or acrylic with a steel edge. And I always use a new #11 blade for that as well as cutting decals. Hence, I do go through a lot of #11 blades until Paul showed how he dresses them up for added life. Honestly, I've been just to lazy to buy a new stone for that purpose.

This time you produced an absolutely perfect color coat, followed by another perfect 2k clear Urethane coat.

Going back to the start of your massive paint session, the gas tank whether or not is the correct color, really looks quite good, and adds more contrast and interest to the underside.

My only observation, and question is that when you have the bottom of the chassis facing up, the rear left corner has what looks like raised lettering, which I'm thinkinh is AMT's copyright and date. Will that show on the finished model?

I'm happy to see you've recovered the paint job. Looks awesome, what a shine. Will definitely try 2K gloss coat, in the near future.

The chassis looks awesome as well. Painting the fuel tank was a good call, adding tonal variation and I do believe it was this way from the factory.

I agree, wuth Joel, the hob caps need a wash and I doubt a grey wash will do the trick. I have seen some pretty amazing result with Tamiy smoke on chrome. Haven't tried it my self though.

Gabriel,

Interesting point about the Salt air and what effect it has on CS #11 vs the usual SS ones. I've never heard of using a hard nail file, which is interesting, and certainly a lot cheaper then buying another Japanese dressing stone which are very expensive, and then the mess with light machine oil, all for just a simple and inexpensive #11 blade. But the hard nail file or files seem like a better and cheaper way to go. Just have to find them. What grade or grades do you use?

Joel

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I'm happy to see you've recovered the paint job. Looks awesome, what a shine. Will definitely try 2K gloss coat, in the near future.

The chassis looks awesome as well. Painting the fuel tank was a good call, adding tonal variation and I do believe it was this way from the factory.

I agree, wuth Joel, the hob caps need a wash and I doubt a grey wash will do the trick. I have seen some pretty amazing result with Tamiy smoke on chrome. Haven't tried it my self though.

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Jasper,
I've got a few bottles of smoke that I rarely to never use: Tamiya's (like most of us), and Ammo by Mig's. I'm going to try the Mig's as it's Acrylic based and see what the effect is like. The Tamiya panel line washes are really just for that purpose. While others have had excellent results using it for overall filters, I've found the results to be mixed with the occasional damage to the clear sealer coat. That alone is strange as their enamel based.

As for a true 2K finish, the Urethane kits are very expensive from Gravity & Zero. Forget dealing with the sole USA supplier as he's always out of stock on most Zero products, and other Online dealers from other countries won't ship to the USA as per contract. But Gravity of Spain; not Matt from Florida/USA (many issues and threads of such) is fantastic. 3 day shipping to the USA for $7, 24/7 customer service that actually picks up the phone or returns emails promptly, and their products are the best of the best, and not one out of stock after 6 orders in the last year.

I'd watch a few vids from some of the car guys to get a feel for the product as it's not like anything else you've used before. Gabriel is a master at it, while I'm still more then leery about making the move.

Joel

Gabriel,
I keep on thinking that Jasper is from the USA, so he has several options for either Zero or Gravity paints, and 2K systems.

As you already know. My greatest fear is that the 2K hardens in one of my ABs. What do you use as a cleaning agent, and how much working time to you actually have?

Will Patterson did a whole 2k video, and one of his options is going with a commercial real world system. That seems to be a really mandatory option over the long run. Right now Gravity and Zero charge $22-25 for enough to do 3 shells or so. That's pretty expensive both in the short and long runs.

fantastic result on the body Gabriel! Nicely done!

Gabriel,
Nice start to the interior.

I wouldn't put to much into the darker tone of the middle section of the steering column. Good chance that the part was painted with a different batch of paint at some point and just warehoused until the line needed those parts. Back then paint was mixed by written formulas, so no two patches were ever the same.

Very nice job on the dash, as the color really looks like the right shade of black, not to stark, but not to light.

Joel

Did a little research regarding the power windows. Found images of interiors with and without power windows, so I'm guessing it was an option.

Gabriel,
That's a lot of work for just two hours.

I sense that you're not entirely satisfied with the Red circles in the wheels. If you can remove the paint, 1st run a piece of masking tape on the side from where you want to paint to end to the top of the wheel. You can easily air brush the Red, or hand paint as the paint will try to run down hill, not up and under the tape.

Nice job on the headlight inserts. It makes a huge difference.

Joel

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Gabriel,
That's a lot of work for just two hours.

I sense that you're not entirely satisfied with the Red circles in the wheels. If you can remove the paint, 1st run a piece of masking tape on the side from where you want to paint to end to the top of the wheel. You can easily air brush the Red, or hand paint as the paint will try to run down hill, not up and under the tape.

Nice job on the headlight inserts. It makes a huge difference.

Joel

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Thanks for advice, Joel. Yes, is a god idea, definitely better that trying to free hand them by brush, as I did. After a night's sleep I decided to strip and repaint the hubs (perhaps I need to do that with the white inserts too as they are glued together now) and to print my own decal inserts. I don't have a circular cutter and I have no idea how my plotter cuts thru decal paper, but it has came the time to find out. If doesn't work out, I'll definitely try your suggested method.

Gabriel