G'day Iain. You're well on your way and it's looking good mate!

As promised, I blew the cobwebs out of the airbrush gear today and found out whether I remembered how to do this!

First up the El Camino. Not much to show here as a lot of the engine components are plated, and the exhaust is moulded to the floor pan. This will be masked and sprayed along with the fuel tank.


Then the Convertible. Much nicer moulds and detail than the AMT kit, and separate exhaust systems will look much better. Once again the fuel tank will be masked and sprayed.


The black is Tamiya acrylic XF-1 Flat Black, the Orange is Tamiya acrylic Orange X-6 with a couple of drops of Red X-7 to tone it down. Both thinned about 50:50 with MLT. The NMF is Alclad Airframe Aluminium directly onto the kit plastic which was a glossy metallic black. Turned out pretty good to my eye.

I use an old Sparmax direct drive compressor (no tank) and have just started using my first double-action airbrush, a Hseng HS-80. I spray at 12-15PSI. In the past I have used a Paasche-H single action which I still have and will keep using for broad area work.

Hopefully a couple more hours tomorrow will see some engine assembly on both kits.

Cheers, D

Looking good, D.! Yes, you're not the only one to hate all molded together in a massive chunk of plastic. The details are inherently soft and hard to pick. I prefer better ICM approach similar to 1/35 scale models where you build the car pretty much as the real one, starting with the frame...

It sounds like you have a decent setup there. Well, any 2 action can be used as an adjustable single action, especially if it has a throttle stop. 15 psi indicates you prefer rather thin paints which is my choice too: much better atomization and wider spray fan.

Awaiting the detailed engine blocks!

Cheers!
Gabriel

My build may be dead in the water already. Thought I had everything but can't find the decals which are rather important for a rally car.

Iain, I feel your pain mate. It's one of my worst habits, having too many builds on the go and putting parts and decals back in the wrong box and back in the stash. It can take me hours to find the bit that I need to be able to move forward sometimes

I hope you find them soon, otherwise hunt down something after market perhaps???

Cheers, D

I'll probably have to go aftermarket, otherwise I have a part finished motorbike that might work.

Of course you know that the minute you receive the aftermarket decals sheet, you will find the originals

Either way is good, a motorbike would be a neat addition to the Group Build for variety.

Cheers, D

Another productive day for me today.

Task #1 - cut and file down some sprue to give a neat finish to the gap between the rear cabin wall and the rear window frame.


Task #2 - clean up and remove chrome from diff, rear axle and rear leaf springs. After all, this is a work ute!


Task #3 - stop dithering about and make a decision on the interior colours.
Task #4 - engine assembly.


So, mission for today completed. The seat is not glued in place yet, just dry-fit to check the overall look. I think the two-tone grey interior is good for a work truck, and a wash of thinned Tamiya Black enamel will make the details pop. I still have some hand painting touch-ups to do and will follow with some earthy oil paint weathering once I'm happy with the look.

Cheers, D

Assuming the lancer is stuck in limbo, I've got this fellow


Protar 1/9 MV Agusta 750 Serie Oro

Hi, Iain! Sorry for your decals! You can source other ones online or you can do it without it, like for street racing (illegal, of course!) with minor modifications.

On the other hand, that Protar kit looks awesome and Augusta it's a very rare sight which I will gladly enjoy!

Gabriel

May I suggest a dark gray wash instead of a black one? I think black will look too dark against the "white". Just a thought.

Gabriel

I was thinking the same, but my pin wash is so thin that it is more of a filter, plus I don't have any grey enamel!

On with the El Camino chaos, interior 99% done and assembled. The only thing I want to add is some earthy washes in some places for contrast in the filth.




I spent a while pondering how to mask the underside to paint the exhaust and tank, then went the opposite way. I detail sprayed the exhaust and tank then masked them and touched up the underside flat black. Still a couple of spots to touch up, but the underside will get a mud/dirt/earth/grime wash so I'm not too worried.




While all that is settling down, it's on the the part that scares me the most, the bodywork. Lots of smooth shiny paint

First I washed the body down with a Q-tip soaked in Tamiya X-20A. Primer is on! Mr Surfacer 1200 Grey thinned 50:50 with MLT, sprayed at about 15psi. A neat trick I picked up (from one of the 4000 forums I live in) is to give the body a light spray of straight MLT straight after the final primer coat. This moistens the top coat and gives it more time to level out and cure smoother. I'm pretty happy with how this looks, but my next visit to the LHS I will pick up some Mr Surfacer 1500 and give that a try.


I'm still undecided on the body finish. I like the idea of a flat black evil work truck with a weathered dusty finish, and I'm leaning that way, but I also like the shiny black and bling chrome combination.

All comments, critiques, thoughts, opinions most welcome and gratefully accepted.

Cheers, D

The interior looks awesome, D.! The black wash worked after all.
The only complaint I would have is the thick-as-a-brick steering wheel ring (its depth). I know is the manufacturer shortcoming, not yours and whatever solution I try to figure - I cannot. The reason why I'm opening my mouth it is that maybe I stir someone to come with a neat solution for that problem. Other than that, brilliant interior!

The masking of the underside detail worked great. Again, impeccable job!

I use the same combo primer / thinner and it works great! I use 1500, but it is not such a big difference. The trick with the last coat of thinner I knew it as the final application over the clear coat. I've tried it and I failed miserably I have applied too much and my polyurethane run away

On the color: what I would like to see it would be a sun faded (to brown) devil work truck, yup-yup!

Good overall work! Keep it up!
Gabriel

Thanks for the kind words mate, much appreciated. In my story, the steering wheel was salvaged from a Kenworth

Cheers, D

I meant the inner ring - the klaxon ring. Yes, a Kenworth steering wheel will do!

Gabriel

Love the look, of that interior Damian. Excellent choice of color.

As for body color, I would go for a mean flat black.

Stage 1 of body paint is on, still needs a good fine wet sand and polish. Tamiya X-1 Black thinned 50:50 with MLT with a mist coat then several coats wet on wet. It's glossy now so that I can mask and paint the chrome work, but it will get a good dose of Dullcote then some weathering. I like Gabriels idea of faded black to red-brown, just not sure if my weathering skillset is up to that just yet. I will do some testing on scrap and see how I go.


Cheers, D

Well they say when you're on a roll, just keep rolling!

I wet sanded out some marks and flaws, gave it a fine wet sand and then a final top coat of black. Hopefully I can mask and spray the chrome side strips tonight.





The next issue will be the difference between the painted side strips and the kit supplied chrome parts. There might be some small parts stripping and repainting in my near future

Cheers, D

Looking neat, D.! You almost have achieved the perfect base for a gloss black finish !



Perhaps you should watch some of the armor guys on YT doing color modulation. I would mix red to black until the base start to shift and I would apply on the horizontal surfaces of the truck, especially on top of the cab, and bonnet, in heavily thinned multiple coats, narrowing the pattern towards the corners / edges while progressively adding red. Eventual mistakes are easy to cover with "solid" black. I have used successfully the method with OD and German gray, but never to this scale nor with this color scale. But perhaps is best not to take any risk because your build is galloping forward and I bet you need no inopportune interruption.

Cheers!
Gabriel

Sometimes you feel like you're participating in a remake of The Mummy


But when those masks come off and everything stays right where you put it





A few minor touch-ups to sort out, then mask the chrome and Dullcote away!

Cheers, D

Edit - I really gotta get me some wider tape !!

Did some spraying on mine today but there's not a lot to show. On the bike I simply resprayed the gold parts to fix up some poor coverage, handling damage, and to darken the colour slightly. Still got the typical oversize flake look that most acrylic metallic paints seem to suffer from but looks better.

The lancer got an attempt at gloss white, which turned out a bit garbage. It was hard enough spraying a white topcoat over a white primed white plastic, but I have had zero luck getting any gloss finish when spraying acrylics lately. Will have to buff it back and try an enamel paint to see if I have better luck like I did with my Subaru.

Hi Iain.

I was trolling through one of the local Facebook Buy/Swap/Sell forums yesterday and saw some Lancer Evo decals for sale. They were to suit a Hasegawa kit, not sure if they are of interest to you? Let me know and I will try to find them again.

Looking forward to some photos of your progress mate.

Cheers, D

Appreciate the offer, but fun tickets are a bit light on the ground at the moment so it's going to be a while before I get around to deciding on the decals.

I'm still half hoping the original decals will turn up.

Masking, painting, unmasking, touch-up, masking, painting, unmasking. Strange how something so frustrating can also be relaxing and soothing

Dullcote is on, I'm really liking the look of this finish now. A couple of hours to cure and I will unmask the chrome and see how it all looks.


Cheers, D

Unmasked once again!




Very happy with where this is headed and how it is coming together. Some obvious little touch-ups to do where the chrome has crept under the masking, but nothing major.


The next step will be to have a look at the kit chrome against the painted chrome and decide whether to strip the kit chrome parts and repaint to match.

Cheers, D

Opinion time everybody -

My opinion, there is quite a noticeable difference in the tone and gloss, but given that everything will be toned down with some weathering I'm not inclined to strip off the kit chrome and repaint.

I would really like to hear your views before I start the next stage.

Cheers, and thanks, D