Cars: Muscle Cars
60's & 70's Classics
Tri-Five Project Part 1 - 55 Series
AussieReg
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Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2019 - 02:28 AM UTC
Progress report, part way through the sanding/polishing process on the hood of the 55 Convertible to see how this paint reacts. So far it has been wet sanded with 8000 grit and I intend to go to 12000 to get as nice a finish as I can. The part that concerns me is the rough area either side of the centre ridgeline. If I sand that close I take the paint off the ridge, and when I touch it up I end up with rough paint again. Round and round in circles.
Opinion and feedback time again - will this roughness be visible under a couple of good gloss coats? This is my first serious attempt at a high gloss finish so I'm reaching out a bit.



I'm loving the colour though, happy with my choice there.

Cheers, D
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Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2019 - 06:02 AM UTC
Mask the center ridgeline with tape getting the tape edge as close to the hood as possible, this will stop you from sanding thru the paint on the ridge. Work one side of the hood at a time. Go to a beauty supply store and look for nail sanding blocks they come in varying softness, grit and sizes and are great at working curved and contoured areas. Knock down your orange peel and if you sand thru it's ok don't stop get the hood as smooth as you can then put down a couple thin coats of color to control orange peel. Let it dry completely and carefully sand again but it shouldn't need much heavy sanding and It should be ready for wet sanding then polishing. A bit of that and it's ready for clear coating.
Szmann
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Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2019 - 11:53 PM UTC
Hi, D.!
The color is nice indeed! Good sanding work on the flat surfaces. the corners exhibit a little orange peel as well but they are easy to clean out.
On the rib issue: I would use a folded Tamiya sponge to clean the area along the ridge. The rounded fold will match pretty much the profile of the piece. (I'm gonna have the same issue on my Chrysler). If you touch the rib too heavily and expose the primer, you can easily patch it with couple of heavily thinned paint. To avoid grit build-up again, you should start airbrushing from the rib and along it toward exterior, chasing the overspray to the edge, where is much easier to deal with.
There is a chance that the clear coat will naturally pool up along the ridge, diminishing the roughness, but unless you use a 2K or a polyurethane, you probably will need up to five coats.

I hope this helps.

Cheers!
Gabriel
AussieReg
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Posted: Friday, January 18, 2019 - 02:49 AM UTC
Patrick, Gabriel, many thanks for the replies and advice. I have masked the ridge line and dropped down to 4000 grit today and wet sanded half of the hood, then 8000 and 12000 grit. It came up much better, hopefully I will get the second half done soon and get some better pictures.

Cheers, D
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Posted: Friday, January 18, 2019 - 03:11 AM UTC
D,
Each of us seem to have a different procedure for rubbing out Orange Peel. I start with a used piece of 3,000 Tamiya sponge wet, and work it ever so softly. From there I will step up to 6,000 if needed.

If I have an ridge of any kind, I'll tape it with Tamiya tape, and go even slower.

The key to a super gloss finish is your clearcoat. I personally use Mr. Color #46 Super Clear which is a lacquer base, cut with Mr. Color Leveler Thinner 400. last coat if needed is really thinned out. Then comes the 3 part Gravity polishing system followed by their Carnauba wax.

then you usually need a new pair of polarized sunglasses when viewing your finish.

Joel
Scarred
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Posted: Friday, January 18, 2019 - 05:21 AM UTC
I used to go nuts trying to get those glass smooth finishes on cars and big rigs and airliners. So glad I now build military hardware.
Joel_W
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Posted: Friday, January 18, 2019 - 11:07 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I used to go nuts trying to get those glass smooth finishes on cars and big rigs and airliners. So glad I now build military hardware.



Patrick,

Auto gloss finishes aren't hard, it's just that the painting procedures, and how you use an air brush are completely different then how you air brush a military paint scheme.

When I was building aircraft, I used as little paint as possible working small areas one at a time. The slight variation in tone due to the small amount of paint just gave it a slightly faded/weather look.



With auto finishes I use one of my air brushes with a .5mm needle assembly, not a .3mm needle assembly, and flow the paint on with smooth passes.



Actually, a soft military camo scheme is harder to do correctly, then a auto single color gloss paint scheme.

Joel



Szmann
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Posted: Friday, January 18, 2019 - 11:31 AM UTC

Quoted Text


When I was building aircraft, I used as little paint as possible working small areas one at a time. The slight variation in tone due to the small amount of paint just gave it a slightly faded/weather look.



I remember you teaching me the technique. I'm a lousy student: I still didn't get a good grasp on it. I have some results, but they don't match yours!

Gabriel
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Posted: Friday, January 18, 2019 - 11:37 AM UTC
Oh, it's not that, it's a minor mistake can be called battle damage or wear and tear and you should have seen some of the wear and tear on my rigs. Krylon covered a lot of sins. Since military vehicles carry a lot of gear you can strategically place something to cover a bit of bad stuff. A glossy smooth perfect blemish free car finish can make a perfectionist pull his hair out by the roots. And when I did vacuum formed airliners, the size of a glass smooth, blemish free highly polished paint job could be nightmares.
Joel_W
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Posted: Friday, January 18, 2019 - 12:42 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text


When I was building aircraft, I used as little paint as possible working small areas one at a time. The slight variation in tone due to the small amount of paint just gave it a slightly faded/weather look.



I remember you teaching me the technique. I'm a lousy student: I still didn't get a good grasp on it. I have some results, but they don't match yours!

Gabriel



Gabriel,
I wouldn't call you a lousy student by any means. Your painting skills are the equal of mine.
Joel
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Posted: Friday, January 18, 2019 - 12:49 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Oh, it's not that, it's a minor mistake can be called battle damage or wear and tear and you should have seen some of the wear and tear on my rigs. Krylon covered a lot of sins. Since military vehicles carry a lot of gear you can strategically place something to cover a bit of bad stuff. A glossy smooth perfect blemish free car finish can make a perfectionist pull his hair out by the roots. And when I did vacuum formed airliners, the size of a glass smooth, blemish free highly polished paint job could be nightmares.



Patrick,
for many years my entire aircraft modeling goal was club contests, & IPMS contests. I've seen 100s and 100s of armor builds, and what one thinks that a paint mistake can be passed off as battle damage, the judges almost always pick it up instantly.

Yes, you can glue equipment to most places to cover paint issues, but more often then not, you've got more issues then you can cover realistically.

Model painting is a applied technique. almost everyone can learn any number of different types of air brushing required for different types of models. The goal isn't to cover up issues and errors, but to learn from your mistakes, and or redo those areas which is much easier with military paints and procedures, then with auto gloss paint jobs.

I can attest to the fact that the Hurricane Mk1 took a lot longer to do, and was technically much harder then the Ferrari single gloss Red paint scheme. True, there are more steps to a gloss paint job, then a military one, but none of the steps are hard. It just takes dedication and focus.

Joel
AussieReg
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Posted: Friday, January 18, 2019 - 03:56 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I used to go nuts trying to get those glass smooth finishes on cars and big rigs and airliners. So glad I now build military hardware.



You might be the sensible one here Patrick I have in the past mainly built WWII aircraft and have recently become more interested in 50's and 60's muscle cars. Going from dull weathered to bright and shiny is not easy.


I'm glad I have stirred up some discussion here, great to see.

On to the 55 Convertible, I laid down some Tamiya XF-56 Metallic Grey trying to get a textured flecked carpet look, but it's just a dull silver


I mixed in a generous dose of XF-1 Flat Black and laid this over the top.


The difference is more stark to the naked eye than it appears here, but still not exactly what I'm after. I am planning to flat coat this once it cures, so I might tint the flat clear with some dark grey or rubber black and see how that looks.

Cheers, D
AussieReg
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Posted: Friday, January 18, 2019 - 10:02 PM UTC
I did some more work on the engine for the 55 Convertible today, assembly completed and pin washed. The wash went on a bit heavy in some spots so I will go back over it and tidy up some. The hand painted cap on the oil filter is very grainy in the images, so I will see what I can do to clean that up a bit. The shiny gold carburettor vanishes completely once the air cleaner goes on





Cheers, D
RussellE
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Posted: Friday, January 18, 2019 - 11:31 PM UTC
missed a lot here too, D!

Great progress!
AussieReg
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Posted: Saturday, January 19, 2019 - 12:11 AM UTC
G'day Russ, great to see you here. Many thanks for the feedback as well, glad you're following and enjoying the adventure!

I did some oil paint weathering in the tub of the El Camino today, still some washes and grunge to add but I just couldn't help doing a sneaky little test fit of the tub to the body to see how the overall picture is looking.



Cheers, D
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Posted: Saturday, January 19, 2019 - 12:47 AM UTC
Looking good, D..
The pin wash seems to stark because the edges are too sharp - easy fix with a q-tip and some solvent.
The body taking shape looks very convincing.

Cheers!
Gabriel
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Posted: Saturday, January 19, 2019 - 03:16 AM UTC
D,
The block is nicely done especially how you treated the orange paint where it flaked from wear. Just a quick wipe with a damp Q-tip will remove any excess wash. less is always better to start with.

I really do like the weathering effect that you achieved on the bed floor. Nicely done.

Joel
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Posted: Saturday, January 19, 2019 - 09:53 AM UTC
Hi Damian,

Your custom body work looks really nice - very clean solution on the cab!

Cheers
Nick
AussieReg
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Posted: Sunday, January 20, 2019 - 02:52 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Looking good, D..
The pin wash seems to stark because the edges are too sharp - easy fix with a q-tip and some solvent.
The body taking shape looks very convincing.



Thanks Gabriel. I am planning a couple more pin washes with darker tones so once they are applied I will blend and soften the edges.


Quoted Text

The block is nicely done especially how you treated the orange paint where it flaked from wear. Just a quick wipe with a damp Q-tip will remove any excess wash. less is always better to start with. I really do like the weathering effect that you achieved on the bed floor. Nicely done.



Thanks Joel. I still want to do more with the bed, some different brown tones and more washes. If I did this again I think I would try wood graining the whole bed then hairspray chipping.


Quoted Text

Your custom body work looks really nice - very clean solution on the cab!



Thanks Nick, glad you like it. Coming from the Supertruck Custom King that is high praise indeed! I have been following your builds, and your scratchbuilding skills just blow me away.

Cheers, D
AussieReg
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Posted: Sunday, January 20, 2019 - 11:02 AM UTC
A couple of little steps forward. Engines and drive shafts mounted on both the Convertible and El Camino.


Testors Dullcote tinted with a couple of drops of Tamiya X-1 Enamel on the floor pan of the Convertible to darken it down more. Getting close to what I want now. First image below if straight XF-56 Metallic Grey Acrylic, second image is XF-56 with XF-1 tint, third image is Dullcote/X-1 mix.




Cheers, D
Szmann
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Posted: Sunday, January 20, 2019 - 12:25 PM UTC
Hi, Damian!

I am pleasantly surprised by the way you manage two parallel builds!
I prefer the darkest (third) version of the floors much better over the other two.

Cheers!
Gabriel
RussellE
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Posted: Sunday, January 20, 2019 - 10:46 PM UTC
Always a pleasure to watch your builds Damian,

The El Camino is looking good and now you've gone and added another build into the mix! As Gabriel said, I'd struggle with that-always found it akin to trying to drive 2 cars across a desert at the same time

BTW, saw a pristine El Camino in Merimbula! Albeit a later model! Very nice!
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Posted: Monday, January 21, 2019 - 04:13 AM UTC
D,
I'm voting for the 3rd version as well. The darker the shade, the better the scale effect in this case.

Joel
AussieReg
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Posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 - 02:59 AM UTC
Interior procedure on the 55 Convertible:

Mask. Paint. Unmask. Mask. Paint. Unmask. Mask. Paint. Unmask. Touch up. Detail paint. Touch up. Et VOILA!



Before and after black enamel panel line wash:



Feels like it's coming together now, I'm happy with the colour choices so far.

Cheers, D
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Posted: Thursday, January 24, 2019 - 03:59 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Mask. Paint. Unmask. Mask. Paint. Unmask. Mask. Paint. Unmask. Touch up. Detail paint. Touch up. Et VOILA!



So it's all airbrushed?!?!? You da man! Looks great. I may steal some of this for my '57.