The 2014 Automotive Group Build

Here are the photo's . The finish it Tamiya TS-42 Light Gun metal, over a  semi gloss black primer. I'll have to get a natural light photo to show it's true colour, it's too light in this one. Two containers of bits, on the left is finished bits ready to add to the model, and on the right, unfinished bits still being worked on.

Now for the decals, I've got a Studio 27 sheet to replace the kit decals.

Cheers

Tony

Misty - those second series of pictures you took sure show off the car.

Brian - Nice job on the Viper! Those strips sure look good. You better be careful, Less then a year ago I decided to do an auto for a change of pace. I've got 4 complete since then, and am working on the 5th.

Eric - The chrome is looking good as usual. and the body is also looking good!

Tony - The body is looking nice.I could not help seeing the tires in one of the containers. Are the letters decals or are they painted? Because they sure look good!

I've gotten some work done on the Vette. Here are a couple pictures of the motor

I also have the body primered and the color coats sprayed.

Yes I know I need to dust my printer!

I also have a most the other parts painted, but I did not get any pictures of those as they are drying right now.

Thanks everyone.

Tony,

I picked up a Monogram 70 Buick GSX today and would like it added to my list. I think it's next after the 440 and the Gremlin hehehe.

Looks like your off to a good start on that one. I will eventually attempt one lol.

Dale, I like the Orange on your Vette. Engine is looking sharps also.

Misty,

I use Alclad II for the chrome. It has a small learning curve to it but once you get it down it's quick and easy to do. Here's my process if you want to use it.

I strip the chrome using Clorox Bleach. It can take a few minutes or a few days. Depends on the kit.

I then use non-acetone nail polish remover to remove the clear gunk under the chrome. Leave the parts on the tree while they are soaking because the plastic will soften a little and will stick together if they touch. Only soak them about 20-30 minutes then rinse them with water and let them set. They will harden back up in a couple of hours but I let them set overnight. Once they a hardened you can remove the rest of the stuff that didn't come off with a brush. You will be surprised how much detail is under that stuff that is lost using kit chrome.

I next remove all the mold lines and smooth out the spots where they were cut from the sprues.

Next I spray the parts with a black gloss enamel. I tried using acrylic but the results were not that great. I use Model Master Gloss Black, mixed 1 part paint to 2 parts thinner and sprayed about 20 psi. The smoother the gloss black the better the chrome looks.

After the black is dry I mist on the Alclad at about 8 psi. This stuff is thinner than water. I spray at about a 45 degree angle to the part as it seems to lay better. With this stuff less is better. Mist it on until you see the black start to disappear. As the stuff settles you can actually see the chrome coming through. If it still looks a little black after about a minutes mist a little more on just to cover the black. Too much and it will start turning a flat gray color because it needs the gloss shine from the black.  Once you get the hang of it and you see where you need to stop, it's easy and fast to do. To me this chrome looks more to scale as it is not so white as the kit chrome.

Hope this helps.

L8TR,

Eric

Nice pick up Eric, I've added it to your list. I'll vouch for your Alclad II Chrome routien, works like a dream.

The Tyrrell has some large white decals, and they have to be thick to be opaque, which means that they don't conform to curves too well. I thought I'd play with using the heat from a hair dryer to help them conform. Works really well, they conform beautifully, like magic. Then they get too hot and melt ! Luckily, the couple of noticeable patches ended up being under the number and one of the sponsor decals, so I'll get away with it. But I will continue to refine my hair dryer technique, it really did work well to a point.

Forgot to take a photo of the damage, I was so keen to fix it.

I'll take one of the finished area and show that later.

Cheers

Tony

maybe worth using the decals to make masks and spray the decal area white? then scan and print new decals?

did you try micro sol or mr softer on them?

ive never tried a hairdrier, buy i do wet a cotton bud, heat it over a flame and roll the decals from the centre out (never rub).

Hey all,

Just did some of the cleanup stuff today. Sanded the clearcoat on the 440. I did burn through the paint on a couple of sharp edges so had to touch those up. If I get time tomorrow I want to add the Superbee Stripe on the back, get the front grille and rear panel details done . Also got the 70 Buick washed up so I can start piddling with it tomorrow also hehehe.  

L8TR,

Eric

Tony, that's hard luck! My build was quite a while ago, but from memory, it all went on fine using hot water and microsol... and I think some prayer was included because of the size! Looking at tit critically, mine was tooo opaque, but it did the job well enough. My masking would have ended up a worse result - and that's what counts!

ewheeler454:  Thanks!  Looks like we did post at the same time.  Great minds..... The 440 is looking sharp!  I've heard of using bleach for stripping chrome before and heard it took awhile.  I used Great Value (Walmart brand), no fume oven cleaner.  Placed the parts tree in a ziplock bag, sprayed some cleaner on them, sealed it, and waited five minutes or so.  Worked quickly, really well, and was cheap.

Misty:  Thanks!  I used the model master Ultra Gloss Clearcoat from a rattlecan on this one.  I was pleasantly surprised how well it coated and leveled out after applying.  It's not the glass-like finish you have on your fantastic machine, but it'll do for a first round try.  I didn't polish it.  Probably should have, and will next time around.

taxtp:  Thanks!  I was in a hobby shop recently and found myself actually looking at autos.  I need to thin the stash a little before adding anything, unless I see an auto I really need. . . .

65ss:  Thanks!  Digging the color on the corvette!  May have to see what I can find for one of those as well.  I've always loved the lines on the older ones.  

I've finished decaling the Tyrrell. It's the most complex decal job I've done for some time. I'm actually really pleased with the result, and I've managed to get away with the problem I had with melting a couple of spots on the white background.

Misty - there are a couple of reasons why I didn't spray the white background. Technically it would be difficult as there is a thin red outline around it, and I didn't think slicing that off the decal and making it look good would be any easier than making the decal fit.

Being a lover of racing cars, I can foresee plenty more difficult jobs, and I wanted to master a better technique than I already have for making decals conform. Having said that, I used the hairdryer extensively through the remainder of the job, and found it easy, and quite safe, it's just for the first one I didn't understand the limits. There was actually plenty of margin for error between applying enough heat to do the job, and applying too much heat that damages them. In future, I'll be careful of that and probably test for each set of decals before I do it on the most obvious decal on the car :)

I use a product called Mr Mark Softer, and also have Mr Mark Setter but I think are made by a Japanese company. Last time I need a new supply of decal setting agents, I could get Microsol or Microset at the LHS, but these seem to be pretty good products anyway.

I took some photos, but didn't have time to load them up before work, so I'll do it tonight.

Cheers

Tony

Brian,

I stripped the chrome on the 70 Buick in about 10 minutes. Some take longer. REVELL/Monogram seem to strip pretty fast and AMT sometimes takes days. Ah but good things come to those that wait hehehehe.

About all I got done today was installing the distributer and painting the grille and rear panel. I love these M.A.D. distributers. No more sticking drill bits in my fingers hehehehe.

Sorry about the second photo. Looked OK on the tiny camera screen LOL.

L8TR,

Eric

Riiight, I have just received my replacement decals for the Jordan. Haven't tried it yet, but it'll be hard to be worse than what I had. Will try some on the rear wing during the day.

Some minor progress with the BT50. Cell pic of the initial stages of the engine will follow. On other fronts started some prepping of white sections - but some planning still to be done there. Amongst other completely ignored the instructions calling for doing decal work on the rear wing before assembling. I want to get the thing white and then apply decals. I just KNOW I'm going to screw up full wing wide decals when I glue that to the endplates! 

Here's the engine's start (and current state) - yes apparently I do not dry-brush all that often! *blush*

those are a couple of neat looking engines, my last one didnt have one at all and now im wanting to do another motor of some sort, but i just decided to do an eduard flanker about an hour ago!! decicions decisions. 

Those engines are looking good! I like those M.A.D. distributers also!

That distributor does look like a better way to go.  I think the BMW engine looks great Seabe, what's the issue with the dry brushing ?

Here are some progress photos through the decal job on the Tyrrell 020.

Cheers

Tony

You can see the red lines that I was discussing earlier on this one.

...and  I started on my Ferrari F93A conversion, as  I wait for things to dry. I'll post some photos tomorrow.

Cheers

Tony

yeah, i see what you mean about those red lines. would have bee nigh on impossible to mask and paint them! looks like you have the decals well sorted now though.

Tony the decals look good. Looks like a couple of those could have been pretty difficult to get positioned.

Nothing wrong with decals, Tony! You nailed it...

My dry brushing... well, just not quite happy with how it came out. Bit too much chrome went down on the lower-lying areas. Might give it a little black was to try and tone that down, will see.

CF decals on the rear wing of the Jordan is coming along painfully. With the pre-assembling of the wing I really did myself very little favours there. Even painting beforehand was a pain. The pattern is very realistic, I think. Very dark grey set off against the black - and hardly there. One decal folded partially against my finger... it was a case of looking and relooking (numerous times!) to make sure which is the weaved side and which is plain black. I have to confess, I painted one area SGB - I know my and my patience's limitations and there's no ways I am going to get that decal in there, shifted arounds 3 elements and perfectly places - and flat. So out came the SGB. I had to make a small mess on the one endplate, but that'll be easy to clean.

regarding cf decals. have you considered spraying the cf pattern on? its not quite the same as good cf decals but i have seen cf decals that look awful! its easy do do, works  ok for big or small bits, although it can be a pain to keep the mask where you want it sometimes.

this was done using some curtain material as a mask, held in place with very lo-tak spray (spray the material not the model obviously.)

just base coat with SGB, mask, and lightly dust with an appropriate silvery (or kevlar-y) colour.

then claercoat or spray with smoke if the contrast is too high.

i agree that if it was done with cf decals it would be neater especially on the large areas, but i thought id have a go anyway, and can be a good alternative where the cf decals will not go.

I agree with you, Misty! And I have actually used the technique through some materials. I have used old stockings as well, but found the grid netting pattern supplied with some Tamiya kits to be great. That works in 20th and 24th, even 12th.... but the Jordan is 43rd! ;)

Oh, something else: I have also in past mixed some other transparent colours with the smoke to create different effects. And like you said, vary the silvery colours a bit...

lol i had forgotten just how titchy the car is!!

Nice tip Misty, and nice Ferrari too. I'd like to see it in action, and see what patterns of mas you have available. I dislike CF decals, so might be a good alternative for me.

I've just got one more bit to mask and spray on the back of the fuel tank, and I can start final assembly of my Tyrrell. I've also started my Ferrari F92A to F93A conversion, it's bigger than I thought !!!!

Cheers

Tony

HI all,

Misty,

That's a good tip. I wonder what a full hood done that way on a tuner would look like? Yeah yeah I know tuners are not muscle cars, but I did do a doodle bug last year so I can be flexible hehehehehe.

Tony , I hate doing easy decals so I definitely don't envy you with those lol.

Also, Can you add a MPC Monkeemobile to my list? HB had'em on clearance so I couldn't resist. It is a GTO after all hehehehe.

The engine on the 440 is done. I'm going to start on the foil around the windows tonight so this one may be done this week. I did make a slight booboo. When I touched up the edges where I burned through, I only let it dry overnight before I re-sprayed the clear. Enamel paint it seems doesn't like that to much. I smoothed it back out as much as possible but since I aleady had the Superbee decal in place I'll just have to live with it hehehehe. Note to self, even touch-ups need to dry for a few days hehehehe.

L8TR,

Eric

Nice engine Eric. I think I've been bitten by that touch up bug in the past too. By then, I just want to get it done, but you really have to apply your same standards  to it.

Reminds me, on these F1 cars, I usually do extensive masking to cover the outside whilst I spray the inside , or vice versa. Takes ages and is a bummer. This time I finished the outside, decals, clear and all using Tamiya rattle cans, then airbrushed the interior with acrylic, trying not to let the over spray get away onto the outside by aiming the airbrush carefully at low pressure. Where I did get a little over spray, it easily polished off with a cotton bud (OK OK Q-Tip) and some polishing compound.

Another process improvement on this model, that's two big ones:)

I'll go and update the front page Eric.

Cheers

Tony

Ready for final assembly now. Let's hope I don't bust anything, and it sits on all four.

Have a good one guys...

Cheers

Tony

That looking kick-azz Tony! Good luck with the final assembly! (PS... can I borrow some of your elves?! You are flying through this one.)

Man you guys have been busy.

I like the engine Eric.

Can't wait to see that F1 completed Tony.

This GB doesn't subside to the 2nd page too often, thought I'd better rescue it with a completed build :)

Here it is, Tamiya 1/20 Tyrrell 020, as driven by Stefano Modena during the 1991 Wordld Championship.

Cheers

Tony

Well finished off, Tony! Definitely will look good on the shelve. What's next?!

Thanks guys.

Next up I'm trying to do a kerbside (curbside) conversion of the Modellers/Fujimi Ferrari F92A into an F93A. I can't believe I'm going back to that kit again already !

Cheers

Tony