The 2015 /16 Red Hot and Rollin Automotive Group Build--Ended

I havent posted much 

Will be getting to my computer tonight to take a look at your pictures there lost and Seabe. Can't seem to see them here at work.

Doug: Dude............hang in there brutha. To me, this is the hardest part of auto modeling. Like I've mentioned earlier, I've had to toss entire bodies in the brake fluid before. Your paint looks good to me and alot of "boo boo's" can be wet sanded out and polished. Good to have you in here to see you work your magic bud. Looking forward to more.

Small progress on the Nissan, but as said previously I'm not overly motivated. Now here's me trying the google solution...

Whoo, that seems to have worked!

So here's the engin of the 312T3, as well as the bulkhead. Have mercy, it was my first effort at doing foil. Much more to come for this kit.

On leave this week - so no progress will be at the order of the day! Much needed R&R!

Hi Doug,

Sorry to hear you're not loving your build. Is it the body finish, the car generally or something else? The engine is amazing and a bit scary. If it is the finish, would you contemplate stripping and start again? I can understand 'just get through it and on to the next one', think we've all had a few of those....

Seabe,

To get google pics to work, I have to open up a photo then click on 'Copy image location', then paste that into the insert/edit image box here in FSM.

Took back the surface with 2400 and 4000 grit, then resprayed. Not raining at the time of the first coat, but we have had a bit of rain recently. New coat was much better.

Then onto decals. First the main body shell, then line up the number background circles on the lower sides.

With that done the numbers were added and a now it is all set aside to dry before clearcoating the body panels. Took many many applications of Mr Mark Softer to get the decals to conform.

Motor is coming along ok, but not as serious as yours Joe! You can see the vallejo metallics a bit here.

Thanks Lost... Yeah,I was using some odorless paint thinner and it was old, and I don't like the garbage to begin with. I clear coated the gold base coat and let it harden to the point where it could be handled. I'm posting some more pictures here in a bit, but I'm telling ya, I'm not at all happy with the way its coming out. And that has kind of taken the wind out of my sails. 

Man those tiny bubbles in the paint are the pits. Was it really humid or raining the day you painted? Humidity and rain will do some funny things to paint. But atleast your able to get them out... 

Any way, Heres a bit more from my mess...

This is the first coat of the jade green transparent top coat... The "Name" was printed on the computer, cut out with exacto knife and used like a stencil. Its still got a way to go yet...

2nd and 3rd coat of the green.

Well, thats about it for now, I'll  give this a few days to set up. Gotta tell ya, I'm going to finish it up, but I'm really not feeling it for this one any more. Its kinda been a let down, but hey... I'm trying, and getting back into cars ain't easy ... lol...

Take care all!

Doug

That engin keeps getting better, Mustang! 

LostAgain, that is a nice little kit - did it a while ago.
BTW, looks like you're using google storage - I tried that a while ago and then they changed something that made it near impossible to obtain the URL to do the linking. It seems it is usable now again - or am I just missing a trick?!

Seabe: Looking forward to your update and your picture posting. Hope you get it all sorted out. I bought into PB a few years ago when I ran out of space on one of their lower priced plans so I guess I'm ok for the time being.

Lostagain: Progress on that car body and the details are looking great!!! I can't wait to see what the body is going to look like when you've got it all cleaned up.

Everybody: Ok folks. I believe that the 396 is done enough to where I'm going to put it in the chassis and get started on the exhaust system. I temporarily installed the center section of the fan on the front of the front just for picture taking purposes and will remove it so I can use it on the backside of the other fan I have for a future build. N E ways..............here she is:

And this one I throw in for all my friends at work. They always tell me that I have a giant clothespin hanging out in my garage. 

mustang1989

 

 

lostagain

Looking very good there Joe!

I got some metallic painting on the parts today. I used the Vallejo acrylic metallics as Principal Skinner went through in a recent FSM. Went on well, better with around 20% thinner. Any poor areas were due to my poor priming or overloading.

 

 

 

 

Looking very much forward to photos of your progress lost. 

 

 

Your wish...

Have done the metallics with the vallejos, and green, red and yellow for various bits. The Vallejo went on well with a touch of thinner. Looks good, it is not super strong, but better than the Gunze or MM buffable metal lines which show fingerprints years later. All the chrome bits (top left) were stripped then repainted.

The main body green is a Gunze acrylic diluted with Gunze levelling lacquer thinner,  a mix I use for gloss finishes. The result was close, but no cigar. As you can see, it is smooth but there are loads of tiny tiny bubbles in the surface. So out with the fine emery sheets (2400 and 4000) to get rid of the surface and a few odd bits of rubbish in the finish. Have redone it with a better result today, photos will follow.

the motor is coming together as you can see in this picture. I really need to pick up my photography skills, promise I will do better next time.

Seabe, PB are really trying to burn all their bridges aren't they? Surely they realise there are loads of other suppliers, are they just counting on people to say it is too hard to change over?

Doug, hope that paint has set by now. For me I always find the gloss whites take forever to stop being soft.

Mustang, that engine of yours is looking awesome! Great work mate!

Rigidrider, how's the paint story coming along? Wost I once had was the same story with - of all things! - Tamiya spray can. It was not too tacky after a while and went the route you talked about - "hardenening" it with a layer of clear. In my case it worked well.

Now for something completely different... I just got an email from photobucket, stating that they're going to disable some usage of their site unless I upgrade. This, of course, is specifically linking to other sites sites such as here. Will continue using it until they shut the gate, but where else do you guys have accounts that enables this? Still can't believe that we can't just directly upload an image (even a small one) onto this site...

Progress is quite slow, may post a small update tonight.

lostagain

Looking very good there Joe!

I got some metallic painting on the parts today. I used the Vallejo acrylic metallics as Principal Skinner went through in a recent FSM. Went on well, better with around 20% thinner. Any poor areas were due to my poor priming or overloading.

 

To me this is the toughest part of auto modeling.............................paint. This is where everything can fall together perfectly or seem to fall completely apart. The trick is patience and knowing that whatever happens, good or bad, to have the perserverence to see it all through. I had to completely strip and repaint bodies up to four freekin' times. The Camaro that I'm on now is a two timer. It's all about getting what you want out of the paint work and especially the body work and it's truly a process over time. The only paint job that turned out perfect for me on the first time was my Challenger build and I thought to myself that Hell must have really froze when I couldn't find a blemish in it.

Hang in there Doug. I know you'll see this thing through win, lose or draw. 

Well... D%&#! The flipping paint is still not dry... I'm going to put a top coat of clear on it and use a hot lacquer thinner to set it so I can atleast handle it to continue on... Let ya know how it comes out in a day or so.

Doug

Thanks Joe.... Yeah, the Gold is the base coat for the transparent green I'm going to use as a top coat. Blinking stuff still not dry yet, still tacky to the touch. I've left outside in the sun to dry, tried lamps, and about everything else I can think of. I think the paint thinner was old. That odorless crap doesn't age well. And I rarely use it so it pretty old. Oh well...

Man that engine looke GREAT! Almost like a crate engine!  Thanks again guys!

Take care

Doug

Looking very good there Joe!

I got some metallic painting on the parts today. I used the Vallejo acrylic metallics as Principal Skinner went through in a recent FSM. Went on well, better with around 20% thinner. Any poor areas were due to my poor priming or overloading.

Doug: Man that gold is gonna look awful purdy when you gitr all glossed up. Interior progress looks pretty freekin' swell too. I do like your idea for the flooring.

Eric: Very nice job on the Alclad and the guage work. Looking forward to more.

lostagain: Woo Hoo!!! Progress under way here!!!

Everybody: I've managed to get the carburetor on with the fuel lines and fuel filter as well as the ignition system all taken care of. Looking back I wish I would've included the barrel nut for the fuel line to fuel pump connection but it's installed now so there's no going back now. I'll be coming up with a throttle return spring and bracket soon.

Eric,

nice dash detail there. Superb finish on the Super Bee!

Seabe the T3 engine is a great motor in itself.

Rigidrider, that motor is an absolute monster!

All I have achieved is dunking the chrome bits in bleach to strip, then tried to strip back the clear lacquer too, but that was a patchy result at best.

Then all the bits were cut out, cleaned and skewered ready for painting. Now all I have to do is finish the paving outside before I can start painting.

OK,

Now we're right hehehehe. Also forgot I had a better tach/clock image the has the redline so loaded it instead. If you look look at the temp gauge I make it almost transparent to help lining it up and sizing it to fit. The white ring is an artifact from the light, the gauges actually go all the way to where the black begins.

Eric.

Well,

With everything going on this weekend I didn't really get a chance to do much and now we got rain coming through so I started laying out the gauges. Here's the speedo and tach/clock gauges sized and in place. Once I get them all in I'll line them up with a straight line through the centers and print hehehehhe.

Thanks.

Eric

Ewheeler, Thanks!, I like te way your build is going... takes me back a few years! I was a junior/senior in High school when these were new! Great time for cars!...

Doug

Seabe,

Kudos on the engine!

Doug,

That paint looks smooth.

I fixed the scratches on the Road Runner and got the base color resprayed. I also finished rechroming the bumbers, grille and center steering wheel. I plan on spraying the Ivy this weekend and if time permits put the vinyl roof on. Also working on the gauges for the dash. 

Thanks.

Eric

Seabe... Amazing detail on the engine! Outstanding!

Lost again... No, there is enough lip left and the kick shield is still intact so its pretty ridgid. Besides, it will be firmly fastened to the frame when finished, so it shouldnt flex. 

OK... Some more WIP...

I'm going to get the paint going since it takes a bit to dry throughly, and me being impatient and all  So here is the begining...

This is the base coat of HOK gold. Its an enamel, and I'm a bit concerned at the way it went on. Might be a tad old and it reduced, but didn't quite spray right. We'll see.

Well, time to set aside for a few days, and do some other stuff.

Doing a bit more interior work. And thats about it for now.

Take care all!

Doug

Schuuuuuweeeet work on that engine. Detail is perfecto!!! 

That is looking awesome Rigidrider! 

Some mild progress on my side.

The T3's engine is slowly progressing. First set of pipes added. Yes, the white is the correct colour! I will add some character to it once the second set has also joined the fray. Next up is more progress on the rear suspension. 

Now this... was a real PITA. And that's being generous. But the cages are done. And painted. And started redoing some of the previously painted section which was drowned it white again.
I know I've mentioned this earlier, but this is seriously the worst attempt at instructions I've ever seen. As example: looking at the wheel build-up, they show that the brakes themselves... must be added OUTSIDE the wheel "spokes". Seriously?!
I am really in the "doing this one just to get it done" phase. While I'm thinking about some awesome Tameo or TWU kits waiting to be built!  

Nice work Doug, a lot happening here.

Do you have to reinforce the sill under the door after you remove it to stabilise the body? Thought it may get a bit weak through there otherwise.

LOL... Right you are sir! lol...

Doug

Welcome to the customizing aspect of auto modeling Doug where one mod affects 50000 other things. lol 

You're doing a fantastic job with this ride buddy!!!

Afternoon all!...Little more from me... 

Since I set the engine back a half inch in the frame, I will have to cut the exterior vent area out to fit. Also the fire wall bulkhead had to be moved.

Thread cut the door out so as to be able to have it opened on compleation.

Working on the interior sheet metal...

And thats about it for now... After cleaning up, I might be able to start paint! Take care all!

Doug

Engine looking good Joe... Yeah, if you should run across a good supplier of scale hood scoops, That would be great!. Man, I LOVE my old Badger 350. First AB I ever bought , in 1978, and I still have it and on occasion use it. Still... Can't beat the new gravity fed guns.Instead of mixing a bottle of paint, you can just use drops. Yeah, You did it to me again... Hooked on cars again! LOLOL... Got another one I'm thinking about when this ones done! lol...Take care Bro...

Doug

That'll work for sure!

After a botched attempt at the first coat of paint and having to restrip and reprime it I've got COLOR!!! I ended up applying another coat of primer and smoothed all the imperfections out (a couple of freekin' dog hairs and some dust particles) and dispensed the paint into a paint jar and shot it through my airbrush. I had ALOT better results this time around fellas, however this paint does not play well with the air brush. Even after thinning the crap out of it I had difficulty in getting a uniform spray pattern to come out. I can't complaint too much as I'll be able to make this work out good in the end. These pics were taken after the results from my Badger 200. After these I decided to break out the much simpler Badger 350 and had a lot better luck with the pattern and a more consistent coat. I'm really going to be very happy with this color on this car is all I've gotta say:

Engine is still coming along. Resin Holley test fitted onto the motor complete with throttle shaft and throttle lever.