My first model for commision!

[Guest]

My dad works for a printing and graphics company, and around 15-20 years ago the company, Everett Studios, designed the paint scheme for the Bahari Pontiac, Mike Waltrip's kool-aid car. The old Monogram kit has been sitting on the shelf for years (in a quite dark room, thank god!), and I spoke to his boss to day, and I will build the kit and a small base for the cost of paint, and $5 an hour! But there are things you guys can help me with, for one thing, the rear window is scratched, how can I fix this, and two, I do mostly armor, so any tips for gloss paint, and which brand would most likely have colors that would match the decals the best?

Here is a photo of the box that I found on-line.

I will update with progress.

[Guest]

Paints a preference thing, lacquers give good gloss finishes but can be tricky to use, Enamels good and hardwearing, Acrylics more user friendly but less hardwearing etc.

Re the window.

You can dip it in Klear (Future), this oftens hides small scratches and will give a nicer and glossier finish to the glass anyway or you could polish it steadily with a tiny bit of rag which has been soaked in Brasso metal polish and left to dry, (Brassos a very fine abrasive, like cutting compound but finer and apparently good for window scratches.

[Guest]

If it is a deep(ish) scratch you may have to resort to sanding. This sounds scary but after doing a canopy for a Eurofghter that had a moulding ridge right down the middle, I can certainly say that with care, good quality sanding sticks of medium to fine grade and a polishing stick (as sold in the shop) a really good finish can be restored.

Have t say it takes a bit of nerve to do it but it can be done.

[stona]

There is a company that matches model paints to auto manufacturers colours specifically for the sort of thing you are doing. I think they may be Japanese but I've seen them on line. If we can get them in the U.K. I'd assume you can get them where you are, I guess the U.S. by subject (and spelling lol). I'll try to find them unless someone more familiar with this kind of thing jumps in.

For the scratched clear part I'd second the above. If it's superficial a dip in Future floor polish will sort it out,otherwise it's sanding/polishing.

By the way that's a really cool car with a great story attached.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Zero paints do factory matched paints available from Hiroboy.com Don't know if they do this one but worth a look.

[Guest]

I have another question, I mostly do armour, and am not used to large windows, so what is a good glue for mounting clear plastic without fogging it?

[Guest]

Gator glue, just cannot beat it and it is available in the Scale Model shop here Dries hard and clear and will not fog. Wipe off any excess with wet cloth or cotton bud before it dries. You will always find uses for it so it is worth having on the bench.

[Gern]

Just a quick question about canopy glues.

I've got a selection of 'planes that I'd like to show with the canopy open. I'm thinking the absolute best masking for the cockpit would be the canopy - suitably covered with masking tape of course - sealed all round. I'm not keen on filling the cockpit with tissue etc in case I get it wrong. By the time I'm ready to spray the 'plane the cockpit's fixed and fuse halves joined. Of course that makes it impossible to repair any overspray. Is there such a thing as a temporary glue I could use to hold the canopy while painting?

Gern

[Guest]

I use tiny, and I mean tiny blobs of Gator glue , literally the finest tip of a cocktail stick,in about four or five places and then stick down the canopy. I also put a strip of masking tape as a skirt around the bottom of the canopy, inside, so this hangs down into the cockpit to act as a mask. Before spraying I then spray Klear around the edges of the canopy to act as a seal. Any overspray that does go through, and it has not happened to me yet, can be more easily removed from the Klear. I then spray the canopy with the interior colour so that seen from inside it will be the right colour and the the final colour.

Once this and everything else is done, I use a thin blade to prise of the canopy which usually comes off fairly easily. You may then have to touch up a very slight area of cockpit wall top edge where the tiny, tiny drops of gator glue were. Then I unmask the canopy and glue it where it needs to be with a bit more Gator glue.

[Gern]

Thanks Graham. That sounds a winner to me - especially the idea of the masking 'skirt'.

Gern

[Guest]

Don't forget when you have actually finished the model you want to seal those decals over, if you don't and over the years could lift on the edges. Using Future is a great sealer and makes a brilliant shine to the model. You can even use ''Future'' as a glue to stick clear parts in place.

As for hiding the scratch ! Have you tried Plexus ?

This product was first made for real aircraft windshields, but you can use it on any plastic. You can buy it on-line at many places like Amazon, ebay and many automotive sites. Here's the Plexus website....

Plexus

[Guest]

I have already fixed the windshield, I use some plastic polish that they had in there finishing area.