Dave Ward's 1/35 ICM Ford V3000

[Dave Ward]

I was up early, and primed the load bed OK. I then basecoated - about 3 hours later, but the temperature had gone up enough to cause severe problems with the airbrush. Took me about 1/2 hour to complete, normally a 5 minute job! Then another deep clean of the a/b.
[ATTACH]309492[/ATTACH][ATTACH]309493[/ATTACH]
Not sure if it's the Lifecolor paint, but it seems particularly prone to this tip drying
Dave

[Guest]

Looks ok to me Dave, you should try brush painting a whole tank in this weather it's great fun "NOT".
Pete.

[Dave Ward]

Just a short time at the bench today - the front bodywork, and bonnet assembled.[ATTACH]309630[/ATTACH]
Just TET run into the joints - everything fitting nicely
Dave

[Mini Me]

Dave,
I love these old Fords, in many ways they were the backbone of the Wehrmacht in supply and troop transport. Here are a few of mine. 1/87 scale mind you. Older and Bolder. Cheers Rick H.[ATTACH]309657[/ATTACH]

[Dave Ward]

Always a slight moment of tension - the wheels - do they all touch the ground?[ATTACH]309688[/ATTACH]
The answer is yes - the care taken to ensure the chassis is square paid off.
Dave

[Dave Ward]

At the stage of dryfitting the bodywork to see if there are any problems..................[ATTACH]309761[/ATTACH][ATTACH]309762[/ATTACH]
Don't think there are any major issue - so I can move onto the cab interior.
Temperature here has hit 30C, thunderstorms forecast. Bench time inversely proportional to temperature!
Dave

[Mini Me]

Looking Good Dave,
Rick H.

[Dave Ward]

Had a bad day, yesterday, 10C cooler than Friday - decided to basecoat the bodywork.
I've come to the conclusion that Lifecolor paint doesn't like me, or perhaps my airbrush ( Iwata Neo CN ). No sooner than I started spraying, the tip choked, and again, and again. I deep cleaned the a/b and tried again - same result! I had to go and sit down to get my blood pressure back to normal.
I decanted the Lifecolor paint into a new bottle, leaving any solids in the bottom of the old bottle. Added a few drops of water, then got out my old cheap Chinese back up a/b ( <£12 from Amazon ). No problem..................[ATTACH]309893[/ATTACH]
It could be that the paint is rather old, but I mixed it thoroughly, and diluted it to the normal consistency. That I was able to eventually spray it, albeit with a cheap airbrush leaves me a bit puzzled. Anyway, I've cleaned the Iwata, and it sprays OK now - with different paint!
Dave

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Dave
This might be a particle size issue? What sized nozzles do these brushes have? Could be the cheapo has a 0.4 mm nozzle and the Iwatta has a 0.2 mm nozzle?
Cheers
Tim

[Dave Ward]

Tim,
it's the opposite, the Iwata is 0.35mm, and el cheapo is 0.3mm! The more I think about it, decanting from the old bottle to a new, seemed to be the cure. Old paint 'clumping'?, can't say I've had this problem with makes of paints - Lifecolor was never one of my favourites, anyway
Dave

[Mini Me]

Dave,
Sounds like you have it sorted out. The canvas tilt looks great...nice contrast to the rest of the vehicle. Looking forward to the next phase.
Rick H.

[Tim Marlow]

Bit weird, never used much life colour, but then, I’ve never had much success spraying acrylics anyway. Glad you’ve sorted it out :thumb2:

[Jim R]

Hi Dave
All looking good. Glad you got the paint to spray OK. Strange things airbrushes but it was probably decanting the paint that did the trick of removing 'larger' particles.
Jim

[Dave Ward]

I've washed the load bed, and the tilt, then matt varnished them.....................[ATTACH]310000[/ATTACH]

The chassis has had the front body added - I'm struggling to get the driver to fit, he's a bit too big! - managed to break off the gearstick already!
[ATTACH]310001[/ATTACH]
Probably going to have a driverless truck...........................
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Getting close to a result. Despite major plastic surgery on my driver, I couldn't save him, so the V3000 is driverless. Doors just blu tacked on for washing & weathering
[ATTACH]310256[/ATTACH][ATTACH]310257[/ATTACH]
Rather than adding the windows, and having to mask them when weathering, I'm going to leave the glazing to the last.
I think the next pictures will appear in the 'completed' section
Dave