MFH Abarth 1000-SP 1/12

[paddy]

Thanks Steve, i have some baking soda so i will experiment

on a comedy note.... I found a rattle can of wrinkle finish paint, its an automotive paint that i bought about 40 years ago for the dashboard of my 1967 MGB
What could possibly got wrong ?

well after about 5 mins of shaking the rattle ball freed itself and i could feel the paint sloshing about in the can so another 10 mins of shaking i gave it a try on a test piece.
Blast the button is stuck
i gave it a knock and it went down and still nothing came out.....
Then i realised the black syrupy paint was coming out around the base of the push nozzle and the button was stuck down .... the volume increased and it was bubbling up and running down the can and i couldnt get the button back up !!!!!!! and i was in the kitchen. fearing that the button would blow i opened the window and tossed the can out where it pretty much exploded on the grass and blew the button off
I am amazed at the pressure in that can after 40 years...
I might buy a new can tomorrow as it would be an easy cure for my problem...

 

[moon puppy]

A modern can would have blown up on impact.

 

[paddy]

I think concentrating on each panel individually and finishing it is the way forward until i think of a better way.
The rear engine cover was a failure paint wise. The problem is there are Protrusions and lumps and bumps which makes polishing very awkward so you need to spray a finish, unlike flat panels that can be rubbed back.
I put the original painted panel in a the ultrasonic cleaner with some Acetone which stripped the paint and turned the resin pink

I then over time gave it 2 coats of filler primer ( tempting to build a car in this colour )

teh finish looks good but its still not as good as a conventional plastic panel from Italeri.

I then gave it a coat of Grey fine primer so the base coat is the same as the rest of the car to avoid colour shade variations as Tamiya red is quite translucent

Then 3 coats of red. I still have orange peel but i am going to try and level that with clear coats after the decals and clear is much easier to rub back. As always it looks 10x worse in a photo than in real life.

I then gave the inside a coat of Matt clear

Again its a learning process as the resin finish requires a lot more work than standard injection moulded plastic.

 

[paddy]

Before i get too upset about my paint finish, a couple of observations.

I have noticed that MFH who build these for show purposes use a satin finish or a very defused lighting to avoid direct reflections.

I think this is more a defused lighting than a satin finish

But they also link their web page to a face book page where a professional studio is building their models and look at their efforts

that roof makes me feel a whole lot better

 

[moon puppy]

Sending polishing zen

 

[Heavens Eagle]

A number of years ago I learned something from an auto painter. If you wet mist a leveling thinner over the gloss paint while it is still a bit tacky, the orange peel and other blemishes flow and level out. The P-47 looked like black glass it was so smooth and the Bugatti was the same with the exception of a couple of small turds on one wing. I touched those up and rather than polish it, I misted more Mr. Leveling Thinner over the wing and that paint was smooth like glass as well.
Might be worth a try Paddy.

 

[paddy]

The answer is to rub back the colour coat before the clear coat and of course, use a filler primer.

This is the rear with paint finished and clear coat over the decals

its not perfect under the camera but its pretty good to the naked eye under natural light.

This is the painted finish before clear coat. I spent a lot more time on prep of the base coat before this colour coat and its the way forward as any missed areas next to protrusions etc are blended in unnoticed one the clear coats apply. the clear coats from Tamiya cans have a much better leveling quality that the colour coats.

this finish is pretty good for just paint and will improve no end with the clear coat with its levelling properties..

 

[moon puppy]

Nailed it!

 

[paddy]

I am getting there slowly the front has been resprayed again.... I wanted to spray the white panel as i wasnt convinced the supplied decal would cover the Red but my first attempt failed as i didnt have my glasses on and what I thought was Pure white was actually Pearl white.......DOH back to square one. It is now sorted

in the past i haven't bothered to much about the colour coat reasoning that i can flat back the clear coat to get the finish however i am finding with this resin , the surface finish of the primer/colour and clear coats are all equally important or marks and errors just multiple with coats. With super smooth plastic you dont have this problem.

 

[moon puppy]

It already looks fast! Smooth Paddy

 

[Boogie Man]

Paddy i've been following this build for a little while now and have joined the forum so i can now post. I'm loving what you are doing, and as someone that has just started their first MFH build i'm enjoying following along. They aren't easy are they!

 

[paddy]

Bingo , i think i have cracked it. its all about the surface prep before the final top coat. This is straight out the can , no polishing and no clear coat

 

[paddy]

Hi Boogie
Its a learning curve , no doubt about that I have built a couple of their motorcycles so i sort of knew what to expect but the resin body work is a new oner on me and its really testing my patience. It will be fine when i work out how to do it for future builds.
I just wrecked the front panel above. I left it 24 hrs and masked up the front of it which is white and the Tamiya masking tape reacted with the tamiya paint and crazed it so back to square one. The good thing is being white metal you just wash the paint off with acetol and start again. You cant do that with plastic
What are you building ? its great to have another MFH builder here, we can bore these Tank people to death

 

[moon puppy]

I just wrecked the front panel above. I left it 24 hrs and masked up the front of it which is white and the Tamiya masking tape reacted with the tamiya paint and crazed it so back to square one.

May I say...

 

[Boogie Man]

Paddy it’s all a learning curve isn’t it! You’re doing a great job, I went through your bike builds and wow they were great too.
I’m building a Brabham bt52, very slowly. I’ll start a thread documenting it.

 

[paddy]

Looking forward to seeing it boogie

 

[paddy]

The front panel that reacted to the masking tape was not a disaster after all because once i got the decals on there was hardly and red paint visible anyway so that was a bonus

I have had a couple more practice builds. As i mentioned the body shell is made up of quite a few parts with overlapping decals so you need to assemble, add decals and strip again because you cant gloss coat the assembled parts, especially with opening panels.

You can see the number board covers 3 separate panels

As an aside note ......these decals are not easy. They have a very thick clear plastic cover ( where normal decals has fine tissue paper)
I have no idea how they are supposed to work but if you soak the whole lot you can get the decal off the paper but not off the plastic sheet ??
I think you may have to fit the decal then once dry, peel off the clear sheet but that doesnt work on the doors which are curved because the plastic sheet is so rigid it wont take the curve.......it will bend but springs back instantly.
Any thoughts ( they are Cartograf so you would expect them to be good )
.

 

[moon puppy]

Very colorful! No clue about the decal film. So how did the Tamyia tape react to the paint on the front and it's not doing it here on the side?

 

[paddy]

I think its just drying time Bob
The front was about 24-36 hours the sides are a week or so who knows, i seem to find problems no one else seems to find

 

[paddy]

I spoke too soon Bob
I am very aware i have might have a reputation for moaning, i moan about after market, things that dont fit, in particular, glaring mistakes in old kits like windscreens smaller than their apertures that after 50 years are re released and not corrected
And now Tamiya tape on Tamiya paint...

I can polish this out i hope but surely they could find a low tac glue that doesnt attack their own paint.