'41 Plymouth Coupe - Horrors of Halloween, PT 2

 Though the body sat painted and the parts were primed for about a week, this feels like a rush job. After clear coating and using some scratch remover and polish, the sides weren't as shiny as the hood and top. You can still see the mess ups with this first time use of candy paint.

I already knew I wasn't using the Coke decals, and didn't want to use any at all. However, with the issues with the paint and what not, I took a set from the '65 Bonneville. It's not the best, but it works.

I'm still looking for the touch points between the body and frame so I can glue them together on the front. So far, not noticing any yet. Still have some minor details to finish up, but the majority of the work is done.

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Nova Curbside Update

 The Nova wagon is complete. I feel there should be a Michael Myers figure behind the wheel for some reason.

The Opaque Black from Createx is very thin. It scratched relatively easy. it might be because i didn't prime the kit first. I used the black as the primer and color as I wanted to see how it looked. 

Ended up putting 5 coats of the Createx 4050 clear on it. The 5th coat was a 50/50 mixture of the 4050 and the High Gloss Coat, thinned to a 1-1 ratio. Overall, I am happy how this turned out. I will have to pick up another since I have a few spare motors. 

Only thing that I didn't like was the fact the Nova decals were a dark gray. When laid over the black paint, they all but disappeared. In the end, I ended up hand painting all of the badging. You can see the mess ups with the green, and I fixed it best I could without stripping the entire kit.

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'63 Nova, Curbside

 Wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with this one. I picked it up at Ollies and figured what's the worse that can happen. Every October, I have a nephew over on weekends and we watch horror movies. So I decided to let him paint it with his never touching an airbrush before.

I also wanted to test out this opaque jet black I picked up from Createx, that I want to use on a van build. So when we got back to my house, we still had a few hours before it got dark. Had him wash the kit with dawn and mix the paint.

The paint was a bit thicker than the others, but we started out on a few spoons. Showed him how to hold the gun, how to spray it, etc.. The spoons turned out well, so we mixed up a bigger batch and let the fun begin.

I started the kit by doing the hard to get area, mainly the door jams and the forgotten sections around the front and rear panels. Handed him the gun and let him go.

The paint is a little forgiving. He had an issue with starting the spray on the model and finishing on the model instead of before and after. No big deal. With it finished, we let it set for a few hours while we ate dinner. At this point, we needed to do a little wet sanding. There were some spots he went a little too hard, but we could fix it.

Took it back to the booth and sprayed the inside cab and put another coat on the outside. The it's a deep black, it almost has a flatness to it. But a clear coat over the spoons showed how deep the paint really is.  We finished off the chassis and motor plate then went and watched movies. 

This morning while he slept, I masked it off and sprayed the Lime Green Pearl for the two tone. Will let it dry and do some minor touch ups. SInce he has to be home early today, I'll finish it up and see what can become of this.

I really enjoy the feel of this kit. With it being a curbside kit, the plastic is thicker, has a hefty weight to it. We'll have to see how it turns out.

I may buy him the Christine car, since that's the movie he picked out for last night. 

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'41 Plymouth Coupe - Horrors of Halloween, PT 1

 In time for Halloween, comes an experiment like no other. I stopped by Ollies to see what they had. I had a 15% off order coupon and their kits run twelve bucks each. So I thought, why not, I can grab a few to practice my airbrushing skills and I won't be out a lot of money. Besides, the Bonneville I picked up there turned out amazingly well. I ended up picking up a '63 Nova wagon Curbside kit and this 1941 Plymouth Coupe.

The entire kit was molded in red. Really hate when they do that. And i'm really no keen on all of the Coke A Cola decals. But they will have a purpose later on. So this is the 2nd Coke car I purchased here, with the other being the 40's Ford Coupe that was a shit show of a nightmare, (though it did seem to turn out in the end).

Stopped by HL to see what they had for Createx paints. Though I already had an idea, I still wanted to see what I could work with. So I ended up grabbing a few things, a bottle of Pearl Wicked Red and a bottle of Opaque Jet Black (this is for another upcoming build). I really liked how the Pearl Lime Green came out on the bonneville, oh how mistaken was I about to be.

Keep in mind, I am still learning the tricks of the airbrushing craft. I'll watch some videos here and there, but I believe most of them are videos to inflate the creators ego. I did come across some real nice videos from the Createx channel, so I subscribed. 

The idea was a pearlized deep red color for halloween. And this is where I felt the wrath of Myers, Voorhees and Kruger all in one. I started with the trusty Testors flat black primer. Since everything was molded in red, everything got primed along with some test spoons. After letting it sit for about 8 hours, i mixed up a batch of this new red paint. Oh was I excited. Someone told me in a Facebook group to write down my mixtures, so I did. Looked up the mixture of the Lime Green and did the same for the red. And thus began my trip of fear.

I slowly started with light coats of the paint trying to build up to a nice pearlized, rich color. But it wasn't happening. The test on the spoons was horrendous. The paint seem to be reflecting off the spoons like bullets off superman's chest. Oddly, the paint looked like droplets of blood from some unexpecting teenager who just met their worse enemy.

I had mixed the paint 2-1 like I did with the green, but was it too thin? The red seemed to have the same viscosity as the green. But it didn't seem to have the same sparkle. But then, when does blood sparkle?

I emptied the gun and bottles and mixed up a new batch, this time 1-1. Primered new spoons and repeated the same steps. This time I had it. A nice deep rich, pearlized red. After it dried it looked like it was clear coated, but it wasn't. This is how I wanted the car to look.

I got the body and hood into the boot and began to paint. After the first few light coats, something was off. There was no deep red. There was no sparkles. I figured I'd let it dry and add a few more coats. 

Somewhere, along the lines of testing on the spoons to laying the paint on the body, I took a wrong turn and headed into Camp Crystal Lake. The paint was a muted, bright red.

Letting it dry overnight, I decided to stop by HL after work again to see what they had in a deeper red.I picked up a bottle of Createx Transparent Deep Red, Createx UVL 4050 and a bottle of Createx Candy Blood Red. Some way, I was going to get that deep red I wanted. Got home and started to think how to accomplish this.

After watching a few of the videos on the Createx YouTube channel, I mixed up some of the Candy Blood Red with the 4050 Clear. The video had their PSI at 40, so I turned mine up. It was mixed at a 2-1 ratio, 2 parts 4050 and 1 part Candy.

Slowly, I started building the colors. It was actually looking decent. With about 30 minutes between coats to dry up, I started the last coat. That's when I realized the horror legends were mocking me. On the last few passes of the brush, a ton of water came flowing out and covered the tops and one side of the body. I wasn't watching the moisture trap!

I let out a gurgling scream, like the unexpecting fool who thinks they can wake up from a nightmare unscathed by a psycho wearing knives on their hand. Needless to say, I was tired and going to bed. 

Staring at this thing, I wished a raven would have started rapping at my door. I thought, one more shot before I blast it with solid black and make it a soulless creature. I mixed two parts 4050, 1 part Pearl Red and 1 part Candy Blood Red. The color in the bottle looked great. A deep sparkly blood color. Guess at this point, I was sucked into the realm of Twilight's sparkly vampires instead of the blood curdling realm of whatever.

I turned the PSI down to 18, opened the brush wide and started to paint. First coat down. After letting it dry a bit, I started on the second coat. It was getting even deeper and had some sparkle to it. Third coat and fourth coat done. A deeper blood red with some sparkles. It's done. I don't care.  Will get it cleared and polished. Then move on to actually building the kit. Just hope it's not as bad as the 40's Ford.

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Cheap Photo Option

During a recent visit to Michaels, I found myself on the hunt for some paint and the latest kits they had on their shelves. I stumbled upon these little diorama sets that immediately sparked my creativity. It occurred to me that these sets would serve as an excellent foundation for capturing outdoor scenes in my photography, providing a realistic backdrop for my model subjects. At just ten dollars each, it was an easy decision to grab two of them to experiment with.

The possibilities with these diorama kits are quite exciting. The faux grass and the picket fence included in the sets add an element of authenticity to the scenes I can create. Whether it's showcasing a vintage car, recreating a countryside landscape, or even crafting a miniature garden, these diorama kits offer endless potential for creativity.

In fact, I'm already contemplating picking up two more sets to expand the canvas for my outdoor photography setups. A larger base would allow me to craft more elaborate scenes and provide even greater depth to my compositions with the addition of some trees and/or some rock formations.

The thickness and quality of the wood panels are just right for a side project I've been pondering. I've been wanting to create some custom shelves for my house, and these panels seem to be the perfect material for the job. It's always satisfying when a single purchase can serve multiple purposes, both for my creative hobbies and practical home improvement projects.

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'37 Ford Revisited

The completion of the wife's build marks another successful project in my workshop. To give it that extra touch, I decided to order some fantastic decals from STS Decals. While this journey was largely smooth, it did have its quirks, much like any model build. But I am progressing with each build. One particular hiccup occurred with the front suspension, a familiar challenge I encountered in a previous build. 

But what sets this one apart is the choice of materials and paints. This time around, I opted for Tamiya XF acrylic paints and the X gloss, and I must say, the results were quite pleasing. The finish turned out to be exceptionally well done.

In keeping with the theme, this build was approached from the perspective of creating a stock truck, just like the one you'd find on the road. It is also modeled after the father in laws truck he had when he had his business in the 50's. 

One lingering issue that I haven't quite resolved is the placement of the grill. During the testing phase, it seemed to fit perfectly, but once the paint was applied, it shifted slightly out of place. Now, I'm pondering whether to glue it closed to rectify the situation or leave it as is, allowing it to showcase what seems to be the  imperfect charm this truck has.

I also took the liberty to go a bit beyond the stock configuration by adding plug wires, a detail that I'd incorporated in a previous build as well. While the previous build had the convenience of a pre-built distributor, this time, I decided to fashion my own using wire salvaged from an old USB cable. Admittedly, the plug boots turned out slightly larger than they should have been, but this minor imperfection is a small price to pay for the satisfaction of crafting a custom piece. What's more, the beauty of this endeavor is that for just $3, I acquired a substantial roll of hollow cord, giving me an abundant supply of tubing for future projects, particularly for crafting radiator hoses.

New custom decals added.

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