Tamiya Lunch Box Update 9 - Decals & Chrome

Finally paint is done!!  I was at last able to get a coat of clear gloss enamel on in a layer I was happy with. Not too glossy, but enough to sparkle:

So I was able to start my favorite part, decals. This is the time in the build where I think the model really starts to come alive, and get its personality. 

I had to figure how to poke a hole in the lightning bolt for the rear body mounts and not destroy the decal. Slicing a small cross on the sticker was easy, but it wasn't until I looked at my paintbrush...it has a perfectly tapered handle to slide it in and ease the decal into the cut hole. 

Which gave me a nice, clean mounting hole:

Then I added all the chrome bits:

I have to say that taking the extra time to 'silver' the license plate holder was worth it. I think it adds a touch of class:

Same with the little divider in the front windows:

The only thing that really surprised me is how heavy this body is. I've read a lot of comments about it on several forums, but I wasn't prepared for the sheer mass if this beast. I may pick up the Parma Lexan body for running, and use this one as Lunch Money's display top. 

All in all, I am very happy with how it came out.

Now I can't wait for the milled aluminum body mounts.  I also need to figure out how to protect the body from the clips, as I noted during a test fit they had the potential to gouge the paint. We'll see. 

Lunch Box Build update 8

Finally....detail paint is done. It's not perfect, but Lunch Money will not be entered in any concours shows, so I can live with the small foibles around the windshield gasket. 

I am pretty happy with how the door handles and marker lights came out. Also, I decided to add a touch to the rear by trimming out the license plate mount in silver. 

Door handle and lock:

And turn signals in the grill:

I'm excited to seal it all in tomorrow with a coat of enamel...maybe I'll get to start decals tomorrow night!

Lunch Box Build Update 7 -- oops!

I spent this past weekend working on the detail paint on Lunch Money, which included door handles, locks, license plate light housing, and those trim pieces on the front windows of vans in between the window proper and those funky little triangles that you could wedge open; these were all painted silver. The side marker lights were painted orange, and the rubber window & windshield gaskets are black...of course. 

All was going well, as seen below: 

That is, until I decided to use Green Frog *house painters* masking tape to mask off the windshield gasket:

I figured since I was hand-painting these detail parts, the masking tape would work ok...wrong!!!  After peeling the mask off I was left with this:

A pretty nasty hack job, if you ask me. I think my 2-year old can apply makeup better.... 

So I picked up some 'real' model masking tape (Pactra) on Monday and decided to mask the inverse of the mistake and try to cover up the bleed-under with spray paint:

After one coat, the mistake was less visible, but still there:

So, lesson learned: use the right materials, no matter how inconvenient it may be! I applied another yellow spray coat tonight, so hopefully one more coat will hide that glaring nastiness. Then I plan on sealing the paint with a coat of clear gloss enamel before getting to my favorite part: decals!!  

Stay tuned!

Lunch Box Build Update 6

Not too much of an update, but I wanted to post about my paint job. I am now on color coat #5. Only one spot became problematic, right below the driver's door on the left front side. I was a tad over zealous there and got a little drip. So, I sanded it out with 800 grit and put another color coat over it tonight. Tomorrow I plan on doing the detail work of the door handles, key locks, side marker lights and the windshield gasket. Then I will spray on an initial clear enamel coat to seal in the color before applying the decals. Prior to finishing the body assembly with all the chrome bits and windows, another 2-3 coats of glossy clear enamel to seal everything in and hopefully give a little protection from scratching. 

So far this has been a wonderful learning experience, especially from the body-finishing perspective. Hopefully you like the way it turns out!

Lunch Box Build Update 5 - paint!!

I finally eked out enough time to prep, prime, and lay down the first coat of color on Lunch Money's gorgeous 70's Dodge  can body. I followed Justin Noble's great article "How to paint R/C cars" on RCknowhow.co.uk. 

First I filed off any burrs, high spots & flashing left over from the molding process. Then I sanded the body with 1200 grit Tamiya sandpaper. 

I used Tamiya White Primer and laid down a couple coats, letting each iteration dry for at least 2 hours. The shell then looked like this:

What is really hard to see here is the rough texture left by the primer. After the last primer coat cured for 24 hours, I used some 1200 grit again to smooth out the really rough patches. 

Finally, I got to use the color!!  The manual calls for Tamiya spray paint color TS-16 for the main body color. Apologies for the harsh fluorescent lighting, but I can only paint in my garage...it's too hot anywhere else outside. So the first coat looks like this:

So far, so good, though the cans of paint are so small that I think I need to drop by the LHS tomorrow to pick up at least one more. I'm shooting for 5 coats as more color coats only improve depth and lustre. I plan on wet sanding between coats 1, 2 & 3, and then lacquering everything after final detail paint and decals. 

Stay tuned for the next installment!