So, where I left off is chassis, motor and transmission going well and now all the body pieces need equal attention. I stopped as these are always the pieces that make or break the model and lots of prep work, masking, polishing, decaling to do, so like anything you need to attack straight on!
Here is where I started with my body panels painted two tone Tamiya TS-16 and bright white, whatever Tamiya number that is. I decanted from the cans and they spray wonderfully that way.
My next dilemma is I want the upper cowl to be black inside and what to use for that, I finally decided to use trusty Krylon flat black as it covers really well, is tough (never scratches) and is pretty cheap and quick. However, I anticipated all the little holes everywhere being a nightmare for bleed though and overspray (even with tape) and I used the fun tack to plug them all before masking. Don't worry, the mounting fun tack does not harm the paint at all and sticks really well. You can re-use it even if you get paint on it, just don't re-use dirty tack putty for masking.
A close up:
I made a mistake I will go back and fix later, but the ENTIRE heat extraction duct is painted black, sides and all, not just the curved piece. You will see the sides in your reference photos being black between the aluminum blades on the grill that goes in later....
I find this plastic wrap to be very useful, as it saves on lots of tape. The only draw back is it will leave a little sticky residue that will come right up with the fun tack as an eraser and/or a little orange Goo Be Gone (don't use that Goof Off, it will ruin the paint).
All ready to paint!
Here is my paint booth set up in a spare bedroom, works pretty well. That's my Grex airbrush to the right, love that thing! I line the booth with spare cardboard or packing paper and spray with water to keep the dust down. I always wear a mask and keep plenty of air moving. The table and floor are covered too.
Here are the big body panels after interior painting with Krylon silver for the undertray and flat black for the cowl pieces. I think I could have done a better job with Alclad, but these are such big pieces and lots will be hidden. I also wanted a tough finish underneath.
Underside:
You can see in this photo the dozens of holes that would wreak havoc with black paint. Not one bled through with the fun tack masking! I will touch up the leading edges later.
On to decals after polishing everything with the Micro Mesh starting at 3600 so as not to burn through the paint on the edges.....I used photos to get an idea where to place everything before I started. I placed the big decals first at the same time to get the registrations as close to the photos as possible.
Here is everything loosely set in place all done! I used INDYCALS set for this car and I'm really happy with the artwork and how well they went down. INDYCALS decals are really delicate and can scratch easily, so I had to use some of the kit decals for spares.
The big black curve on the front cowl gave me the most trouble as you need to not only negotiate the curve, you have to align the pinstripe so the yellow shows through. Only accomplished for me by two slits across the stripe either side of the "ELF". Then, I had to go over that with a piece of kit stripe to cover the cuts. Setting solution works well.
Back view, the stripes on top were "fun" too. (not).
Right side. I'm really on the fence about clear coating all these pieces or just waxing it all. The photos don't suggest the decal work in reality had much sheen and I think this is looking alright?
Well, that's it for now. On to finishing up the side pods and ground effect fences and mounting the monocoque to the undertray so I can get this beast closer to the end. While this has been a bear, its been a fun project to come back to. Cheers!
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It will help seal the decals and the photo etch fasteners I plan to fill all the little holes with. Carry on!
