Continuing work on the Model T Van. From now on, I will be a purist and buy spray paints made for car models if I want a showroom new vehicle. I do love the “craft” spray paints I’ve used in the past on other materials, but for plastic models it has to be the real deal. The reason I ended up with two kits is because the craft spray paint didn’t work on the body panels and there was no way to salvage and end up with a newish looking vehicle. Having two kits was a lifesaver anyway because this kit has quite a few unforgiving pieces, and I’ve delved into both kits to get this one model built.
Initially, I primed the body panels with Krylon grey, then Krylon flat white, then Krylon gloss Dover White. This was a new can and while I ended up with better results than I did with the old can on the first model, it wasn’t as pristine as I wanted. I sanded back down to an even finish as I had for the chassis/fenders. I primed with Krylon flat white because Krylon flat paints are very good for even, fine coverage.
After doing the previous assembly work, I was able to better understand how the body panels fit into the process. Instead of leaving them on the sprue for the final finishing, I prepped them individually for painting. This eliminates overspray from one piece to the next, and you can concentrate on each part.
Model T lollipops. :D
I used a two-part lacquer system called Model Master (a Testors product) of Wimbeldon White and Gloss clear coat. The Wimbeldon White was a lovely finish right out of the can.This paint levels out so much better than the gloss craft paints. You have to let the paint cure before adding the top coat.
The hood ended up with three coats of paint, but I ran out before I could put a third coat on the rest (small can, larger model). The hood looked fabulous, so I bought a second can for the remaining panels. For those panels, I sanded with the 8,000 and 12,000 grit mesh papers before the final coat. My coverage wasn’t completely uniform across the parts, but that was operator error. I get nervous making things new and that can cause mistakes. After the third coat on the body panels, I ended up with slight orange peel texture.
I let the parts dry overnight before sanding lightly with the 6,000, 8,000 and 12,000 grit mesh papers. This removed dust and scratches and made it shinier overall. I had to wait overnight for better weather and then added the gloss coat. It’s a delicate balance to spray enough to get a gloss sheen without ending up with drips. Nervous, nervous, nervous process. It was a 99.9% success. Of course I ended up with a dust varmint in the one panel I wanted to be as pristine as possible. I had even brushed each part before spraying. :\ So, I sanded that particle out the following night and finished the sealer after. The finish was slightly textured and pitted in places, but all of this might be due to the fact that I was not working with fresh, pristine plastic. I had removed the initial poor finish from the craft spray paint.
Again, I waited overnight before sanding lightly with the 6,000, 8,000 and 12,000 grit mesh papers to tone down the slight texture and bring out the shine. The finish has slight imperfections, but I am going to quit while ahead. I didn’t bother with the small indented areas because I was worried about stripping the finish too much. There’s one raised bit that has some primer showing, but I am done messing with it for now. I can always do spot touch-ups later.
In retrospect, I wish I had used this sealer on the chassis/fenders. There is no way to do it now. But, the way I see it, dust and dirt would settle on the fenders while the body would be more pristine. Right?
The panels have raised lines that you can paint for added detail. I know this to be above my pay grade, so I’ve left the van uniform in color. I did try it on the spare panels and just couldn’t get the feel for it. Besides, it takes only one mess-up to ruin a project and there are far too many lines to take the risk. Now that I have them in great shape, I will leave them be for a few days while I do other things.
