SPA Modeler

That looks good so far Tom!!!

Thanks Joe.

Just when I thought things would be easy with this one... particularly the decals. Worked on the hood decals and they are H O R R I B L E !!!!!!!

Once freed from the backing in water, they are bitch to lay down. They wrinkle up easily in spots no matter how hard I try to smooth it out on one spot, the other spots wrinkle and refuse to smooth out. Not even Micro Sol or Set helps. So tonight I literally rip the decals off the hood and now have to resort to painting the stripes. Easy, right? Not quite.I created a swatch of 3 different gold paint I have in my stash:

Tamiya Titanium Gold - Nope.... too light.

Testors Model Master Champagne Gold - Nope.... not even close. A bit darker than Titanium Gold

And finally Testors Gold in the small square bottle. Not quite. Brighter but I need to figure out how to match the decal samples as close as I can. Just not sure what color to use to darken it a bit - Black, grey (dark or light shade), white....
Perhaps another gold shade paint. I don’t know. I need to figure out what shade of gold they used for the ‘66 Shelby GT350H.

Thankfully, I didn’t go too far applying the rest of the decal stripes (roof, trunk, etc...). At least I can use it as reference swatch to match gold mixture I can make.

The only decals on this one I need to use are the striping along the rocker panel on both sides of the Mustang.

That is too bad. Is there a gold that works?

I don’t know yet. I know Tamiya Titanium Gold and Champagne Gold are both a hard no-go.
Testors gold... I don’t know yet until it’s dry. Probably not. I have to look at other gold shades out there. It’s gonna be tough to match the exact color of the decals’ stripes.

Never posted a pic of the rims so.... here they are om tires. I will tone it down when I get some Tamiya Black Panel Liner.

After 3 years of been wanting to check out Walt’s Hobbytown in Syracuse, I went yesterday. Picked up some supplies I needed and wanted - Perfect Plastic Putty (couldn’t find any in my area), Tamiya Black Panel Liner, and Tamiya X-12 Gold Leaf.

The Gold Leaf looked it “might” be a close match to the decal stripes when I shook the bottle and opened to see the color in the jar. Looked like it to me but I needed to see what it looked like dried when I get home.

I put a tiny spot next to the stripe on the decal sheet and hope for the best.

Not quite but it'll have to do. Perhaps several light mist coats to build it up as close a match to the decal stripes. Keep in mind, I will not be using the kit’s decal stripes but I will be using the GT350 stripe decals that’s locate do on the lower sides below the doors.

Would it be a difference in shade? Probably and I don’t care anymore. I really want to get this out of the way so I can resume fixing the disaster paint job on the Ford FD-100.

Tonight, I started masking the hood for the stripes. Careful measuring and tape cutting has been done. Next, I need to mask the rest of the body for the stripes. I have to be careful and work slow to get them straight and lined up perfectly.

I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome of the stripes. Try not to worry too much about getting it out of the way to get back to the F-100 good buddy. Work slow and focus on the issue at hand. Paint is a weird thing sometimes but hang with it. These fine mist coats you're talking about should work out great.

Masking is finished and stripes are ready for paint. This is the first mist coat with the airbrush needle opened just a hair enough to spray paint. I am happy with the results and confident this will work in my favor... as long as I don't rush and f*** this up.

Hood view




Top view




Rear and Front views

Update...

Sprayed a final and 4th mist coat. This morning, I removed the masks. Perfect! No runs at all, oh so very slightly off center but not noticeable at all. I’m happy! Will post pic tonight.

Next is chrome the trim work then it’s onward to the finish line.