Painting the Clod for Richardrpm

[jonboy1 2943]

A little while back @Richardrpm very kindly asked me to paint his Clod Buster for him, and last week a box arrived. Upon opening it I found this:

Not what I was expecting at all. Somewhat confused and worried there may something ticking inside and a trigger connected to the clasps, I asked my wife to open it while I took care of something urgent in the garage 

As there was no explosion, I returned and found this:

I have to say, I was impressed. Hands down, that is the best packed body I've ever seen. Genius. Well done Sir Richard.

Going through the contents I found this:

So that just raised the bar for my paint work somewhat....

First things first, check the state of the body and get it ready for paint. A good inspection throws up the usual suspects, seam lines:

wobbly panels (sorry these don't show up very well in the photo) on a long, straight panel like this they stood out like a sore thumb and would look horrible with a glossy finish, so they need to go

and some terrible moulding marks on the bonnet/hood:

again, these didn't show up very well but they are little X's that are for the body mounts underneath. You could feel them very easily, so no good for a nice paint job.

So, a bit of time with some sanding blocks, files and a tiny bit of filler and I got to a point I thought it was starting to look pretty straight and flat. Just to be sure I gave it a very good clean, dry and a dust coat of flat black to act as a guide for a final sand.

It all looks good at this stage, so next step, a good wash and inspection, then primer!

[Shodog 1835]

Nice work. I look forward to seeing the finished product. 

[barneys66 128]

19 minutes ago, Shodog said:

Nice work. I look forward to seeing the finished product. 

Ditto!

[Lee76 638]

Hi, please could I ask which type of filler you’re using? 

I’ve tried some intended for model use but they were frankly rubbish.. is normal 2 pac car filler the way forward? Something soft?

[jonboy1 2943]

14 hours ago, Lee76 said:

Hi, please could I ask which type of filler you’re using? 

I’ve tried some intended for model use but they were frankly rubbish.. is normal 2 pac car filler the way forward? Something soft?

Personally I use Milliput White. It's not the easiest to use, but I think it gives the strongest bond and never flakes or cracks. Best method of application for me is to blob a small amount where you want it and then move and smooth into the desired shape using a very wet finger. Treat it like clay and you are about right.

Hope that helps!

[Lee76 638]

Thanks, I used the standard yellow filling the hole in the drivers head where the screw goes. And finger polished it under the tap, i’ve Not tried the white though. I’ll give that a go next time.

[jonboy1 2943]

Hello and welcome to the long overdue update on the Clod.

Weather had finally warmed up a bit, so primer was applied, sanded, applied, sanded, repeated a couple more times and finally looked lovely and smooth and straight.

(this isn't going to be the most interesting of updates sorry - this is the stage where lots of time goes into each bit, wet sanding, painting, straightening and fixing any issues, more painting and sanding, with no apparent progress, or not much at least. However, that's the way it is! sorry!)

Finally it was all looking perfect, so the only sensible thing to do was cover it all with lots of lovely shiny red paint! Of course, there was lots of wet sanding in between coats, but for the sake of brevity, here's it all done:

I must say, I'm as pleased as punch at how well it came out - it doesn't show up very well in the pics (because my camera is cr*p) but it's not far off a perfect glass finish already. It's had a couple of days sat inside in a warm place so it's rock hard now and ready for the next stage. Will be buying a couple of cans of clear coat tonight on the way home so depending on temp and what my good lady wife has planned for me I may get a bit further with it!

[blakeatron 16]

Love painting the hardbodies - what brand are you using?

[jonboy1 2943]

13 hours ago, blakeatron said:

Love painting the hardbodies - what brand are you using?

I use Tamiya paints wherever possible, this was Tamiya Oxide Red Primer and TS-8 Italian Red on top.

[blakeatron 16]

Ive only ever usex Tamiya paints on the poly bodies.

always use halfords cans on bodies, no model shops near me but a halfords round the corner. Nice big selection of colours!

[Grastens 2795]

Having seen the Ford Ranger restoration, I had high expectations for this paint project. I, like many others, are definitely not disappointed

Though I am still looking forward to seeing the finished shell, I have to say it looks fabulous at this intermediate stage

[jonboy1 2943]

On 1/3/2019 at 10:16 PM, Grastens said:

Having seen the Ford Ranger restoration, I had high expectations for this paint project. I, like many others, are definitely not disappointed

Though I am still looking forward to seeing the finished shell, I have to say it looks fabulous at this intermediate stage

Thank you for your very kind words - I really hope it meets everyone's (especially Richards!) expectations! 

 

So just a quick update - I cut out all the decals with the plan of getting them applied and some clear coat (which I bought on my way home on Friday.) However, after lightly flatting back the top coat I noticed it was still a bit thin on the edges of the wheel arches so I need to get another can of paint today. So instead I got the fronts of the spotlights painted yellow and started detailing the grill.

Hopefully the last of the paint will go on tonight, so some more evident progress will be available very soon!

[Kevin_Mc 411]

i'm interested in seeing your technique for the grille.

Looking good so far

[jonboy1 2943]

Right, update finally.....

Chucked some more red paint at the shell on Saturday and was finally happy with it, so after flatting it back I got the decals on. Following that was the chrome detail on the rain gutters, handles and the Chevrolet on the back. It took forever, but I think it looks good  Speaking of which, the grill is pretty much finished now, just a couple of tiny little bits to tidy up.

So, with all that done to the body, it was finally ready for some clear coats. It's had 2 so far, think it will have another one at least. While they were drying I built up the intake and roll bar (fun fact, when everything arrived I questioned with Richard why there was a Hilux roll bar in there - turns out it's what is used for the rear part of the Clods! ) so once the clear is finished it's pretty much just the black bits to do and final assembly!

 

 

 

[blakeatron 16]

Looks great!

I used to clear over the decals, but after a while had some slight lifting on some edges, normally on a sharp bend.

have you ever had any issues? 

[racer1 117]

43 minutes ago, blakeatron said:

 

I used to clear over the decals, but after a while had some slight lifting on some edges, normally on a sharp bend.

have you ever had any issues? 

I've had this happen a couple of times. I learned two things.  First I like to use a heat gun when I install the decals to get them to bend and conform to the bodies a bit better.  

Next I learned to put on more clear coat. I typically 5 or 6 coats of clear.  Since doing this I haven't had a single decal popup. 

 

[blakeatron 16]

17 minutes ago, racer1 said:

I've had this happen a couple of times. I learned two things.  First I like to use a heat gun when I install the decals to get them to bend and conform to the bodies a bit better.  

Next I learned to put on more clear coat. I typically 5 or 6 coats of clear.  Since doing this I haven't had a single decal popup. 

 

Never even thought about putting more clear on! 

I just gave up and decal on the finished body - maybe on the next one

[Kevin_Mc 411]

How did you do the black parts of the grille?

[jonboy1 2943]

 

12 hours ago, blakeatron said:

Looks great!

I used to clear over the decals, but after a while had some slight lifting on some edges, normally on a sharp bend.

have you ever had any issues? 

Thanks  Not that I'm aware of. As with @racer1 I normally give it a few light coats to make sure I don't get any bubbles appearing in the decals and then once it's fully cured and settled give it a couple of heavy coats.

9 hours ago, Kevin_Mc said:

How did you do the black parts of the grille?

With slightly thinned paint and a 000 brush. I get a little blob of paint on the brush and touch it to the surface and let the capillary action draw it into the shape. Takes a few blobs per segment and a couple of coats to get a nice even coverage. Not a fast job by any means (probably took me about 1hr and a half just to do this) but it means you don't have to mask or get left with lots of unwanted paint to remove (still a little though from where my eyes started playing tricks on me after too long staring )

[Richardrpm 98]

Fantastic job it looks great . Your painting skills are amazing. Thank you. Guess I should start thinking about what body to send you next. 

[jonboy1 2943]

2 more heavy coats of gloss went on this weekend. I'm happy with how it looks now so it's flatting back and polishing next!

Touched up the black insets on the grill too. 

Another uninteresting update sorry, but the next one should be the final assembly!!!!!! 

[Scipunk 383]

On 1/21/2019 at 5:54 AM, jonboy1 said:

2 more heavy coats of gloss went on this weekend. I'm happy with how it looks now so it's flatting back and polishing next!

Touched up the black insets on the grill too. 

Another uninteresting update sorry, but the next one should be the final assembly!!!!!! 

Jon, when you say flatting back what does that mean exactly? I paint pretty well but you make me look like a amateur  lol (to be fair my area is miniature painting and 1:24 scale military models)

[jonboy1 2943]

2 hours ago, Scipunk said:

Jon, when you say flatting back what does that mean exactly? I paint pretty well but you make me look like a amateur  lol (to be fair my area is miniature painting and 1:24 scale military models)

ha! No I'm sure yours are far better than you are saying! 

flatting may just be my little colloquialism, but it basically is wet sanding with 1800-2400 grit wet and dry so you end up with a flat, even, blemish free surface. The key is to keep the paint and paper very wet (I rinse or dunk the body in clean water frequently along with the paper and use a plant sprayer as I'm working.) Your paint will look very dull, but from there you can polish it using car polish and should end up with a glass-like finish.

just for the record - the principle applies to any scale - this is a 1:55 scale transit I restored for a friend. You can see the reflection of the rug in the paint  (activate smug mode) 

 

[Scipunk 383]

1 hour ago, jonboy1 said:

ha! No I'm sure yours are far better than you are saying! 

flatting may just be my little colloquialism, but it basically is wet sanding with 1800-2400 grit wet and dry so you end up with a flat, even, blemish free surface. The key is to keep the paint and paper very wet (I rinse or dunk the body in clean water frequently along with the paper and use a plant sprayer as I'm working.) Your paint will look very dull, but from there you can polish it using car polish and should end up with a glass-like finish.

just for the record - the principle applies to any scale - this is a 1:55 scale transit I restored for a friend. You can see the reflection of the rug in the paint  (activate smug mode) 

 

Ahh now i got ya, makes total sense...lol That resto looks amazing, do you always use cans or have you ventured into airbrush? Always wanted to but im a fan of hand painting certain things and Tamiya cans just go on so smooth

[jonboy1 2943]

13 minutes ago, Scipunk said:

Ahh now i got ya, makes total sense...lol That resto looks amazing, do you always use cans or have you ventured into airbrush? Always wanted to but im a fan of hand painting certain things and Tamiya cans just go on so smooth

I'm a big fan of the Tamiya cans too, but I hand paint and airbrush too. That Transit was airbrushed as was the RC10 I did for Peter_B:

The RC10 needed airbrushing to get the fades and blends, you couldn't really do it with a can as the flow/pressure isn't controllable.

It depends what you want to achieve really and how much time you've got!   I've painted a bunch of Transformer figures in the past that would arguably have been a lot quicker to paint with an airbrush but I painted entirely by hand, mainly because I was learning new techniques as I went along and because I wasn't in any rush.