Porsche 550 Spyder - WiP
Okay gents and ladies, let's see what we got...
A nicely cast body and underbody
Being a resin kit the number of parts is not too overwhelming. But then again, the quality seems to be very nice at the first glance, I do not see any air bubbles whatsoever
There is a nice mix of materials as well, we have rubber tires, two PE plates, some metal parts, decals, some seatbelt fabric and "glass" parts from clear resin
First step is drilling open these holes
The skin is very thin, first I removed some material with the knife and proceeded with a grinding bit
It's a part of the inner body structure
Cleaning and fitting the exaust parts. The material is beautifully malleable, and not too brittle
Second PE plate
Vacuform windshields, two variants
Everything packed in this neat little box
Let's not forget the instruction booklet
Which presents beautiful 3D drawings in color and leaves no room for error
When working with PE parts I like to clean them with a fiber glass eraser. Removes the oxide layers and roughens up the surface for better paint adhesion.
Let's work on the body. This part of the structure with the dashboard has to be glued in before painting.
It was probably easier this way to recreate all the beautiful detail inside when making the resin mold prototypes
Which means for the model maker this nasty gap has to disapper (except for the gap between the body and the door)
First step adjusting the part as evenly as possible and fixing it with super glue
Despite all adjustment efforts there is a nasty step in the surface which has to be evened out
Much better
I like to use makeshift sanding sticks for this purpose which I created by glueing popsicle or coffee stirring sticks with double sided tape to sanding paper and cutting them out
Now the surface is flush, we need to fill the remaining gaps. To prevernt the seam from showing later on I carved a groove with a dremel tool
A good quality super glue is a fantastic gap filler and putty material which is often overlooked. I does not sink in after curing and bonds unsurprisingly very strongly to the surface
There is a beautiful seamless transition after sanding
You can check for holes by holding the surface against the light
Incidentally I noticed some very thin areas in the casting. It was so thin there were holes in the hood gap. I reinforced it from the inside with super glue + filler powder
Some suspension detail
Steel rims look also very good with some fine detail
Etched parts are very finely done like this "Spyder" logotype
There are recessions on the body where the hood straps are supposed to go
USCP placed them a little far on the outside to my liking
So I decided to get rid of them completely, the etched parts for the straps can be applied without them
I can't emphasize enough how well super glue works as filler material, it is very quick to dry, does not sink in after sanding and the transition is very smooth
Primer time! I use 2K 4:1 acrylic filler. Used for "real" car paintjobs. Fast to dry, solvent resistant after curing, great adhesion. Fantastic material to work with.
The gap between the dashboard part and the body is no more. Looks like a uniform surface
That is the setup. Primed the lower body and some accessory stuff which is bound to be body color as well
As mentioned above, the door panel line has to be reconstructed
Missed a little hole while preparing the body. Will be filled with a tiny drop of thick primer
Other than that very happy with the surface!
Painting time! This is not the "original" German Racing Silver most of the Spyders were painted with but I decided not to overthink the issue.
It is silver, it is from Porsche, good enough! I order my paints from eBay, this is automotive lacquer. Same stuff what you get from Zero Paints but much cheaper. And they have basically an unlimited shelf life.
Just add 50% lacquer thinner so it will go through a 0,4mm nozzle. I am not affiliated with those companies btw. just showing what I use.
I started with the lower body and some small parts just to see how the paint looks and behaves, silver can be very tricky! Two wet coats, followed by a last mist coat (important if you are painting metallic paints) Gives the surface a much more uniform and silky look.
Clear, 2K, again from eBay, again basically the same stuff as Zero Paints. I am using this 1L jug for several years now, still good.
Two wet coats with 10 mins drying time inbetween. That`s it.
The inside door panels, the mirror hull and the engine lid handle were painted as well
24 hours have elapsed, the paint is dry. The Silver looks.....well silvery?
Silvery and shiny, will look good on the rest too, but before we paint the body we have to take care of a couple of things
The window is held in place by this etched frame which is conveniently equipped with screwholes. I wonder what we could use to attach it, hmmm....
My new favourite little helper of course! Little 3D printed screws by Decalcas
Because glue is for casuals right?
The door gap is restored with Tamiyas bendy tape and also Tamiyas obscenely expensive engraving tool
That`s better, but not that James Dean would need a door to enter his little silver pocket rocket
Now I will tell you about the most important and crucial step when painting Silver
It is not the paint you apply nor the airbrush or nozzle size you use, neither of these. It is SURFACE PREPARATION. I cannot stress it enough, the surface has to be FLAWLESS because silver is merciless and will show every little scratch you missed.
Hold the body against the light at all angles, work with soft sponges (Tamiya 2000-3000 grit) Even finer sponges if you have (3M or Mirka)
The painting process is the same, two wet coats, followed by a dry mist coat
Two wet layers of clear with 10 minutes drying time inbetween
Work fast, we want as little exposure to the dusty air as possible
The second layer of clear brings that thick greasy shine
Коментари
27 15 May, 11:09
TreehuggerQuestion for OP:
What brand might be selling vacuum formed clear parts? Seems like you found some as seen in photo #11. I've seen some for airplane/jet canopies, but none for cars, so I wouldn't know where to look.
3 June, 13:37
Alexander GrivonevHey Treehugger, the parts in the picture are part of the kit. But funny that you mention this topic because I actually dealt with this question myself recently. I finished two 964s earlier this year (Revell and Fujimi) and the clear parts in both kits were of very poor quality. Searched for aftermarket replacement and found nothing. So I decided to try myself at vacuforming and made the clear parts myself which turned out to be pretty decent (after countless tries and errors) I have not posted pictures of the builds yet but intend to, keep an eye open. You are right, there is definitely a lack of aftermarket windshields for cars...
3 June, 15:17
Alexander GrivonevAhem, let`s continue here shall we? Not that I was absent for three months or something...
6 September, 17:27
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In my modeling career with 150+ finished models I have yet to complete a resin kit. I think I have found the right contender...
