My 350z

[ph2t]

This is my latest “found some bloody time” project.

It s a 350z shell from a Microsizer body set found in the US.

I ve scored some modeling putty called PLASTO by Revell, not bad stuff, only $6.

Here s some pics sofar. More to come. 🙂

ph2t.

Edited by – ph2t on 09 December 2003 00:23:14

[twizm]

ooooooooh pretty. what color is it going to be?

[brendan]

looking good man, are u gonna do any other stuff to it, And how hard is the putty

[ph2t]

Well I haven’t finished sanding it yet. As to the colour I dunno, yet. As to what else I’m gonna do, well lets just say time will tell….:)

ph2t.

[betty.k]

looks like a good place to ask what you guys use to mask the windows. i tried real masking tape but it left goo on the body. also what’s a good way to strip back a shell after a, ahem, disasterous first painting attempt?!:8ball:

[leonli17]

Don’t use cheap masking tapes. Use 3M adhesive painters tapes. They are the best. And why not just use Mineral Turbes to strip the paint after a bad paintjob(it happen to me alota times).

[ph2t]

Well, here’s some updated pics.

I’ve now finshed all the putty work at the back and also finshed the masking. I don’t know if you fellas have noticed but sometimes you need to sand the corners of the cars as well where the plastic meets up. Sometimes there’s a solid line/bump where the plastic has met in the mold, bloody crappy QA procedures, oh well.

I’m also putting headlights in. (surprise surprise!) This time I’m not using surface mount LEDs due to the fact that the front of the shell is way too slanted to get a flush fit that makes the LEDs point down. A slight angle down towards the driving surface (as the should) is what you want. So I’ve started sandin back some 3mm white LEDs on an angle.

Now to go do some spraycan inhaling!:smiley16:

ph2t

Edited by – ph2t on 09 December 2003 00:26:24

[barto_85]

always thinking ph2t. Nice improvising on the led’s.

[Pork_Hunt]

ph2t, I thought of sanding 3mm LEDs but thought it may scatter the light like a prism, or at least REALLY spread it like a lens.

[ph2t]

I did some tests pork on this ’cause I had the same concerns as yourself. The LED you see in the pic above is a milky diffused type lense. The focal point does get distored when half of the lense has been sanded away BUT once it’s one the car and glued in it should be fine. Time will tell man anyway…:approve:

ph2t.

[Impreza]

ph2t no antenna?

[ph2t]

good question prez, I’m tossing up on doing either an internal antenna OR drilling a really small hole and doing my standard guitar string antenna. Will see how the end product looks before I get to that decision.

ph2t.

[ph2t]

Ok, did some futher coats and here she is. She started off a dark pearl blue (duplicolour subraru pearl blue) but that freakin’ can ran out!!! :angry: So I continued on with a new Tamyia paint can I bought last week.

Still not ready yet but it’s like that hole in the rear never existed!

Now I dunno if I should just seal it with a clear coat or try a two tone job. Arghh! Decisions decisions…….

ph2t.

Edited by – ph2t on 09 December 2003 00:27:41

[brendan]

nice! i love that colour, what colour were u thinking of for the other tone

[micro_Amps]

And of course the garden will benefit by having a matching hose fitting the same colour as you 350Z.
Purdy !!
Looking good ph2t, nice work, and on my fave shell too
:)uA

[ph2t]

Micro, lol dude, good call!:D Brendan, I was gonna do a red or black colour then I thought nah, stuff it. So at the moment I’m doing the gloss coat. Unlike other attempts using other metallic/pearl colours this time the sparkle is staying after putting the clear coat on, thank god! I’m not putting all the gloss on heavy but doing about 3-4 light coats instead and it seem to be working. Updated pics soon!

ph2t.

[micro_Amps]

That should look excellent, you have really got these worked out now. But then, you have done the hard yards on these with those that didnt work.
Well done ph2t, are you taking commisions?
:)uA

[ph2t]

lol, I wish. Give up the day job and become a *serious* arteest. God knows I’ve got the temprament….

But now I’m pissed off.:angry: My can of clear coat just ran out and when I’m on a mission I’m on a freakin’ mission….

Oh well…..

[micro_Amps]

Damn!!!!!!!!
Sounds like the stress levels are building up.
Oh well, they say you have to suffer for your art to produce anything decent.
Perahps cutting you ear off might help.
:)uA

[ph2t]

That will only help with the relationship with the wife.:p

All these spinning and moving avatars are making me dizzy:dead:.

😀

ph2t.

[micro_Amps]

Nah,bring it on, you just cant have too much animation.
:puA

Edited by – micro_Amps on 02 December 2003 23:29:51

[barto_85]

looks damn nice, looks good with your putty work too, nice job.

[Impreza]

Thin and many is what I have been told:) Seems to work best. Ph2t what do you think of that paint? Seems to take a l o n g time to dry? Make sure you don’t put nice little finger prints on it by handling it too early (not that I have done that or nething). u, I get dizzy just looking at your last post.

[Impreza]

Oh yeah, watch out for peeling paint when you take off the tape (if you haven’t already?) after putting on the gloss coat (again not that it has happened to me or anything, hypothetical of course). I found using a knife or a sharp object to retrace the tape outline works best:)

[ph2t]

Yeah I know where you’re coming from man. I have experienced paint chipping at the edges if it’s too dry when peeling the masking tape off. I need to finish the gloss coat tonight (gotta go to the hardware store and buy another can of gloss). Usually when it’s barely touch dry I peel the tape off. I find that then the edges are soft enough (and make the coats of paint underneath soft as well) to peel without chipping. But your suggestion is a good one and I’l prolly err on the side of caution and retrace as you said.

ph2t.

[Impreza]

pics when you are done:)

[ph2t]

hell yeah!
hopefully tonight!

[ph2t]

Ok then. After comming down from the high 2nd place put me in I’ve managed to put up some more pics. Here you can see the near finished product. There’s about 4 lights coats of gloss and then one heavy coat at the end. Seems to of worked well.

Now to pull all that bloody masking tape off. Hopefully it’s dry enough now!

ph2t.

Edited by – ph2t on 09 December 2003 00:20:00

[brendan]

looking good man, cant wait till the final product

[ph2t]

Thanks Brendan. I pretty much have to play the waiting game for a least 24 hours to allow the coats of clear finish to dry and harden. Then I’ll be cool to continue on.

I removed the tape. btw, I didn’t need to score the tape edges with a knife. The paint didn’t chip as it has done before. It might have to do with the fact that I know more about what I’m doing now than before, oh wel……

So here’s the shell pretty much done (drying on a pullback chassis)save a few finer details.

Remember, I’m keeping the light fittings clear (like on my gloria) so I may install some headlights/rearlights.:smiley2:

ph2t.

Edited by – ph2t on 09 December 2003 00:29:49

[barto_85]

ooohhh pretty. I want to see lights, hurry up and put them in. looks nice, no rush on the lights btw.

[brendan]

nice man! nice masking job on it to, it is gonna look sweet when it is all done

[ph2t]

Here’s an attempt at painting the little details.

As you can see it didn’t work the best. A few things to change:

Use thicker paints. Need less then to get a solid colour.
Let it dry longer!!!! Paint came off and smudged the sides.
Use tape where possible ALWAYS! Bluetac just doesn’t give you that even coverage.

More testing and pics to come as I figure this stuff out!

ph2t.

Edited by – ph2t on 09 December 2003 00:16:34

[barto_85]

you stupid ass ph2t. shoulda not been lazy and taped it up. you probably wouldn’t notice it though if it wasn’t just zoomed in on the light. Is it repairable?

Edited by – barto_85 on 06 December 2003 13:53:13

[crazydave]

Hey you can see a lot more of what you’ve done over here. Nice work filling the back window, and I already told you I dig that color.

From what I’m seeing, I wanted comment on a couple things.

Here’s my experience with shaping LEDs, the sides have no effect, shaped them all you want, but the tip is like a magnifying glass, sand that back and you minimize the effect, sand it too far, and you’ll just get the dim glow of the emmiter thingy in there. It kind of a cool effect for bits, but doesn’t project itself down on to the road in that cool way.

My advice on painting tiny details, don’t mask, if you get a bleed, it’ll be as large as your detail, and since you have to wait for the paint to dry to pull the mask off, it’ll be too late to fix. I use permanent marker where possible, in areas where it wont rub off. To paint the fine details I got a detail brush from the craft store. It has a short handle that’s skinny by the brush end, then gets really fat on the other end. that gives me good control. Then to get just a tiny bit of paint on it, after I shake up my little jar of paint, I get the paint off the lid, where there’s just a little bit of paint. Then I just barely dab a teeny tiny bit on the end of the brush. Keep a rag soaked in mineral spirits near by. Then if you mess up, wipe it right off.

[ph2t]

thanks for the tips dave! good stuff there man, I gotta try out.

The LED has a focal point still ’cause half of the lens is still there, the pattern it leaves when put up against a wall is a cool, almost astrological one (nebula?). I know where you’re comming from though. Yet again, trial and error is the only way sometimes…

Bite me cookie monster :approve:. Yes man it is repairable, I’m tempted to respray that area again and start anew…..

ph2t.

[crazydave]

Quote:

The LED has a focal point still ’cause half of the lens is still there, the pattern it leaves when put up against a wall is a cool, almost astrological one (nebula?). I know where you’re comming from though. Yet again, trial and error is the only way sometimes…

That pattern is probably from sanding lines. (I’m guessing) See if you can polish the tip smooth again. That might help make it brighter. I not sure what you can polish plastic with. Maybe some 2000 grit sandpaper, then rubbing compound?

I can see why they’d be cool to keep too though. Real headlights kinda make a pattern like that.

…and yeah, that’s how I figure stuff out…by error.

Quote:

Bite me cookie monster . Yes man it is repairable, I’m tempted to respray that area again and start anew…..

Yeah, anything repairable. I should have said, it wonr be as easy to fix, instead of it can’t be fixed.

Instead of spraying, I’d reccomend spraying some paint into a cap. Enough so it’s flowing on the bottom, and just use a brush to touch up that area. Saves the risk of messing up what’s already fine.

Edited by – crazydave on 06 December 2003 15:56:22

[betty.k]

i use a sharpened toothpick for detail and try to let surface tension to work in my favour. i’ve masked successfully with blu tack, just the other way around. i covered the lights before spraying:8ball:

[crazydave]

Quote:

i use a sharpened toothpick for detail and try to let surface tension to work in my favour. i’ve masked successfully with blu tack, just the other way around. i covered the lights before spraying:8ball:

That’s some good advice right there. I use a similar technique. Small things like grill work, and tailights I paint and mask before I do my main color. Then I go and add the teeny tiny details like turn signals, door handles, emblems, etc., with a brush afterwards.

[ph2t]

We’ll finally udpate my pic server. I got a few issues still with all that and will need to find a good webhosting soon. Damn it gives me the shits… Oh well.

Here’s some udpated shots with more detailing done to the chassis.:approve:

ph2t.

[TallduDe]

cool

you recovered that job well dude!

whats next for this body?

[betty.k]

real nice!:smiley2::8ball:

[ph2t]

thanks fellas. what’s next is a light kit!

It’s definately gonna have headlights and rearlights but I don’t know If I wanna add any other effects. I’ve got some ideas that I wanna try but I dunno if they’ll work just yet….

[HACHI-RYOKU]

That’s outstanding work ph2t, as always.

[Impreza]

stick a clear super perfection chassis on it for the underbody lighting effect:)

[ph2t]

man, you know me. I’ll do my own version 🙂

[ph2t]

Ok then well I’ve been working on the headlights and it’s gonna be tricky to be able to mount them properly.

One thing is the the shell is quite translucent and if I’m gonna use some very bright white leds, I don’t want their light bleeding out of the chassis in all directions.

So I’ve started coating the inside of the shell with a thick black enamel. It will need two coats to even out the finish and give me total blackout. I’ve done this before onm other cars with great results.

Incidentaly you can see the dark blue colour the shell was before I ran out of that colour and ended up using the lighter peal blue…Work well all things considering…

I need to apply another coat to ensure clean lines around the lights.

I don’t know if many of you add lights to your cars. I like to ’cause they look cool and you can do some serious driving at night and at times in pitch black. It’s freaky to know that the lights on you car are more than enough to be able to see half the room.

I’ll need to let this enamle dry for a few days before gluing white leds to it.

ph2t.

Edited by – ph2t on 14 December 2003 01:12:38

[betty.k]

dat’s gonna look real nice when it’s done. hell, it looks great now!!:8ball:

[brendan]

nice work. but does all that black make the front of the car darker when it is on the chassi.

[Impreza]

that is a good idea ph2t, never thought to spray the bottom of the shell to keep the light from diffusing thru the paint. I guess you could go with the origional colour of the car if you are worried about that brendan?

[ph2t]

brendan, when viewing the shell under a strong light you can see an ever so slight difference between the front of the shell and other areas where the shell is painted black on the underside. The difference is barely noticeable though.

Another way of having to counter translucency in your shell, espceially clear ones it to put down an undercoat before painting in hte colour of your choice.

ph2t.

[Impreza]

yes an undercoat should do the trick too:blush:

[mastercool bowker]

looks cool!
I’m on a monster truck project and i’m doing the body silver with blue-marine flames.I think it looks pretty nice and was just sending this in incase you would like to paint you car like mine?

---

Eat right, exersize…die anyway!

[mastercool bowker]

oh, where do you get the putty. I ve looked in lots of model shops. do you only get it in specific shops?
Please post your reply to ‘inch high raising’

---

Eat right, exersize…die anyway!

[ms char-ged]

ph2t, all i can see is your a freak, i too am starting to endeavour painting, not bit shells, i might start soon though, but gundam models, i recommend you buy some gundam marker weathering pens, the paint comes out of a really small opening, and it is plastic, so it will be spread out evenly, and not go all over the place, you’ll be a master in no time, i’ll post some pics soon, i hear your trouble though, now i got to buy another felt pen for my models, because i damaged mine, the model only has one piece left, and a few weapons, i stuffed the pen up because i couldn’t wait for the paint to dry, and i was outlining the paint, i think everyone should know that patients is a virtue, not worth stuffing any thing up :smiley2:

[betty.k]

could you post pics of the gundam pens? i’ve never heard of them. and yes patience is the most important painting and detailing tool you can own! i’m constantly reminding myselfblackeye::8ball:

[ms char-ged]

when i get home i’ll scan them 😀

[ph2t]

Ok then, the gods have given me a bit of time this week to work on this puppy and I’m now a little bit closer to finishing.

The first problem was the non-flush headlight mount, I trialled the sanding down of the leds to an angle to allow a flush mount but that didn’t really work out that well. So instead I used a bit of bluetak to hold the led in place so that the angle of view went straight out through the headlight area on the shell.

With the bluetak being used as a jig I could then dab a little bit of superglue on the area under the led and then let it set. After about 10 minutes I removed the bluetak and the led is good to go.

Now with that done for both leds I know need to start putting it al together. One week later I managed to build another little DCDC converter board (as most of you know I use this little circuit to power all my light kits from the main PCB battery) and now I’m just putting it all together.

Soon I will be finished with this. Still gotta put the rear brakelights in :).

ph2t.

[brendan]

looking good man, them headlights look kinda big with they fit with the body on the chassis

[z-beam]

ph, you still workin’ on this? i need to see it all working…

[twizm]

why not just paint the whole inside with black paint to even out the color?

seems a bit obvious to me..

[ph2t]

z, yeah I’m still working on this man. Had a hickup with the front lights intruding on the chassis. you’ll see it soon I promise…..

twizm, there’s not an issue with colour from the outside. you could colour it all black if you want. If I was to do this the 2nd time around I would of used a solid(and opaque) primer instead.

ph2t.

[betty.k]

or you could do what i did. black electrical tape.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/106374225/107574312hDfZsh
after the glue dried i painted the backs of the led’s black and put more tape over them:8ball:

[Impreza]

primer can be an issue:( When to use it and when not to. I find that when I don’t use it, the paint jobs look crisper and I don’t have to use as much paint for the top coat, but when I do use it I have to use more paint for the top coat.. I have a grey primer btw, may look for a white one in the new year? Ph2t congrats on the 1 K posts:)

One other thing, as I may have mentioned somewhere else in this forum, I do like to use primer on body mods as it gives you an idea of what your final paintjob will look like, ie if you need to touch up the body work or not (sometimes when you are working with a body and different colored putty it is hard to see sometimes if you have it smooth or not, but once it is all one color you can see the lines better). And this is from someone who has better then 20/20 vision:shy:.

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