Hi Damian,
I would like to be included in the GB list.
Thanks
Rod
Ok, I have finally managed to get a few hours at the bench to make some progress on this one.
The front seats have been cleaned up and painted.
The body prep work continues.
The floor pan is as black as it’s going to get.
Lots of little fiddly bits are prepped, primed and painted.
The interior tub is painted and detailing started.
And a major step forward, the rolling chassis assembled! The chrome plating on the twin pipes is not great, but apart from these updates it probably won’t ever be seen, and if I scraped off the mould lines and flash along the sides of them I would need to strip and repaint, so that’s how they stay! I took some liberties here because most of these parts are called out to be black.
The chrome spoked wheels are nice, but the back plate and spokes are all one piece so I need to carefully flood the rear of the wheel with black wash to darken it up and highlight the chrome.
Hopefully more to report soon!
Cheers, D
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Absolutely Rod, you are most welcome and I look forward to your build! I will add you to the list now.
Which kit have you chosen?
Cheers, D
Hi Damian,
I started a Topic: Lotus 49 - F1 Italian Grand Prix 1967 - Ebbro 1:20 inside this Forum, instead I have to move the post inside this topic?
Rod
Hi Rod. I must apologise, I missed that you had started a dedicated build log thread. No need to move anything, what you have done is perfect! I will go back now and edit the update post.
Excellent choice of kit as well, a classic open-wheeler from 1967 (the year of my birth!).
Cheers, D
A little more progress today.
Pedals, handbrake lever and gearshift installed, followed by front seats.
I decided to use the woodgrain decals on the dashboard, even though I cannot seem to find a single reference shot showing that this ever happened. Two reasons. Firstly, I don’t have a circle punch set to be able to separate out the individual gauges. Secondly, this will break up the completely black interior. I will give it a second shot of softener tomorrow, but they seem to have settled ok so far and the woodgrain looks good.
Finally, after some wet sanding I gave the body a good shot of MS1500 Black primer so that I can identify and do a final tidy up of any fine scratches before the colour coats begin.
Cheers, D
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Feels like progress, but it doesn’t look like it.
Got the first primer coat sanded out, it’s 12,000 grit smooth but it doesn’t look smooth. All sorts of stuff in the paint. Doesn’t photograph well,
Maybe another coat of primer will clean it up.
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Great to see this one moving along Mark, definitely another shot of primer to even out the finish on the body so the top coat behaves itself!
I’m happy with the finish on mine now, the body have been worked over several times and given a final light mist coat of primer to blend all of the sanded areas.
The rolling chassis is now complete, dashboard and steering wheel installed.
The woodgrain dash definitely will lift the interior once the body is fitted off, even though it is completely incorrect!
Aiming at getting a first shot of paint on the body later today.
Cheers, D
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Hi Damian, unfortunately my participation in this group build sits in the realms of fantasy, a bit like the chance me owning a Bugatti. Maybe the next GB that comes along.
cheers
Michael
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All good Michael, stay safe and check in whenever you can!
Cheers, D
First shots of colour coat applied. The Zero Paints are super-hot and will eat through the primer coat and craze the plastic if applied wet. This is 3 coats applied as a heavy mist with no waiting time, I just kept rotating the body and slowly applying to build up the opacity.
The roof dried a little bit rough or dusty, so it got a good polish with a soft cloth to cut that back a bit, then it was time for a cheeky test fit to the completed rolling chassis 
No fit issues to report, which is great. Hopefully the fit will be as neat once I install the glass.
I will give the whole body a buff with the cloth then probably apply another couple of colour coats and see how it looks.
P.S. somebody please remind me to drill out and blacken those exhaust tips 
EDIT: - Speaking of exhaust tips, this looks like a design error by Doyusha, the taper on the tips is upside down 
I will have a look at whether I can razor saw them off and refit them the correct way.
Cheers, D
OK, I’ve come to the experts for advice. The first primer coat I laid down on my DB5 was Mr.Surfacer 1200 Gray, thinned about 50:50 with MLT., I was using 15psi from the compressor. The finish seemed pebbly and dull. You can’t see it or feel it but even after sanding 400-600-1000-2000-2400-3200-4000-6000-8000-12000, it looks like there are high smooth spots and low rough spots. The finish does not reflect back a point light source, it’s kind of diffuse. The top light is a bulb, the bottom one is a tube.
Getting ready for a second primer coat of Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black, I went to a 70:30 mix MLT:1500 and tried spraying at different pressures. I started at 15 psi, and noticed some spotting, so I went down to 13psi and then up to 18 & 20psi. At all 3 pressures I got the paint to come out as discrete drops that got closer together as the pressure increased.
The yellow post-its show 3 passes at each pressure setting and I just kept applying paint to the spoons till they were covered.
I’m sure I’m doing something wrong, I just don’t know what. Any suggestions?
Spraying MS 1500 at 70/30 and at about 18psi should be fine. What size is your needle? I’ve found the kit plastic and spoons can be very glossy plastic and sometimes need a quick swipe with fine paper to scuff the surface a bit before priming otherwise you can get that sort of marbled effect.
Give the kit a shot of black with that formula and see how the black primer comes up.
Cheers, D
Iwata Neo CN, I think it’s a 0.35 needle.
That’s good to know, I ran the plastic body down to 12000 before the first primer. Maybe I should hit it with the 2000 - 2400 pad before I start.
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Yep. The primer is trying to bite into the base plastic and struggling with it being so glossy.
The body got another light colour coat then a final buff with a soft cloth, followed by a couple of good coats of Alclad Aqua Gloss.
After a couple of days I then gave it a fine wet polish, then it’s on to adding the bling!
Cheers, D
I pushed through with this build last night and today. Hand painted the chrome trim on the body with Vallejo Metal Color Chrome, then installed the clear part and the mirror inside the body. Fitting the body to the rolling chassis was a chore, the dashboard seems to be sitting slightly high and interfering with the fit (user error here, not thorough enough with the test-fitting). I did some trimming and managed a half decent fit, still not perfect though.
Next up it was on to adding the lights and chrome trimming. The fit of the headlight covers is atrocious, I had to trim and sand and carve all sorts of areas to get them even close, and eventually got them to sit in place. Even then I had to fill some gaps and build up some areas with white glue.
After that was painting the tail lights, again Vallejo Metal Color Chrome as the base, then Tamiya Clear Red and Clear Orange. Once it was cured enough to handle again I gave the panel lines a shot of Tamiya Black PLW, and an hour or so later decals went on.
So, here we are, my first completion for 2022! Just a couple of quick iPhone snaps now, I will set up for some better shots in a day or two.
My first curbside kit, overall an OK kit to build, with a few areas that need attention and some errors to correct.
Cheers, D
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There’s a song in here somewhere.
Good paint session last night Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black on the body, Semi-gloss Black on the seats and interior, and flat black on the bottom of the chassis.
Now I’ve got to figure out how to re engineer that exhaust system.
I seriously doubt British exhaust systems of the mid 60’s were that bad.
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