One good friend asked me for a metal flake paintjob on his new Celica! He wasn't fun of big mods as he race his car a lot and he wanted a good paintjob with low cost. So I agreed and started this 'project' with a good paintjob as the main goal and some small bodymods if needed...Since I took many pics for him I decided that I could post a small how to for everyone interested.
1. First step was masking the windows and front and rear lights. Tamiya masking tape was used and exacto blade for the cutting. One good tip here is before painting use something likw a qtip and press the outline of windows,lights e.t.c. so paint don't go through the tape. Then I shoot a first coat of a flat blue from a spray can. I didn't used a primer because with a flat basecoat no primer needed. Here is a pic with the progress so far.
2. Now the second step was spraying some metal flake paint for the trick result! But this goal isn't so easy. Since I had a special mix I use on so diecast customs I used it but you can use any spray can that has paint with metal flakes(or any other effect i.e. pearl!). My mix contained blue metal flake paint from a spray can, Humbrol 52 blue enamel paint blus a bit of another blue from a spray can. Now take a look at the result...
3. Well yes it doesn't look that good and there is a special reason about that it was because I used my special mix. If you used any kind of other paint skip the next sentence. Get some kind of paint thiner(Humbrol is my choice here) or some white spirit and gentle rub it on the paint with a piece of cloth for a moment. Then spray a good coat of clear use whatever clear you want but I suggest to be the same brand as your top paint coat. After it is dry spray a second one and if you see it's neccesary a third one. Clear coat is neccesary read bellow. Well let's see how good it looks.
Well that's it for now. The next part will be detailing and some simple mods until then here is a pic of it close to finish.(The pic is pretty crap and don't show the beautiful color good,also the glass looks foggy...But it's lighting I guess. It looks awesome in person)
Here are some genral tips for painting that aply in every paintjob and specially in the above:
1.If you use spray cans always keep them warm. Before painting warm it around 5 min. in warm water and then shake it very well for about a min. This way you are going to have great thin and even coats.
2.Spray from a good distance and with slow moves.
3.Always spray the paint on the .
outside of a bit.THE BIT BODYS ARE PAINTED FROM THE OUTSIDE NOT THE INSIDE.Even TOMY does it why you shouldn't? The only way to keep your paintjob free of scratches e.t.c. is to clear coat in the end 2 or even 3 times.
4.If you want to tint the windows do it from the INSIDE and remeber to use the correct paint.
I hope this helps everyone around sorry for the crapy pics the car looks ten times better in person the second part will be far more interesting with good detailing and2 nice mods. Many tips in this post use them if you want they work perfect...
C.U soon...
P.S: Here is a pic of the other car in the body set.Small details and a bit of lowering. He is considering a wide body mod. If we settle that wait for a good tutorial on bodykitting...
Sorry for the big post hope it worth it...
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