Delta Integrale, Hasegawa, 1/24 ***FINISHED***

[ShaunW]

It might be faffy paint but it doesn't half give a nice finish. Top work.

[mattbacon]

Thanks, chaps... slow but steady progress...





A couple of hours masking, ten minutes spraying, and 30 minutes clean up!

And what's this interloper on the bench?



One I'm saving for later...

bestest,
M.

[mattbacon]

So, that was one of the more nerve-wracking episodes of putting the body on the chassis. Talk about "tight fit"...






Now all I have to do is figure out how to dislodge the small flakes of yellow paint that have pinged off the body or chassis and static-electricity-ed themselves to the windscreen and side windows. I need a feather!

bestest,
M

[iggie]

That looks excellent!

[splash]

It looks excellent. What is this Zero 2K system?

Regards Splash

[JamesPerrin]

So, that was one of the more nerve-wracking episodes of putting the body on the chassis. Talk about "tight fit"...

Thankfully nothing cracked

Now all I have to do is figure out how to dislodge the small flakes of yellow paint that have pinged off the body or chassis and static-electricity-ed themselves to the windscreen and side windows. I need a feather!

Have you tried winding down a window

[splash]

Have you tried winding down a window

He has not connected the battery so they will not work

[mattbacon]

Shhh.... I'll let you into a secret. Theres NOTHING under the bonnet AT ALL! ;-P

Darn. Now it's out.

As for the Zero 2K system...

First, a health warning. Do not even THINK about using Zero 2K unless you are prepared to get a high-quality (£20 or so from 3M) filter mask, wear surgical gloves and have a proper spray booth with good extraction. It's proper auto paint, and contains lovely isocyanates which can cause all kinds of problems if you breathe them or get them on your skin. It is, however, perfectly safe if used properly.

You buy Zero Paints and clear from http://www.hiroboy.com;. There are many in the range already, and Steve will custom mix a matching paint for any car in any era, as long as you can find the correct paint code for him to look up in the database at http://www.lechler.it;.

You have a base coat (or coats for pearl-type finishes) which provides the colour, and a two-part clear gloss coat which reacts chemically to cure hard. You apply the base coat over primer, and it has a slightly rough finish. Then you mix up your two-part clear (gloss and hardener) cut with about 10% thinner, and start spraying. (Once mixed it will start to cure in less than an hour, so that's your deadline for cleaning out the airbrush thoroughly). First a mist coat, wait five minutes, then a slightly thicker coat, maybe two. You'll still see the texture of the rough base coat. Finally you go for the "wet" coat. Keep moving around the model, and you can see three distinct stages. First the surface is "speckly" where the high points of the rough base coat still stick up through the wet layer of gloss; then you start to see a "rain on a puddle" effect as the spray splashes into the liquid gloss coat; finally you get to the "wind on a pond" stage, where you see the gloss coat "blown" into ripples by the air pressure coming from the airbrush. At that point you're done. Move the airbrush away and the gloss coat self-levels to a glassy shine. When you've got that all over, get the model under a plastic box to keep dust off, and leave well alone for at least a couple of hours. Clean your airbrush very, very thoroughly. 24 hours later the gloss will be cured REALLY hard, so you if necessary you can sand off any dusty imperfections.

It is a bit more of a pain to use than a ready mixed clear coat or a rattle can of varnish, but you get a much better finish WITHOUT any of the polishing stages that proper car modellers seem to like so much... ;-P

bestest,
M.

[splash]

Cheers Matt.

It looks a lot of hassle, but looking at the fantastic results you get, well worth the effort.

As I rarely need such a perfect high gloss finish I think I might just pass on using Zero 2K .

Regards Splash

[mattbacon]

And now I'm calling this done. Better pictures to follow when I can break out the "studio" (and find a feather to clean the inside of the windscreen!)






What a great little kit, even if I could have done without the red plastic bodyshell!

bestest,
M.

[JamesPerrin]

Great build Matt even if it is yellow Needs an Audi Quatro along side as they look like they had a common relative.

BTW Has some chrome come off the grill or is there some red trim?

[Clashcityrocker]

Great work with the painting. A nice high gloss finish.

Nigel

[mattbacon]

Thanks, guys! Beauty parade time:





















bestest,
M.

[iggie]

Very smart indeed!

[ShaunW]

Very yellow, but I don't think one could refer to a Delta Integrale as being mellow! Excellent work.