discussion Jakko’s Tyrrell P34, Tamiya 1/20

[Guest]

The parts that are going to be blue, are now …

View attachment 511809

… grey I wanted to do this yesterday, but totally forgot :rolling: So, I sprayed them today with some car primer. I suppose this attempt shows that that stuff is meant for metal more than for plastic, because it covered in one coat on the etched parts, but needed two on the plastic ones before it was a nice and even shade of grey. (The blue visible at the front of the seat is because that’s where it was covered by my finger as I held it for spraying. This is not a problem because the lower part of the seat needs to be painted black.)

The little mesh cover that will go over the air intakes was a last-minute addition. I thought the instructions said to paint it black, so I hadn’t built it yet. I noticed it has to be blue after I put the first coat of primer on the rest of the parts, so I quickly cut it from the fret and folded it into shape before doing the second coat of primer.

Now to find an aerosol with a medium blue paint. I found one that says it’s Himmelblau but the cap looks a bit lighter than what I think the Tyrrell should be. If I don’t find anything better, it will have to do, though. Unless the bottle of Tamiya XF-7 flat blue I discovered I also have, turns out to be usable still, which I’m not really expecting it to be.

 

[Guest]

The Himmelblau was far paler blue than the cap made me believe it was, but I found another, cheap, can of medium blue:

View attachment 511982

Though it says “quick-drying” on the label, I sprayed it at something like four and a half hours ago, and it’s still tacky … Let’s hope it will be properly hard tomorrow so I can put on some decals.

As an aside, I’m pretty happy I used that glass file to get rid of seams and file marks. The upper cowling is a left and a right half, with a seam down the middle, and I can’t see any trace of it despite the gloss paint.

 

[Jim R]

That looks a good finish Jakko. You have done well to get rid of that seam especially under a gloss coat. Don't be impatient and try to add decals too soon. A lot of decal setting solutions wreck paint that is only touch dry

 

[Stefee]

Looking mighty fine, this will be a lovely build when decaled and completed.

 

[Tworrs]

That paint job came out very nice Jakko.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, and I’ll keep the advice on the setting solution in mind

 

[Andy T]

As an aside, I’m pretty happy I used that glass file to get rid of seams and file marks. The upper cowling is a left and a right half, with a seam down the middle, and I can’t see any trace of it despite the gloss paint.

I recently purchased a glass file after a recommendation on another group. A very useful addition to the arsenal.

 

[Guest]

Looking really nice!

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Coming on very nicely Jacko. The photo etch is a good addition.

 

[Guest]

I recently purchased a glass file after a recommendation on another group. A very useful addition to the arsenal.

When I first used it, a year or so ago I think, I was pretty surprised that you can get plastic to actually shine with one.

 

[Jim R]

Thanks, and I’ll keep the advice on the setting solution in mind :smiling3:

The only reason I mentioned it was due to a bad experience. Humbrol enamel gloss, beautiful finish, left for 24+hrs and decalled. The VMS decal solution just ate into the paint and left a matt, slightly milky area. Being gloss I couldn't touch up easily and although I tried to mask the decal and respray it didn't work.

 

[Guest]

I haven’t applied the decals yet, but the blue is now no longer tacky, so I painted areas of the upper body that need to be aluminium or black. I think I’ll give it another day, if not a few more, before doing the decals, just to be on the safe side.

 

[Guest]

Not done any modelling for a few days after painting the aluminium and black bits on the parts I sprayed, but today I began putting on the decals. Not all in one go, because I doubt you could without disturbing ones that are still drying, but here’s where I am now:

View attachment 512580

I put them on straight from the sheet, no Micro Set under it (it beads up on the gloss paint), but with Micro Sol over them to help them settle down.

 

[minitnkr]

I use 'set' to clean the surface as well, allowing no oils/dust/hair to possibly interfere w/decal placement.

 

[Stefee]

Very nice.

 

[Jim R]

Decals certainly look good.

 

[Guest]

Thanks :smiling3: They’re now all on:

View attachment 512594

More than your average tank, but less than your average aircraft What I find most notable, though, is that these decals seem to be thinner than what you get in Tamiya armour and aircraft kits. So why, if they can do it for F1 kits, can’t they do it for those?

BTW, as this is a P.34 from the Japanese GP, they added Japanese transliterations of the names: たりれ (“ta-ri-re”, /ta.ɾi.ɾe/) and しえくたあ (“shi-e-ku-ta-a”, /ɕi.e.ku.ta.a/). Oddly (to me, anyway), these are in hiragana characters rather than katakana, when the latter is normally the one used to spell foreign words.

 

[Guest]

I use 'set' to clean the surface as well, allowing no oils/dust/hair to possibly interfere w/decal placement.

Forgot to reply half an hour ago, but: am I a bad car modeller for not bothering to do any of that? I didn’t clean the parts before I sprayed them (any of the three times I did), I sprayed them in a dusty shed (three times), and I didn’t bother cleaning anything either before applying the decals

 

[minitnkr]

Lucky man.

 

[Andy T]

What I find most notable, though, is that these decals seem to be thinner than what you get in Tamiya armour and aircraft kits. So why, if they can do it for F1 kits, can’t they do it for those?

I think they may have learned their lesson with that. The Tamiya kits I've done (aircraft & tanks) that were released in the last couple of years had much thinner decals than the few older ones I've done.