klinad wrote:Wow nice work so far. I'm planning to build this in the future, I suggest maybe you can airbrush the black colour on the engine cover.The S27 decal also has big black dots pretending to be "shade" look which is not gonna work. Use the decal you applied as a guide and use sliver colour to correct the blace colour where oversprayed.
Thank you! I honestly considered this for a split second but I was 99% sure I'd make a mess of it. Also using silver to repair overspray wouldn't work because of how critical it is to have an even coat of silver over the black base. When I was repairing some of the marks left by Microsol, it became a huge challenge to restore an even silver finish, and in the end the result is an imperfect paint job, where the silver reflects differently in some areas. Thankfully, most of these areas are covered in decals. I did however also consider masking the surrounding areas with blue-tack for a soft edge effect but I decided the decals are sufficient.
Thanks for the closeups and explanations of the FIA parc ferme stickers everyone. I figured it related to that. I love how these stickers are included in the decal sheet, it's a great little detail to add. The kit also includes Mercedes parts stickers for the nose and Pirelli barcode decals. I think FIA stickers and Pirelli tyre markings + barcode stickers would be a great thing for someone like Indycals to sell, they're like the modern F1 equivalent of adding tyre markings to models.
Anyways onto the update:
I started by applying the first layer of 2K, to be the base for sponsor decals. I also started tapering the edges of the thick floor to the point where you'd be fooled looking from the side.
Before:
After:
Many many decals applied, including all CF decals included in the kit.
I also repaired the ill-fitting head rest decal by filling the surrounding area with paint. Looks a bit better now. I had another issue with 2K lifting that was applied over decals, similar to what I experienced on my Lotus 102D. Not sure how to avoid that in the future. It was repaired by the final 2K coat later without issue thankfully.
One odd thing about my model - in a few areas where parts were bonded with epoxy glue and blended with epoxy putty, there's been some odd white buildup appearing. It started before I painted, continued after I painted, continued after I applied decals, even broke through the surface of a decal at one point. It could easily be cleaned away with water. It seemed to have stopped after applying 2K though. If somebbody knows what this is, I'd love to know.
Another thing I'm curious about that I haven't seen people mention: I've noticed small hairline cracks appearing in areas where white metal was blended into resin with epoxy putty. I know epoxy putty isn't supposed to shrink over time, so I think they started appearing after exposure to heat? Either from soaking in lukewarm water before painting or using a hair dryer to apply decals, I'm assuming it's because the metal, epoxy, and resin expand at different rates when exposed to heat, and the contraction then leaves then creates hairline cracks? Sorry don't have any pictures right now though, but I noticed before priming stage.
Anyways, after applying all sponsor decals, yesterday I applied the final coat of 2K and it went on brilliantly. I like the effect of gloss over metallic silver, it kind of looks semi-gloss at some angles because of the metallic flakes, but when there is bright light you can see reflections in the glass-like surface.
There's not too too much left to do:
Prime and paint the floor + wheels
CF decal for the floor, Pirelli decals for the tyres
Semi gloss clear all the carbon parts
Assemble
Done??
My conservative estimate is 2 weeks to completion, 3 weeks if life gets busy. As always, thanks for looking!