Quick '39 Chevy Truck Part 7

(The idea that was a 'quick' project gets ever more laughable! Once again I apologise for how long it takes me to do things, work and real life have slashed my available free time.)

Anyhoo, remember my 'Quick 1939 Chevy Medium Truck' project? Probably not, so I will re-cap - It's another 'kit-bash' hybrid based on Valiant's very nice 1/72 Fordwerkes V3000 resin war-gaming model. In this case I mount a scratch-built Chevy bonnet and wheel arches onto the back-half of the V3000 cab to make a (hopefully) passable 1939 1.5 ton Chevrolet cargo truck.

I had to do a bit of 'cheating' and enlarge the bonnet slightly to get it to mate seamlessly with the V3000 cab, but it looks OK as long as you don't put it side-by-side with a proper 1/72 1.5 ton Chevy truck kit!

Weathering - working with oils
I'm getting my basic 'war game' style of weathering pretty much down pat now. I say 'war game' style because it's a little more exaggerated in it's use of effects than were I doing a display model. The idea is that it looks 'cool' at table-top distance so things like weathering and chipping are a little OTT.

I have developed what I call my 'leopard' technique for weathering with oils where I apply successive layers of coloured spots. I lay down a random spotty pattern of one colour, then I smear it with a wide brush dipped in thinners (but then wiped so it's only just a little wet) to create the streaking effect I'm after...

I usually start with white spots which, when smeared, will (hopefully) create a 'bleached' look on old paintwork. The Finnish army trucks by the end of the war were pretty worn and battered and originally bright paint schemes were faded and patchy.

In all I usually do three different colour schemes of spots, each progressively darker (depending on the truck's base colour). For green vehicles I usually like to end with a oily brown stain effect...

Between each layer of streaking I apply a light coat of Humbrol Satin Acrylic Varnish, this protects the work I have done before I add the next coat of oils (and, obviously, I begin the whole process with a coat of varnish to protect the model's base paint coat).

A dusting of varnish is applied again before I go onto the next stage, which is the pin-washing. I use AK Interactive - Enamel Wash: Dark Brown for Green Vehicles and I have found this works best with a gloss varnish base, just to help the enamel wash 'run' into and along all the panel lines detail.

This enamel wash is also great for adding additional grimy streaks on your vehicles. The AK range includes special washes for 'oil streaks', 'grime', 'fuel stains', 'light rust', but this is the one that I used the most.

As well as the top of the truck I do some weathering to the underside of the vehicle as I go along. Obviously, this being a war-gaming 'ready to roll' model there isn't so much detail, but I like to give what there is a little treatment as some of it is visible. I begin with some base colour, then weather that before adding some dust and mud effects...

Having finished the weathering of the underside I could finally fix the wheels
in place and cover over the holes I left for the axles. Underside done!

I don't spend too long on the underside as it's not meant to be on display. But having gotten that out the way I turn my attention to the fun bit of weathering (in my opinion) - chipping!

And then I end with some light rust effects and, finally, the addition of a layer of dust and mud. In this case I have decided on a light application of dust and mud.

The final treatment is a coat of satin and matt varnishes. I like to lightly mix the vanish coats as I think vehicles alway look nice with a little sheen to their paintwork - so I give a quick 'puff' of satin to the cab and matt varnish everywhere else. And that's that.

Next: Basing the vehicle.

Craft micro and precision saw tools

I've been working with styrene rods since I very first started modelling again (seriously this time as opposed to the modelling I did as a kid). At first my use of modelling plastic consisted of patching and some detailing but lately I've started undertaking slightly more ambitious scratch-build projects.

A 1/32 scratch-built gun carriage I'm working on.

Now, while I was working with smaller and thinner strips and rods of styrene my craft knives were perfectly adequate for cutting, trimming and shaping the plastic, but bigger projects means bigger bits of styrene and my craft knives are starting to struggle with these.

I have, actually, already got a small hobby saw - X-Acto extra fine razor saw of the type most commonly available in hobby stores - but although it's great for general sawing and large jobs it's not suited to precision jobs...

It's also not very good at getting into awkward little areas of a model as the blade is so big. What I wanted was something the size of my craft knife blades but which had a saw type of edge.

As is usual in the world of modelling tools, if you come across a 'specialist' need some clever clogs has developed a specialist tool to deal with the problem.

A quick search on the Web came up with a selection of micro saw blades of exactly the form that I had in mind. And the good news - for once - is that none of these specialist tools cost a fortune, so I soon had a couple of examples ordered and on their way to me. (I am already at the end of this month's allowance!)

The saws sets are rather unusual in that they look like bits of etched metal accessories of the type you buy to add detail to models. One set (small) is by RB Productions and simply called 'Nano Saws' and the second (large) set is by Model Craft and labeled 'Precision Saw Set'...

Both sets are provided as blades only, you have to provide your own handles to turn the set's pieces into actual saws. But these sets are designed to be used in combination with standard craft knife handles of the type you will probably have in your hobby tool box already (or which can be got at practically any good hobby store).

Model Craft 'Precision Saw Set'
The larger of the two sets is what I would consider for material preparation (although it is still markedly smaller than my X-Acto saw). These are longer bladed tools with larger saw and more aggressive teeth...

These would be great for cutting thick styrene (or Balsa) blanks into roughly the right sizes prior to the assembly of your model. They are designed to work in combination with a Swan & Morton (or similar) No. 3 medical scalpel handle...

I found that these fine metal tools slotted on to the No. 3 handle OK, but as is usual with scalpel blades sometime there was a little 'wiggle'. I usually cure this by securing the blade at the rear by wrapping some tape around the 'tang'.

While the problem could be solved by having a thicker blade the thicker the blade the wider the cut, and you don't want that. So I will just persevere by using my tape method to hold the blade securely. It's no biggy.

RB Productions 'Nano Saws'
The smaller set of blades are very nicely designed for getting into small or awkward spaces in your model or for doing exceptionally precise work.

In this case these blades are designed to work with standard craft knife handles of the slot and screw type. They are very quick to pop in and - unlike the Model Craft ones - can be very securely fastened and don't wobble about!

The saw teeth in these tiny blades are extra-extra fine and with the metal being exceptionally thin too you can expect a gnat's hair of a precision cut. The shapes of the saw blades in this set are uniquely designed to allow you to get into tight spaces or cut at tight angles.

I can imagine these specialist blades will be invaluable when I start to take on more scratch-builds. But even for modifying and converting plastic kits these tiny blades will be very handy additions to my ever growing modelling took box.

As to actual proficiency of cutting and sharpness I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to use them yet - but they feel sharp enough. I will wait until my next scratch-build to make a proper report.

Likewise, as to how long they will stay sharp will only be determined after use, but to be honest these sets were enough of a reasonable price to make regular replacement fairly inexpensive.

Model Craft Precision Saw Set - £5.82

RB Productions Nano Saw Set - £4.87

I bought mine from the Scale Model Shop (UK) - www.scalemodelshop.co.uk

A better putty - Deluxe Materials

Well, it's been a while - due to several months of intense work stuff and then my summer vacation - but I've dusted off the workbench and I am off and going again...

A better way to fill seams and cracks in models
Since I started modelling again I have been using Milliput two-part putty to fill seam and repair cracks and other damage in my plastic models. Milliput is a great medium, it's easy to work with, is very malleable and it hardens extremely hard - the down side is that it takes up to 8 hours* to dry properly.

* After 3-4 hrs hardening, it needs same amount of time to fully cure, i.e. reach a level of settled hardness to allow for predictable sanding results.

Milliput is great to work with and hardens wonderfully, but is easy to sand or
file. It also produces a very smooth finish. But it does have one drawback...

As you can imagine this really makes a dent in your production time. Every repair or fill needed to be left overnight, and if you didn't get it right the first time you had to repeat the process all over again (another 8 hours wait). Very frustrating, so I have been looking for a faster drying alternative and I think I may have found one - Deluxe Material's 'Perfect Plastic Putty'.

Working with 'Perfect Plastic Putty'
A 40ml tube of Perfect Putty is about £5.39, and although thats hard to compare to what you get in a Milliput putty set I think it's a safe guess to say that you do actually get more material using Milliput. But that's not necessarily the most important thing.

My main concern is drying time, and also comparing the quality of the two putties. So I am trying the Perfect Putty out on a little project I am doing...

A 1/32 scratch built artillery carriage I'm working on, and unfortunately I have
a couple of gaps in the styrene framework I have made.

Perfect Plastic Putty looks like PVA glue, but it's a bit more like cake icing in
it's firmness (it isn't runny). It will stay where you place it.

First thing that's nice about Perfect Putty is that there is not mixing involved, it's ready to use straight out the tube. Mixing the Milliput can be a little tricky and messy sometimes - if you get the mix wrong it can effect how hard the Milliput drys. Another negative aspect of using Milliput is that you inevitably alway mix up too much (as you don't want to run out), this can lead to a bit of waste - this isn't the case with Perfect Putty.

Once applied you can start filling and smoothing out the putty. But bear in mind
that unlike Milliput it's a lot softer. You almost have to 'trowl' or skim it on like
plaster or Pollyfilla, then sand it smooth when dry.

Working with Perfect Putty once it's out the tube is relatively easy, although as a 'liquid' it's not quite as well behaved as a true putty (like Milliput) can be. It's a little smushy! It's reminds me a bit of Pollyfilla in that it has to be smeared onto the area you want to repair and the neatening up is mostly done once it is dry and you sand it smooth. With Milliput putty you can do a certain amount of smoothing off when it's still 'soft' - you can even smooth off soft Milliput with water (as you would a clay).

Which brings us to the most interesting property of a modelling putty (as far as I am concerned) - drying time. As I said, Milliput can take up to 8 hours to harden properly which isn't really convenient, and so my hope is that Perfect Putty speeds up the production time of modelling.

The good news is that my test application of Perfect Putty dried in 20 minutes! This is a huge difference and means that repairs can be done and you can get on with your modelling on the same day. Furthermore, the hardness of Perfect Putty was very good as well - maybe not as hard as Milliput but within half an hour I was sanding and filing my test repairs, that's amazing!

As good a repair as I get with Miliput, and even if it isn't perfect I can reapply
Perfect Putty and get on again within half and hour!

Conclusion - Perfect Putty perfect?
On the surface this little experiment seems to suggest that Perfect Putty is superior to Milliput. It does the job that I mostly use Milliput for - filling seams and cracks in plastic models - but does that mean it has made Milliput obsolete?

No. Perfect Putty is a good filler putty, a perfect filler putty in fact (as far as repairing indentations is concerned). But Milliput has other properties that make it an indispensable part of your modelling tool kit. Milliput has many of the same properties as a clay, it's mouldable, you can sculpt with it, you can use it to build up broken sections of an object. You can't do that with Perfect Putty as it's simply too 'sloppy'. (Edit: 'Sloppy' is perhaps not the right word, it is slightly firm - like cake decorating icing - but it is not runny.)

So, as with so many modelling materials, it is really a case of horses for courses. That said, Deluxe Material's Perfect Plastic Putty is a superb material for one of the most routine jobs in plastic scale modelling - filling gaps and seams. And it does what it does in double quick time! This will be a new standard item in my modelling toolbox. Very impressed.

Link to the UK web site for Deluxe Materials - makers of Perfect Plastic Putty.

1/25 'Mad Max' Willy's Hot Rod - Part 5

Modifying the original Revell chassis for the new wheels
As usual, this 'straight forward job' has turned out not to be straight forward at all. Why do I continually underestimate what a job entails? Lack of experience I suppose...

I was hoping that the larger wheels I had found would fit onto the existing body and chassis with a minimal amount of modification. I just wanted to enlarge the body's wheel arches to allow for the chunkier tyres, but that was wishful thinking on my part. What I was trying to avoid was a 'monster truck' scenario where the suspension was jacked up and the body raised above the axels.

This is where I left off...I test fitted the chassis - as is - to the body. It was at this
point it became obvious that there just wasn't enough clearance between the new
wheels and the body. So I had to rethink how I was going to do this model.

I have worked out something of a compromise where I raised the car's body only a little, but enough to provide enough clearance between the wheels and the wheel arches to look reasonably feasible (if not entirely realistic). To do this I would have to add some blocks between the body and the chassis and also chop the length of the chassis to reduce the wheel-base slightly (because the wheels are larger).

Cut and shutOk, shortening the chassis first - as this will change the location of where the chassis attaches to the new raising blocks. I estimated that I needed to shorten the chassis by only about 3mm...

In effect this would allow me to reposition the axels closer together to recenter the new wheels within the enlarged wheel arches (moving the front axel back and the back axel forward slightly).

Having done the cut, it's time to do the shut. I strengthened the join with some brass rod then glued the two halves of the chassis back together...

You'll see from the above photo how much higher the chassis is sitting above the body of the car now (when upside-down like this). Also if you look at the front you can see how much I have moved the chassis/front axel back. I now have to think about how I will attach the chassis to the body of the car...

The green box shows the front attachment point, that's OK where it is. The red
Is the cut'n'shut where I removed 3mm of chassis. And finally the blue indicates
where I will have to move the rear attachment point forward about 4mm.

Once the chassis is glued back together properly I have to make some proper support posts to join the body and chassis together. The body will now sit 6.5mm above the chassis, now I'm not a car mechanic - in fact I don't even drive - so my 'engineering' will probably be far from realistic. I'm just going to make some plastic 'stilts' on which the body will sit on...

Yeah...Not very sophisticated, but it works. I've stuck eight of these little posts
to the chassis which raises the car body up 6.5mm.

Having got the car body siting on the chassis properly I now have to turn my attention to how the V8 engine will fit onto the chassis. Essentially its the same problem as above - I will have to make 'spacers' or 'risers' to compensate for the extra space created by raising the body over the chassis. The engine will have to be lifted the same 6.5mm to sit as it was intended inside the engine bay of the car's body (otherwise the V8's blower will not protrude out the top of the bonnet properly)...

Er, oops! Solving one problem simply creates another. Raising the car's body
off the chassis means that the V8 engine is now too low and the blower no
longer protrudes - as it should - out the top of the bonnet. Bummer!

The same is true for the other engine components - like the radiator - and I will have to raise all these up because of the chassis modifications.

Phew! And that's the chassis modifications complete and it's ready to paint. Although it also became apparent - while doing the above test fitting - that I needed to now move the engine forward to compensate for my moving the chassis back (shortening it)! Every modification seems to result in a knock on effect!

Right, everything has been moved, raised, cut, shut, shifted, tweaked and otherwise
mucked about with. Now I have to tidy up, sand smooth and paint.

And that's that for now.

Next: The big job - modifying the Willy's Coupe bodywork for that 'Mad Max' look!

Getting rusty - corrosion experiment part 3

The Hairspray Technique
After Wednesday's marathon 'rust' session I had a little breather. And I promise to keep this blog entry short and sweet!

While both the chemical rusting and 'salt chipping' techniques were new to me I have used the 'hairspray technique' a couple of times and am fairly confident about applying this method for getting a flaking paint effect. Though, again, this will be the first time I have used it at this kind of scale.

But that's what this experimental project is all about, so without further ado...

I decided to apply this technique to a couple of specific places - the bonnet (hood) and the left side door - and so began by masking out some of the adjacent areas. I am using the cheapest hairspray I could find and spraying it from the can (rather than decanting it and using my airbrush).

It has been suggested that using a water-based hairspray - rather than this cheap stuff - works better, but I actually could only find one example of this locally and it was quite expensive. But I will try that out at some point, just to compare the results.

I airbrushed on a couple of bright colours which would contrast nicely with the rusty base coat. The choice was a bit random but I suppose it goes with the idea that this car is an old battered wreck.

Applying some warn water with a brush I then scratched at the surface with an old stiff toothbrush for the big areas of flaked paint I wanted. Then I changed to a sharpened toothpick for the smaller patches and to break up the areas around the bigger patches so they looked more natural.

Every so often I would stop and dry the area I was working on by pressing a piece of kitchen towel on it. This stopped too much paint flaking away and helped the patch you had just done to dry and adhere properly. I also cleaned away any small flakes that had come away and were sticking up or pushed then back down on the surface if I felt I had flaked off too much paint.

It is, by nature, a bit of a hit and miss effect and proceeding very slowly - and referring to some photographic reference as you go - is the best course.

Once done I did go back over a couple of the patches I felt were over-done with a small paint brush and re-applied spots of the top-coat colour. In this way you can achieve some sort of control and modify the finished look to your tastes.

Finally, once these paint is completely dry I went around certain areas very lightly with a small piece of fine 'wet & dry' Emery Paper to fade the top coat paint and gradiate the effect between the top coat and the rusty base coat. (You can probably see this on the bonnet where the blue paint fades to light blue at the edge of the large central patch.)

And that's that...

Next: Some small finishing tests, weathering effects and one last try with the DM rusting chemical.

Getting rusty - corrosion experiment part 2

This time I'm looking into a new technique - chemical rusting. So far I have only practised effects using paint, powders and pastels so the idea of creating an effect using a little chemical kit is rather novel. The make of the kit I'm using is Deluxe Material's Scenic Rust Kit.

Love this photo! And it exemplifies the sort of look that I will be going for with my 'Mad Mad'
inspired car project, which is the reason why I'm doing this rust and corrosion experiment.
Photo credit: 'Car Wreck in Broken Hill, Australia' by Paul's Pictures

BUT...Before I start getting all scientific (even my secondary school Chemistry teaching wife showed some mild interest in the aforesaid kit) I want to do some more minor tinkering with the base coat colours that I laid down in Part One of this experiment.

I was talking over the results of 'part one' with my brother and he made some very useful comments about the 'rust' colours and textures I chose and how I used them. We both agreed, I think, that the shades I used were a bit 'off' and the mottling effect too prominent so some toning down - or 'modulation' - was in order...

Before and after colour modulation using a light airbrushing of Vallejo's
'Amarantha Red'. This has toned down the rather unrealistic mottled effect.

After looking through the available Vallejo paints at my local hobby store my eye settled on their 'Amarantha Red' [829]. It's a wonderful soft coral red with an undertone of orange, and it was this oxidised red/orange tone that - I think - was missing from my first attempt at painting 'rust'.

Some might say that this is 'obvious', but when I first painted my test jeep I was, in fact, quite pleased with my mottled browns. It only became apparent when I specifically checked reference photos from desert locations (on advise from my brother) that my 'rust' wasn't very rusty after all!

Another thing I did was to alternate degrees of redness on different panels of
the car's bodywork. Some I left browner while other I made more orange. I think
this gives it a more interesting look.

Deluxe Material's Scenic Rust Kit...

Right, having sorted out the basic paint layers - and 'yes' that does seem a lot of work for what is simply the underlaying paint coat - I now start thinking about how I will apply DM's rust kit.

Now I have seen tutorials that have used two slightly different ways of using the chemical rusting medium. The first is to apply the DM rust under the top paint coat and flake off the paint to reveal it and the other is to paint your top coat and then to add the DM chemicals.

The difference is that the DM rust effect adds texture as well as rust effect to the model so you might want to have your rust 'bubbling' up from under your top coat paint (as it would in real life) rather than being a more superficial effect. Neither method is right or wrong as far as I can see so I decided to try both approaches.

So, I added some of the DM solution to my jeep now and will apply the top coat after having sprayed on some hairspray in order to reveal the chemical rust - and rusty base colours - by means of the good old 'salt chipping technique'.

The dark grey 'paste' is the first part DM rusting method, which consists of an metal
based powder mixed with a 'binding' solution. I've tried painting it on in a light
coat and dabbing it on in a more clumpy texture to see what difference that makes.

I wasn't over happy with my first attempt at using the DM rust, I think I was a little over cautious and treated it like a paint and applied it too thinly. I found that where it did work was where I had dabbed the mixture on...

It created a crusty texture effect - perhaps too textured, but I can shave off some of the excess 'clumps' to make it smoother if I want. But in any case, I decided to try again but this time go for a really think application just to see what this would do...

OK, a little OTT for a scale model but this is an experiment after all. Again, I figured I could sand back the amount of texture - but let's see how that looked after the 'developer' chemical was added (and a 8 hour wait)...

Well, rusty yes, but far too thick and too much texture...I'm beginning to have my doubts about this technique (so far I feel I could have achieved the same effect using - cheaper - oxide powders). Still, I am curious to see what this 'rust' looks like after the top coat paint has been airbrushed on.

Salt Chipping Technique
Anyway, while not happy with the DM rust effect I continue to experiment with other rust effect techniques. I will be trying this effect out on the roof of my test vehicle and in preparation I have already masked that area off and applied a light gloss varnish coat to give the base colours a bit of protection (just in case)...

I have continually changed my mind about what makes a good rust colour effect,
but I think I have settles for a darker base now. I reapplied the mottled patches
in more subtle tones and I think I am happy with the colours...For now!

(Note: What you don't see here is that I have re-sprayed and re-painted this roof three times over the last week. It's been a bit of a Goldilocks approach as I have tried bright orange rust effects and medium brown rust effects, but finally I settled on a dark brown rust base effect.)

Getting a good 'mottled' paint effect: In part 1 of this experiment I tried using a airbrushing paint through a light dressmaking fabric gauze, which sort of worked but was a bit messy. Since then I have looked at several different materials which might be better suited to this purpose and I came across a synthetic filter material that seems to be ideal.

'Aqua safe' filter foam sheets.

 It's the sort of material you would use as a filter for aquariums and is quite cheap - I trimmed it to make it thinner as 5mm thickness seemed to be ideal for my purposes. It copes with airbrushing better than the more absorbent fabric gauze I was using (which became saturated with paint) and can be used again and again without blocking up, so a small piece goes a long way. It produces a very nice random mottled pattern which seems more subtly than trying to get the same effect by dabbing paint on with a sponge.

Ok, this is turning into a bit of a marathon, so onwards...

After the base colour I sprayed the roof with a light matt varnish coat. I like to apply a varnish layer between different paint effects as it give what I have done some level of protection in case I make a mess of the next effect I put on top. I felt this was particularly important because I was worried about what salt and water might do to my paintwork.

The salt is sprinkled onto the model, having sprayed the area which it will be applied with a misting of water. I used rock salt, but also ground down some to make smaller grains...

The water sticks the salt granules to the surface of the model temporarily. I found that when I moved on to the next stage - air brushing on my chosen top-coat colour (pale blue) - that the airbrush did blow off some of the salt grains, but I simple threw some salt back on and continued spraying. Once done I started to brush off the salt...

But you will find that you are better taking a fairly stiff toothbrush at the salted surface to get ride of all the salt grains. Some are quite stubborn due to being held in place by the airbrushed layer. After a good brushing this is what you end up with...

Phew! Finally got a rust effect that I'm happy with (I think)!

At this point I was going to also try the hairspray technique but in all honesty I'm losing the will to live after all that...So I'll leave that till next time!

1/25 'Mad Max' Willy's Hot Rod - Part 4

It's all about the wheels in this blog entry. Just to quickly re-cap - I'm not using the Hot Rod style wheels that came with the Revel kit, I have found some nice big fat off-road wheels that I'm going to mount on the model instead. The catch is that I will have to modify the car's body to get them to fit.

So, first things first, I need to work out how much I need to trim off the existing wheel arches to get the fat wheels to attach to the axels.

Rather that trying to draw round the new tyres (with their knobbly tread) I decided to make a template disc - the same diameter as the new wheels - and fix it on a extension to the axel so I knew the disc was perfectly centred...

I could then attach the body shell onto the chassis and get a perfect idea about where and how much plastic I would have to remove from the wheel arches....

And finally, it was just a case of drawing around the template. This would provide me with an accurate guide indicating where I should trim off the excess wheel arch...

And now the scary part!
No matter how careful you think you are being you still have a nagging worry that you are going to mess up and cut too much or in the wrong place or slip and ruin the bodywork completely!

So, trying not to tremble, I carefully used my Dremmel (with a cutting disc) to slowly trim away the unwanted plastic up to within a couple on millimetres of my guide line. After that I will file and sand up to the line...

Well, nothing goes quite to plan...It turns out that my big new wheels are very big indeed and to get enough 'breathing space' around them I had to remove far more of the wheel arch than I expected. I also will have to think about raising the bodywork up off the chassis slightly (a minor job).

There was a lot more trial and error involved in this modification than I had imagined there would be. I had to keep checking the fit and then trim a bit more and a bit more off the body. But, finally, I managed to get an acceptable size and shape of wheel-arch that accommodated the big fat tyres!

It looks a bit mad...But that seems appropriate to the nature of the project. So, having done one wheel arch I now have three more to go. Phew!

Next: Finishing the chassis and mounting the engine.