Hillary Will's '07 NHRA Top Fuel Dragster

[rallymaster]

I'm not the guy that put 3 stars but I would like to say that this rating isn't clear enough...

When you get 3 stars out of 5 at school that doesn't mean you did a bad job !
(ok we're not at school but it's an example)

What is IMO stupid in this rating is to give a bad opinion by giving stars...!!??
Bad opinion should be 0 star (of course a 0 star rate different from no rate) and number of stars increase with enjoyment and quality appreciation.

When you are off topic at school (yes again my 2cents example) you get a 0 not a 3...!

I personaly think (but I can be the only one) that it's the rating mode that is unadapted, and maybe people are giving 3 stars out of 5 thinking it's a medium appreciation...

And moreover, even if it's sometimes deserved, what is the sens to badly note a model ???
That has no sens to me, it even should not be possible to give such a note, stars rating should only be a appreciation of quality range from good to exceptional for example.

btw most of the only rated threads are by 5 stars given so what should be understood for the non rated threads...??

Does someone else see that as I do...?

[hakkfan]

A bit of an update......

I reworked the kit rear wing. New upper element, along with two new end plates from .015 sheet plastic. It was then painted in HoK black in preparation for being covered with Carbon fiber decals.



The inside of the body was also shot black at this time.



Moving back to the engine, I modified a resin injector scoop to closer match the 1:1 version. This was then covered with KA models carbon fiber decal film being careful to match the directions of the real pattern, and then cleared with Dupont clear.



Since I had replaced the kit clutch can and reverser, I needed a new one. I found a resin piece in my parts box that worked perfectly. It was shot with Alclad steel, detailed with the reversing lever, and installed. I also added a few lines to it, as well as a new turned aluminum drive shaft.





And a few mock ups with the rear end and carbon rotors installed.





Thanks for looking!

Clay K

[Golden_Cross]

AMAZING..Mr.Kemp what a work of excellence!!
Take Care & God Bless!!!

[hakkfan]

Thanks man.... More progress.

The kit front Weld wheels were based in Alclad black base, and then shot with two coats of Alsa chrome. The treads were sanded smooth, and the wheels installed.



Moving back to the engine, the injector hat was installed, and the upper set of fuel lines were added using Pro Tech black plug wire, and Scale Hardware nuts. The blower belt was also decaled and installed.







And I was finally able to get the base color down on the body panels. I started with HoK Silverwhite Pearl, and will begin the flame work soon.



Thanks for looking!
Clay

[hakkfan]

With the base color laid down, I put some Tamiya masking tape over the decals and traced out the back section of flames. I then cut theses out, and applied them to the body on both sides.



With the body masked I shot the rear part of the body and the mud flaps with HoK's amazing Candy Cobalt Blue Basecoat. Might be a bit dark for her car, but it's such a cool color I decided to use it.



And with the mask removed.......



Next I back masked the blue flames and got ready for the fade.......



And with the blue covered I blended the silverwhite pearl into white. After the white dried a second, I blended in the lemon yellow, and finally a bit of flo. orange on the flame tips.



And with the masking all removed again, here we are. The back half is done!!!







With the back half finished, I moved to the biggie. The nose/body fade. Once again I used the decal flames as a guide and cut out the pattern and applied it to the body. And then covered everything behind it.



And then I started fading in the front flames. I started by going around all the edges with an awesome color, Sunrise Pearl. A very warm, kinda metallic honey color. Then I tried to carefully blend in all the fade of the red, in this case, another amazing HoK color, Candy Apple Red Basecoat. This color looks pretty cool as is, but it will come alive after the clear goes on. Once I had worked all around the flames, the rest of the front end was filled in.





And with the final masking removed, it finally started to look like Hillary's car!









My next step is to seal all of this in with a few thin coats of clear, and then do all the pin striping around the flames. I may do it with decals, or I may do them with paint freehand. Her flames had a really slashy, jagged kinda border, so I may be able to do them myself. Then I'll clear again, polish, and add the rest of the sponsor decals.

CK

[bmwmech1]

Can't believe no one has posted a reply to this latest update, but I, for one, think it looks awesome... great job on the fade of the flames, and once it's cleared and the pinstripes added, it should be incredible! Keep it up!!!

BM1

[taliesen]

You make it look so easy! I struggle with simple straight line masking on 1/12 scale, and you pull this detail off at 1/2 the size!!

Amazing!!

[tuned.by.twenty]

You make that masking look way too easy.
Two thumbs up for what I've seen so far!

[Twowheelsrule]

Excellent detail and paint! I really appreciate the way you are doing your build-up and including detail of the supplies you are using as that will help all of us modelers.

I have been using HOK urethane paints similar to what you have in the pictures and I love them! I usually just do single color paint jobs but, clearly judging by your photos the work great for model graphix!


Keep up the great posts,
Mark

[Decs0105]

That is brilliant, the engine looks really good! All the little details make it really come to live. And the paint and masking job is top notch. I never tried something like that, I am more than happy if my one color paintjob looks good. Really inspiring work...

[Eric Cole]

Awesome as usual Clay. I can't wait to see those colors with some clear on them.

The engine detail is outrageous!!

[Big Kahuna]

The detailing is always awesome.
I love the painting on this one. LOVE IT!
Bravo!

Ciao!

[hakkfan]

Thanks for the comments guys, good to see some of you are still hanging in there with me!!

More progress......

I shot the two body panels with PPG clear a few days ago and wet sanded them down with 1000 grit to level every thing off. Then I busted out the old One Shot and got to work. I used Process Blue for the front flames, and Bright Red for the back set of flames. The real car had a real sketchy pattern so that helped me out.

Here's the real thing........





And mine so far. I'm a little thick. Hard to get quite that thin as those are, but they're done, and I'm glad I gave them a shot and I think they'll look pretty good once I put the final clear over them in a few days.









I need to let this dry for a few days add a few more decals and it will be ready for final clear.

Thanks for lookin'..........

CK

[sportracer02]

Well Clay,

to be honest, when I saw your paintwork -without knowing the real thing- I was impressed, but I wondered, how you will make the edges of the flames "sharp".

Your idea of pinstipping the flames is great, as you mentioned, the stripping is a little bit thick, but I think it is the result that counts, and you did a great job here.

Did you think about adding here and there a superfine black line close to the blue one, to create a "shadow effect"?

[bmwmech1]

Friggin' awesome paintwork! I can't wait to see the decals on it for the "full effect"!!!

BM1