WIP: Fujimi 1/24 Ferrari 550 Maranello

[hirofkd]

Ahh, it's already 2006. I intend to finish 12 in-progress kits this year (1 per month), but I don't promise anything. Anyway, I started polishing the body of my 550 model.

After seven or eight coats of TS13 clear, it developed a severe orange peel effect on the surface. So, I used 2000 grit Tamiya finishing paper on the hood just to highlight how bumpy the surface is. (right picture)
With the surface this rough, I needed a coarser 1500 grit paper instead, and begun sanding the roof. (left)


I usually sand in four directions with each fineness of sand paper and finishing cloth to uniformly smooth the surface.


After dry sanding with Tamiya 1500 and 2000 papers, I used Detail Master's finishing abrasive set, started from 3200 grit and worked the way up to 12000 grit, making sure no hairline scratches were left behind before moving on to the next fineness. After 12000 grit wet sanding, the surface looked like the left picture. It's very smooth, but doesn't have the wet look of a polished surface yet.

I polished the surface with Tamiya's coarse and medium compound, Modeler's top compound 2000, and then Tamiya finishing compound, followed by Hasegawa's ceramic compound and polymer wax. (right)


I'll probably polish one section a day, and there are four more to go. (front, rear, left and right sides). phew.

[digitalbanzai]

Oooh, shiny.

[RallyRaider]

Hiro, you must possess incredible disipline to actually perform all those polishing steps (I usually skip at least a couple), but the end result is something to behold.

And I wish you the best of luck in achieving your goal of one kit per month for 2006.

[klutz_100]

Well, if ever there was a perfect demonstration of what can be achieved by sanding, rubing and polishing, that was IT!!

Someone ought to attach that post as a sticky in the FAQs or Tutorials.

I would like to ask you some more about this...

Originally Posted by hirofkd

, followed by Hasegawa's ceramic compound and
polymer wax.

I stumbled across this the other day in a LHS and didn't have a clue what it is - now I do Do you recommend it? Could you say a liitle more about it.
Poland is a strange place for modeling - I can't get even basic paints but sometimes you can find the strangest such as this ceramic compound - I even found a Historex punch and die set which I didn't buy (for 100USD!!!!!).
If compound is good in your opinion, I would buy some.
Thanks for your help and advice

[D_LaMz]

man that is shiny!

[gionc]

A good hand is recognizable so far! perfect shiny

[Hawk312]

Originally Posted by hirofkd

I polished the surface with Tamiya's coarse and medium compound, Modeler's top compound 2000, and then Tamiya finishing compound, followed by Hasegawa's ceramic compound and polymer wax. (right)

Very nice shine!! Beautiful color choice!

So this "ceramic compound" is even finer than Tamiya "finish" compound?

[Robi J]

OUTSTANDING shine !!!

Robi

[hirofkd]

I started working on the hood.
After sanded with Tamiya 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers, the marked areas still had some fine dimples, but I knew that would disappear in the polishing step, so I stopped sanding there. The point is not to sand too much, or there's a risk of exposing the bare body-color under the clear, and end up clear coating again.


After wet sanding with Detail Master 12000 grit cloth, the surface looked like this, but a similar or even better result can be achieved with Tamiya coarse compound, instead. (Automotive scratch remover works, too.)

Originally Posted by klutz_100

I stumbled across this the other day in a LHS and didn't have a clue what it is - now I do Do you recommend it? Could you say a liitle more about it.

It might be because the store got it for aircraft modelers. Hasegawa uses multi-piece mold to make bubble-shaped canopy of some of their aircraft kits, and they deliberately leave a seam line on the outside surface for easy sanding and polishing. Hasegawa's ceramic compound and polymer wax are useful in restoring scratched canopy parts, but Hasegawa also recommends using them for car models.

Originally Posted by Hawk312

So this "ceramic compound" is even finer than Tamiya "finish" compound?

I'm not sure. You can achieve almost identical result with these two products, but they give different feelings. When I use ceramic compound on a surface already polished with Tamiya's finishing compound, I can still feel friction (suggesting that the grain is coarser than the Tamiya). As I continue rubbing, however, I start to feel the fabric running smoother than it would with Tamiya compound on a Hasegawa-treated surface. Since I can "feel" the difference, I prefer ceramic compound. When I try the other way around, I feel like I'm polishing already smooth surface, and doesn't feel like I need any more polishing.

I don't mean Tamiya doesn't work. They're just different. I also use the fabric Hasegawa chose to sell alongside their polishing products. A different fabric might work better with Tamiya compound.
I recommend Hasegawa compound and wax, but I strongly suggest that you buy Hasegawa's polishing fabric with them.

[deltableh]

That paint job looks AMAZING.

[speedphreak]

How do you paint the window rubbers with all that clear on the car?! And how do you keep the panel lines? Nice shine by the way!

-Chris

[WasteGas]

Man that shine is deep!

[Captain Mark]

VERY nice finish to the roof. Can't wait to see the finished product!

[klutz_100]

Thanks Hiroaki, although I don't think anything can save the paint job I did yesterday !!

Obviously painting from rattle cans in my cellar when it's 10degrees below zero outside and very humid is not such a good idea

[Jaimenew]

out of this world shine, beautiful color