Hello / body painting ?

[ctkfaze]

Hi, just introducing myself to the forum. I haven't really done much scale modelling in a while, but I've been inspired after finding this great forum a week ago. The last project I worked on was a Tamiya 360 Spider that's about 90% complete -- well, that was before I found this place...



As you can see, I neglected to paint the body at the time. Partly due to laziness and partly due to the fact that my previous attempts with other kits were disastrous. But I've picked up some excellent tips here and plan to go back and give it a few coats of silver.

What's the best way of removing glued parts (used Testors liquid plastic cement) without damaging or marring the parts? Or would it simply be easier to mask off existing parts? OR have I already done enough damage?

[MPWR]

Welcome to AF!

You may have some success carefully removing parts by putting the model in the freezer- differential expansion will sometimes work on cement seams. It would be a real project, though.

Either way, the Tamiya 360 is not the easiest kit to learn to paint on. I would really recommend before reworking your 360 to build and paint a curbside (engineless) kit or two. Some of Tamiya's Porsche kits (and many others- just ask if you need ideas) are terrific for learning to body paint on. Ideally you want something without an engine, and with as few body parts as possible (a one piece body shell with a minimum of airscoops is ideal).

[ctkfaze]

Hmm, might try that freezer tip on a scrap piece to see how it turns out. The body isn't glued to the chassis, so it's mainly the head/tail lamps I've got to worry about. I agree about doing a curbside model for painting experience. In fact I ordered a Fujimi R33 kit a few days ago for just that purpose.

Thanks for the comments =)

[Dave5.0]

Welcome to AF
Check out the tutorials, there are a few for painting procedures that will give you a great result with a little practice.

Good luck!

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

The best advice I can give you is to leave it alone and practice your painting on another unbuilt kit. Much less hassle.

[Scale-Master]

I was thinking the exact same thing as ZoomZoom said!
Looks pretty good now, to make it better would be a ton of ripping out and repair work, time better spent on a fresh kit... - Mark