Wip: Audi Quattro

[eruff007]

New project is a tamiya audi quattro, old kit but one of my favorite cars so have 3 of them so this is number 1 , so far body was prep for primer and paint, being an older Tamiya kit was a fair amount of mold lines and even a rather large swirl mark on the trunk lid, however after sanding with 400, 800, 1000 and 1200 was primered with Tamiya grey primer, some touch ups and then tamiya white primer.

body then painted with 3 mists coats and then two wet coats. Color is Tamiya Metallic Red. First time using a dehydrator so took it out tonite been in there about 13 hours, photo's taken and now its back in the dehydrator, thinking of leaving it in a total of 30 hours and then adding Tamiya clear coat, but not sure never done it before lol, anyways all comments appreciated and..does anyone sand or use rubbing compound before clear? there seems to have some very small texture? dust maybe? although has only been in the paint booth and then drying so don't know where it could have come from but any suggestions also welcome... also if anyone has done this model before and could tell me how they did the checkered multicolored "plaid" seats that would be terrific

















Thanks!

[thaidiecast]

Clean built!!!! I built this kit 5 years ago as my first kit but now it's broken.....If I have time, I will buy this kit again....

One of the hardest point is seat pattern......"plaid"...Yes!!! but I have no idea so I didn't do it on mine. I think you should use masking tape to paint multicolor plaid easily.

does anyone sand or use rubbing compound before clear?

Metallic flakes will be gone if you sanding or rubbing metallic color, You shouldn't do that but non-metallic can do. You should clearcoated first.

[MPWR]

It looks like in this pic that maybe the paint has pulled away from the edges on the grille on the side.



Also, there's a darkish line on the leading edge of the C-pillar- is this from paint thickness? (It's hard to tell from the pics.) If so, these should definately be fixed before clearcoating. This is one of the (multiple) problems with applying paint in wet coats- if the paint is allowed to be wet on the body surface, it will pull away from edges leaving you with thin and thick spots. I can't tell absolutely from the pic that this has happened, but it looks like it may have (also around the edges of the fuel filler cover).

The color coat has to be as perfect as possible before clearcoating. You can't sand the last layer of paint before clearcoat, but you can sand everything up to the last. Gently sand out any texture, dust, or other flaws (2000 grit paper is good rof this), and then apply a light, even mist coat to cover any sanding marks. Only when you're really happy with the final coat should you go on to clear- menawhile keep fixing the flaws. Light gentle sanding and light mist coats.

[eruff007]

Thanks Know its hard to see the actual shine and texture of the paint my camera's macro and my homebuilt floresent light in a box photo booth are limited, thanks for the touch up tip, i was looking for the spots you mentioned I don't see anything around the grill or fuel door looks same color to be but your right there seems to be a very tiny darker line next to the line of the window surrounds on the C pilar, can this be resolved my wet sanding then re spraying mist coat?

[MPWR]

That's how I would go about it. Gently sand it with 2000 grit paper, or maybe the 'rough' side of a polishing stick. If you're going to do it wet, be carefull to wash away any sanding slurry before repainting (I generally do it dry). Then apply mist coats until you get an even, consistent finish.

Before clearcoating, I'd put on the ring decals on the doors. You'll have to be carefull with the TS-13- but you'll need to be carefull with it anways. Give the decals at least overnight to dry before clearcoating.

[eruff007]

yeah I was thinking of clearcoating over the decals but I have no airbrush so everything is done with Tamiya sprays and that includes the TS-13 Clear, I have read alot on this forum about how some have been just fine doing clear over the decals while others have told horrible decal eating destroying stories that make me uneasy scares me actually is a discontinued kit so not like I can pick up some more decals if it goes awry lol

if I was do you use a decal setting solution like micro sol or whatever its called? or will that have extra chemicals that will react with the clear?

[MPWR]

TS-13 can be applied over decals, but it must me done slowly and patiently. Use the can in hot water trick to get the paint to come out light and even. I'd give it at least 3 or 4 very light mist coats with at least 15-20 min in between. (I use a microwave to reheat the water for each session.) After that, you can work up to heavier mist coats, but give them an hour or two between. Even if you don't apply the decals before the clearcoat, TS-13 still needs to be applied like this- the paint itself is vulnerable to the solvents in TS-13. It's much better to be patient than to strip.

You shouldn't need any setting/sol solution to get the door decals to work. They're being applied on what should be a perfectly flat, glossy surface- an ideal situation for a decal.

[eruff007]

Thanks think I will give it a shot let you know how it turns out

[eruff007]

Well over the past week or so added clear coat to the audi's body, first time clearcoating over decals, after 7 very light mist coats then a week in the dehydrator was glad to see that the decals were not attacked. Tonite I did a heavy (wet) coat and although the decals are fine a small area about a 1/4 of the size of a penny on one of the doors looks like a small dull area, like no clear coat went on in that area, was wondering if this is a result of the clear attacking the undercoat? if there is any way to repair it without stripping the body which is not an option becuase I have no more decals... any help would be greatly appeciated, I will try to get a pic up by tomarrow once the coat is dry enough to handle. Thanks

[eruff007]

here is the pic sorry couldn't make it any more clear but the damage is above the four rings decal

[MPWR]

Why spray a wet coat? If you had good luck with light coats, why not continue with light coats?

Hard to tell, but I might guess that there's some contaminate on the door there, which is repelling the clear a bit (finger print, a bit of oil, something). I'd probably take some 2000 paper and very gently sand that area to remove any texture from clearcoat buildup. Very gently- you do not want to go all the way through the clearcoat to the color. The 'coarse' side of a polishing stick is also a very good option for this. Then slowly build up clearcoat in light coats. Applying it wet allows the paint to shift- it can run, pool, pull away from edges, ripple, etc. Applying it in light coats will distribute it evenly on the body, and then keep it there because it's not fluid enough to walk about on its own.

Would this be a good time or a bad time to point out that the rings decal is a bit backwards?

Want some detail pics for the engine?

[eruff007]

Thanks I will try that hopefully will work out, about the decal well obviously I am so floustered I can't see striaght lol your right upon inspection the decals are backwards but hey are both pointing the sme direction so guess it will only be the secret of you, me, and every quattro afficiando out there lol...thanks for the tip though