Tamiya 1/24th scale kit. One of the many factory colors offered was Fire Red Pearl; it looks a lot like Tamiya Mica Red so I’ll use the LP paint for the exterior.
The kit is molded in a dark charcoal metallic so I used Tamiya AS-12 Bare Metal Silver as a barrier after doing the normal clean-up.
I decanted it and reduced it with Tamiya lacquer thinner. It took two lights coats to cover fully, but when it dried I was really happy with the smooth and thin finish.
The LP-42 was also thinned with Tamiya lacquer thinner and airbrushed in two coats.
While the finish looked smooth and uniform, after it fully dried it wasn’t as glossy as the Pearl Blue I used on the NSX. It may have been polished out, but with the more predominate flake this color has, I thought I’d use the Tamiya LP-9 Clear Gloss to bring up the shine.
Again it was reduced with the Tamiya lacquer thinner for better flow and smoother gloss. This clear works very well and is quite forgiving. It also dries as quickly as the colors in the LP line. This is how it looked about 12 hours after clear coating. (If you are looking for a good clear gloss and have not tried this yet, it is well worth looking into.)
Looking good. Thank you for describing your process.
The engine is on the simplistic side, but once all the underhood details are added (or should I say painted) it should play the part just fine.
After the chassis is painted up it looks pretty convincing for a simple pan with suspension and exhaust components.
I spent a little extra time drilling out and detail painting the rotors to look more like carbon fiber.
Here’s a link with more details:
Cannot see the images as Imgur is with held from use by the company in the UK
The interior builds up nicely with PE parts for the pedals and some of the trim panels. Plenty of decals for speakers and other details too. I used LP-30 Light Sand and XF-63 German Gray. The Gloss Black on the dash and console is brush painted LP-1; it flows pretty darn well.
Since I detailed the brakes I decided I wanted wheels that would show them off better than the stock ones, but I had nothing that would fit the tires in my stash so I designed a set and 3D printed them.
Everything fits incredibly well on this kit including the clear parts and PE pieces. There are a few trim pieces that need to be foiled, but even those are not difficult to do.
Love the body color…nice choice!
The last details to go on were the mirrors (I used the same trick on the NSX to paint them) and a custom license plate.
Here’s a link to an easy way to paint the mirrors:
This is a really enjoyable kit to build. If another one comes my way I’ll definitely grab it.
Nice job, the wheels look great and the body paint looks really good from what I can tell in the pictures. Nice and clean.
Wow, the Aston really looks sharp! Question in regards to thinning thr LP paint.
What ratio of paint to laquer did you use?
Happy Modeling,
Mike
I would like to know this as well. I need to shoot my P-38j’s wingtips and prop cones soon.
It varies as I apply the coats. I go by how it bubbles in the airbrush cup and how it sprays. The first coat is mixed with a little less thinner compared to the last coat. Sometimes two coats is enough, sometimes three or four works better. There are multiple variables and temperature has an effect too.
So 30% thinner is a good starting point, but the airbrush you are using may work better with a different ratio. I use about 50/50 ratio for the final coat(s).
While you are spraying and building up the final coat(s), it’s a good idea to stop just as it flows out and any orange peel has gone away. Give it 5 minutes after stopping painting and it will flash and smooth out even more. If it doesn’t smooth out enough after that time, I give it another coat. Don’t wait too long if you decide to add another coat..
Try not to go too heavy/wet as it can develop a run in that 5-10 minute period as it’s flashing after you’ve stopped painting.
I’m using a Paasche VL with a #1 needle and cone.
I hope that helps.