A Ratty Fat-Fendered Ford Forty

[vsuarez666]

I love the sound of that many "Fs"!!! Now that I have found my subject, the Revell 40 Ford kit, I can start to work on my entry for the contest.



The new project is well underway, and I am trying a new color for the sweep, so I hope to keep you guys in the loop in terms of every step, every breath this one takes . . .

I took the body, cleaned it up and added some touches here and there to make it look just right for when the paint comes . . . dings & dents, scratches, etc . . .

I de-chromed the front grill and headlighst buckets . . . and glued them in . . . added some rust-throughs with the dremel . . .



I cut the hood and glued the bottom half to the body to make it seamless but also to imply somebody had worked on it (with plans) and then gave up . . . .



I added nicks and dents with my Xacto and then sanded the edges smooth . . .



A few slivers of rust-throughs on the driver side rear fender and it's done . . .

[vsuarez666]

The next step involves adding some texture to the fender wells and along the edge of the body, and for this I used MIG acrylic resin, which is a great product that is water soluble . . . but you folks here on this forum already know that!



You add a little bit of fine dirt and or baking powder to the acrylic resin, mix in thoroughly and then you apply it with an old brush . . . the stuff doesn't dry that fast so it gives you plenty of time to work it on to the surface. The idea is to give the panels texture for the upcoming coat of primer . . .

The process is not as messy as it sounds or looks . . .



But keeping a little bit of clean water nearby should help keep your work area clean . . . just in case . . .

You stipple it on there without adding it on too thick . . . go slow and enjoy the process . . .



This material dries hard and creates the right texture if what you want is to convey a dirty, scaley, and yes perhaps even dry-muddy surface . . . again, the trick is not to overdo it.



After it dries, the body is ready for primer . . . stay tuned in . . .

[vsuarez666]

Okay, here's some more progress with better pics, I hope.

Many moons ago, Ken Hamilton, a great dioramist and model car builder who lives in New Jersey, turned me on to the best primer I've been using, Plastikote, which hasn't ever let me down so far. I keep all three available colors around, though I like the results I get with the gray primer . . .

It provides a smooth, even surface--at tooth for the impending coats of paint and washes, etc . . .



If you are looking for a primer you can thin down to really not lose any detail on your builds, then you can turn to Mr. Hobby, which you can thin down and shoot through your airbrush.



Here are some pics of the primered vehicle:



In this next picture you can see the texture I added to the fender wells with the MIG acrylic resin and mixed in dirt . . .

[vsuarez666]

I painted the whole body with light coats of black for the shadows that will come later. I don't know, the more I use black as an undercoat, the more I like the results . . .

[vsuarez666]

After the black dried . . . I applied light coats of my rust color mixture . . . keeping the paint away from the panel edges . . . again, remember I am using my airbrush which makes this kind of targetted spraying slightly easier than say using a rattle can . . . (Oh, in case you are wondering, I am using FLOQUIL ACRYLIC PAINTS!)



You can see the paint darkening toward the edges and corners . . . where the black is underneath . . .



Here's a much better picture and angle where you can distinguish that shadowing . . . .

[vsuarez666]

Now that the basic black coat shadow, rust coat base is on there, I waited for it to dry.

Once dried, I can back with the a few drops of the original rust color to which I added orange and then I started spraying patches of color all over the body, making the rust lighter and more faded from orange to yellow . . .again, the splotchier the better. I was experimenting some more with the technique and the look not going for anything specific. Just a general splotchiness!



In this next picture you really begin to see not only the effects of the splotchiness but also of the darkened panel edges--the shadows--underneath the rust . . .



Another good angle here where you can see the burst of different rusty paint shades . . .

[vsuarez666]

All right the next step employs a sponging technique . . . you know the sponging of color on to the body . . . and I made a selection of the colors I wanted to use . . .



I thinned them with distilled water to a runny consistency, like this:



And using the small sponge I started to apply color at random, in a stippling movement throughout the body, first with one color and then another, and so on . . . like this:



Remember go with light touches . . . and don't worry about messing up--I tell you it is hard to mess this up. Focus on having fun with the repetitive stippling motion . . .

Here's a closer shot . . . allow for the colors to blend on top of each other . . . make sure the paint maintains a water, thin consistency

[vsuarez666]

The alcohol you see in the above picture will come in to play later when we need to get the rust-throughs to really stand out, also for some preliminary washes . . .

[vsuarez666]

Here's the effect you want:



If the sponge runs on you or the paint pools, you can use a hairdryer to dry it, or leave it alone . . . it doesn't matter that some of the splotches take over larger areas . . .



Also, you don't want full coverage, but you want the color to get on there . . . without obliterating the shadows and the rust base . . .

[vsuarez666]

Here you can see I followed the same principle except I went out of my way to make the hood a different color because the hood is going to be an integral part of this build as you will see later . . . yes, Wayne, I am a tease!!!



You see the effect of the stippling, even when you allow for the color, i.e., the blue of the hood, to take over the panel . . .



You can see how I stippled that blue all over the place, sparingly though . . .

[vsuarez666]

Once you are satisfied with the stippling--although you don't want to stop having fun, you also don't want to overdo it--you let the body air dry or you can use a blow dryer . . .

After the body is completely dry, you take your handy spray water bottle and mist plenty of water over the surface. Work quickly and allow for the excess water to drain and then you can sprinkle salt liberally all over the body . . .this time I covered most of the body with salt because I want to retain most of that stippled rust . . . I want it to really show through . . .



Oh my, is it snowing? Did the rat ford fall into the salt jar? Remember to use different size salt grains like table and kosher because you want variety too in the masking . . .



I'm not kidding you when this technique calls for having fun and really putting on the salt.

[vsuarez666]

In case you were wondering what kind of airbrush I was using, well, here's a glamous shot of my babies: one Eclipse and two Micron Iwatas!!!



I never leave home without them!!!



Oh, and I mix and transper my paints to York Top plastic bottles for easy dispensing!

[vsuarez666]

Okay, here comes the color choices for this one . . . I took some white (remember to use only flat paints, which is what most of these Floquil acrylics are, and the Jo-Sonyas too . . .) and sprayed the whole body, except for the hood in light coats . . . you want faded coverage . . . and then I also wanted to maintain those panel edges, nooks and crannies with some shadow to them so I added a bit of yellow to the whine . . .

For the hood I went with a medium green . . . same principle . . .

Here's the beginning of the end results . . . (bare with me, we still have a while to go!)



Here you see the shading taking place . . ..

[vsuarez666]

That's a heck of a lot of salt, and you wonder how much of that paint is going to stay on . . . and we'll see . . .

I fogged on a little more yellow around the edges just to darken them . . .



Here's an extreme close up . . . the salt is really stuck on there, but you want to be careful and not touch it or have it come off . . . this is your mask.

[vsuarez666]

Well, yes, I guess you guys are familiar with these . . .



Okay, after you get the colors to look like you want them, you once again allow the body to dry thoroughly, or you can use a hairdryer to speed up the process . . .

Once dry, you remove all the salt (you've seen this process before in some of the other builds I've done recenlty).

I used Ryan Silva's alcohol wash to get some rust throughs on the body . . . just a few rounds . . . and I once again let everything dry . . .

I applied some india ink/alcohol washes, a bit of rustall, some MIG pigments, and here are some results . . .



Somewhere along this process, I thought of how cool it would be to do a vehicle that's been burnt from the inside, and the fire, of course, was put out quickly . . .



This is where the Iwata Micron B pays for its weight in gold . . ..