81-er

Beautiful result there, and definitely different to the subjects most of us have chosen. James

That's a fantastic looking result. I really like the colour and the lights James

Another excellent result there Tony James

Good progress there James

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I'll get shopping James

Out of curiosity Steve, what level of micromesh do you use between coats? James

That looks very effective and "real" with the panel lines James

Very smart James

You'd kinda hope so. Although, there could be the arguement that they were saving weight for maximum performance James

Thank you. I wouldn't say they'll be masterpieces as there's a lot of dodgy bits you can't see in those photos (and hopefully won't when it's all installed either). There's only so far you can polish a turd James

Hunting through photos of the real things online, it seems the Shelby's usually didn't have the console. Kinda weird, isn't it? James

As the title suggests, I'm after a better clearcoat. I've currently got a can of Humbrol acrylic varnish, which is useless. It's giving me an almost matt finish that's slightly hazy, rather than the gloss I'm after. Must be safe for use over acrylics and must be in an aerosol as I don't have an airbrush. Otherwise, I'm completely open to ideas.

That's looking really good James

As a result, I have a large number of painted spoons now (and yes, my garage is a mess, but it’s full of bits for the fence I’ve got to put up this weekend): Unfortunately, not all of the tests came out as well as I’d hoped. The biggest issue I had was actually getting my hands on the type of purple I wanted (a rich Cadbury-ish purple), which meant many experiments with Tamiya clear red over their mica blue, variously over black or gunmetal bases and with limited success. There was a very fine line between not enough (resulting in a patchy appearance) and too much, which just turned brown. I tried some tests with the Ford Deep Impact Blue I bought for the choppers (which I will finish one day) and tried a 50/50 by masking half of it before spraying the clear red. Lesson learnt, scuff the spoons first or the paint comes off with the masking tape! I even tried some tests with the paint my fiancée is using to tart up some lampshades. That was close, albeit a solid shade rather than metallic. Finally, I got the result I wanted after purchasing a can of Deco Color metallic violet, with Tamiya TS14 black as the base coat: I also hit home with the wheels, Tamiya TS38 gunmetal again over a black base: A couple of shots of the two together, both under the lighting in my garage and another at my desk: I’ve decided on Tamiya TS66 IJN grey & TS81 royal light grey for the interior colours: The darker TS66 will be the main colour and TS81 for the seat centres and possibly some accent panels on the dash and door cards. I’ve also got some carbon fibre effect decals I’d like to try for the dash as well. The colours look good together as well, making me happy I’ve made the right choices: I do need to find a better clearcoat, however. I’ve currently got a can of Humbrol acrylic varnish, which is pretty rubbish. It’s supposed to be gloss, but mostly dries to a fairly matt and cloudy finish. So, can anyone make a better suggestion? It needs to be safe for acrylics and in an aerosol as I don’t have an airbrush. Besides paint tests, I’ve also been working on the bodywork. I think I’ve finally managed to blend the front and rear panels into the rest of the bodywork, hiding the nasty joints I inherited. A final spray of primer once I’ve finished the other work I’m currently doing will confirm or deny that belief! Inspired by Vppelt68’s Cobra Jet build, I’ve decided to also slim down the vent window frames. A little fiddly, but worth it. Apparently, I only took a before shot of the driver’s side and an almost finished shot of the passenger side. Both sides have been fully fettled now though. Continuing the scope creep as the deadline has been extended, I’ve also decided I couldn’t live with the terrible panel gaps on the hood. These varied massively between the two sides and indeed even along the length of the same gap. I’ve started by gluing thin strips of plasticard to the joints, trimming and sanding them down and then adding a skim of fille. That’s now in the process of being sanded down, so this is very much a work in progress shot: I’ve done a similar process on the back edge of the hood as that gap was enormous too. I’ve also taken the decision to remove the moulded in hood pins, partly as they were a bit clunky and not hugely lifelike, but mostly because I prefer the cleaner look without them. I did try opening up the snout vents, but after drilling a couple of test holes it became very obvious that that would be a very time consuming process to get right due to the thickness of the plastic the hood is moulded from: The trunk lid will need the panel gaps dealt with as well. If I’m honest these are a lot worse than the front end was: Finally, the seats are almost there. There’s been a few rounds of filling, priming, and sanding to get them here. Bar a bit of dust cleanup, the one on the right is good to go, but the one on the left needs some sanding on the filler at the back of the seat base. Getting rid of the lumps has been quite a mission. These will get a final prime in white as the main interior colour isn’t far off the grey primer: Until next time James

That's a beautiful result Tony, the backgrounds really set it off James