e30lover Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 (edited) Hi all, My latest build is Revell/Monogram’s 1/24 Pontiac Firebird. It appears almost identical to 70’ Trans Am but unfortunately they got rid of the T/A decal in this release. For the build concept I wanted to keep it mostly stock - since the biggest downside of this kit is kit rims so I got the 15” Rallye II wheels from Fireball Modelworks. First I scribed all the panel lines, fixed hood gap and sanded the whole body with 600 grit. I then added 1000 grit surfacer to find out any other places I need to fix - here are some closeups that revealed funky spots. I wet sanded with 1000 grit to fix all the uneven surfaces especially around panel lines which will create bumpy surface when I lay the paint. Below pics are where I evened out all the uneven surfaces between the body panel. I laid 1500 grit surfacer and lightly sanded with 1500 grit to smooth out remaining uneven spots and deeper scratches. This will give me a clean surface to lay the base coat. To simulate Lucerne blue, I mixed GX metallic blue and metallic green and added small amount of silver to lighten up the colour. I laid 2 base coat (1 dry 1 wet) and applied kit decal. Once I applied the kit decal I laid clear coat, let it dry for few days and wet sanded with 2000 grit to even out the surface - I did that step twice and applied the final third clear coat. While paint is drying I started working on the wheel. I painted the rim in silver, applied masking decal and painted with mixture of grey, silver and black. I painted the lug nuts, center caps and trim rings with gloss black then painted them with Alclad chrome. I also lightly painted the tires with mixture of flat black, grey and flat clear to get the right sheen and texture. I mixed flat blue, little bit of green and flat black to get the darker shade of blue for carpet, masked off the carpet and painted all the interior with lighter shade of blue. As for the underbody, I sprayed Tamiya dull red, masked off the underpanel and painted frame rail in flat black. I also added some light weathering effect with airbrush. I screwed up the dashboard a bit b/c the kit comes with molded gauges and one big decal for the whole cluster trim - decal seemed pretty forgiving but in retrospect I should’ve masked and painted the trim, drill out wholes for all the gauges then apply decals on acetate. I painted the engine (silver first, masked off transmission and painted in light metallic blue), de-chromed all the chrome parts in bleach, sanded them, pained them in gloss black and applied alclad chrome. The other additions are aftermarket distributor and ignition wires. Edited August 9, 2023 by e30lover formatting 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C. Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Always been a big fan of the Lucerne Blue. Great job on the wheels/tires. The blue int. is nice too. Paint the intake manifold raw aluminum and its a Ram Air 4. These were said to be screamers. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelson Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Lots of great work done here!,the wheels look very realistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Beautiful looking paint work and great color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camaro69 Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Looks awesome. Thanks for sharing your working steps so detailed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOBLNG Posted August 9, 2023 Share Posted August 9, 2023 Awesome work all around!? The wheel rims look perfect. What brand of scriber is the blue one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeRS Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 Nice work. I really like the paint job. Those Fireball wheels came out amazing. Did Fireball supply these with the masking decals and the tyres? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrb124@sbcglobal.net Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 Great build. Have read that the Fireball wheels are the way to go. I'll order them when I start my build. Your engine is a trophy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete75 Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 Beautiful work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e30lover Posted August 10, 2023 Author Share Posted August 10, 2023 20 hours ago, Mike C. said: Always been a big fan of the Lucerne Blue. Great job on the wheels/tires. The blue int. is nice too. Paint the intake manifold raw aluminum and its a Ram Air 4. These were said to be screamers. ? Thank you! I love high revving engines ? 20 hours ago, kelson said: Lots of great work done here!,the wheels look very realistic. Thanks a lot! 19 hours ago, espo said: Beautiful looking paint work and great color. Thank you! 18 hours ago, camaro69 said: Looks awesome. Thanks for sharing your working steps so detailed. Thank you! 17 hours ago, NOBLNG said: Awesome work all around!? The wheel rims look perfect. What brand of scriber is the blue one? It's Funtec line engraving tool - tips/blades are interchangeable and it comes with a nice case for the tip! 9 hours ago, beeRS said: Nice work. I really like the paint job. Those Fireball wheels came out amazing. Did Fireball supply these with the masking decals and the tyres? The Fireball's wheel kit includes the masking decals for the center rim and I did buy tyres but I ended up using stock tyres that came with the kit! 5 hours ago, rrb124@sbcglobal.net said: Great build. Have read that the Fireball wheels are the way to go. I'll order them when I start my build. Your engine is a trophy. 100% - I use a lot of aftermarket wheels for my build and Fireball's products are top notch. 5 hours ago, Pete75 said: Beautiful work! Thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenmojr Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 Excellent work. Love this generation of the Firebird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamelvis Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 Nice Work !! Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TransAmMike Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 Wow Chang, that is coming along super nice!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bainford Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 Nice clean work. Looking great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e30lover Posted September 1, 2023 Author Share Posted September 1, 2023 On 8/10/2023 at 10:59 AM, Kenmojr said: Excellent work. Love this generation of the Firebird. Thank you! It's my favourite Firebird as well. On 8/10/2023 at 4:23 PM, adamelvis said: Nice Work !! Adam Thanks! On 8/10/2023 at 9:06 PM, TransAmMike said: Wow Chang, that is coming along super nice!! Thank you! On 8/10/2023 at 9:31 PM, Bainford said: Nice clean work. Looking great. Thanks a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e30lover Posted September 1, 2023 Author Share Posted September 1, 2023 Once the paint dried, I started wet sanding the surface with 3000 grit sponge, 6000 grit and 8000 grit sandpapers. After that I polished with 3 tamiya compounds and hasegawa ceramic compound. I also added panel lines and finished it off with hasegawa polymer coat - not too shabby! I then masked the windows and airbrushed the trim with mr color's chrome silver. Almost ready for the final photoshoot! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan Dan Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 Wow! Stunning paint job and attention to detail. Great work. Gonna be a beautiful build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TransAmMike Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 Oh yeah, that is just beautiful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino246gt Posted September 2, 2023 Share Posted September 2, 2023 Fantastic! Nice work and building tutorial, thanks for sharing and inspiring us! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestringer Posted September 2, 2023 Share Posted September 2, 2023 Looks great. I'm building the same kit, but it's not looking as good. I over looked fitting the front and rear body panels before paint, and they do not fit well. The hood is also a bad fit. Mine is Testor's Gloss Blue acrylic. BTW, mine does have the Trans Am decals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemifever Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 WOW! Great paint job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 Beautiful paint and finish!, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trendsetta68 Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 wow! Awesome paint ! ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaftygas Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 Those wheels look superb! Where did you get those masks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camaro69 Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 Every part of this build looks killer. I think I have to train my stamina for painting things and mostly car bodies.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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