Vinyl roofs!!............Calling all vinyl roof experts..

[Jeff Sauber]

Hi everybody, I'm interested in trying to replicate a vinyl roof on a 69 Camaro project I'm working on.

If you guys have any tips, tricks, and suggestions, I'd love to read about it and even better if possible, [see them]!!.......If you've got some good images, please feel free to post em up, and elaborate.

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

[Nick Winter]

Hi everybody, I'm interested in trying to replicate a vinyl roof on a 69 Camaro project I'm working on.

If you guys have any tips, tricks, and suggestions, I'd love to read about it and even better if possible, [see them]!!.......If you've got some good images, please feel free to post em up, and elaborate.

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

Jeff I just used a technique the other day that if you get it wide enough it works, I used medical tape and thin styrene, then painted it. it turned out very good.

[crazyjim]

Somebody posted here to use spray adhesive and then paint with whatever color. I tried the process on a '70 Challenger after using some half round Evergreen for the seams and the trim around where the roofline meets the body. It came out pretty decent but no pics because the completed model is up north.

I've heard of people using masking tape to get the texture and somebody makes a vinyl roof kit (Model Car Garage??).

Edited February 25, 2010 by crazyjim

[Harry P.]

Either just spray the roof from a distance to get orange peel, or try faux fabric texture paint. Color, of course, is up to you. Or overcoat the fabric paint with any color you want, maybe a semigloss final color if the fabric paint doesn't come in the color you need.

[Harry P.]

Marcos Cruz had a how to on doing a vinyl top with spray adhesive that looked good. the Testors system is horrible and way too coarse/heavy looking. i've seen people use tape and to me it looks just like tape on the roof of a model.

if it was me i'd go with Marcos' technique or just use paint shot at a distance to get the fine texture. Krylon's semi-flat paint makes for a sheen that's just about right too, pretty much just a nice satin finish.

Dave

I agree! I never did understand why so many people use such complicated, convoluted "systems" to create a vinyl top with taping, cutting, etc. when it's so easy to do with just a can of spray paint held a distance away to create the texture!

[Junkman]

Juha Airio once told me, he is just gluing the seams with evergreen strips, then paints the roof with Humbrol flat mixed with what he calls 'Washbenzene'. And man, does he set the benchmark high.

[AzTom]

Testors Model Masters makes a Vinyl Top two part spray that works great. It leaves a more scattered spray than the Fuax sprays do. I know it comes in black and white but they may of added more colors.

Tom

[Harry P.]

Testors Model Masters makes a Vinyl Top two part spray that works great. It leaves a more scattered spray than the Fuax sprays do. I know it comes in black and white but they may of added more colors.

Tom

Remember, though, you can always add whatever color you like on top of the texture paint... so it doesn't really matter if the texture paint only comes in black or white.

[tabsscale1]

I agree! I never did understand why so many people use such complicated, convoluted "systems" to create a vinyl top with taping, cutting, etc. when it's so easy to do with just a can of spray paint held a distance away to create the texture!

Best looking vinyl top I seen was done this way

[Jeff Sauber]

Thanks for tips guys.....

I think painting the top is the way to go. I've seen some fabrics and tapes used to simulate the tops, but they looked a little sloppy and are a bit out of scale.

I just saw a model by Juha Airo that he did a vinyl top on, just using paints and evergreen strips that looked darn good...in fact it looked just like a 1:1 top.....I may have to practice with different angles and distances, and hopefully I'll get a technique established......

[brett]

I used masking tape for mine painted with a semi gloss thru the airbrush. only used the tape edge as the overlay seam as making it to pronounced made it look to out of scale to me

[Len Woodruff]

I need to do a Vinyl Roof on my 69 Yenko Nova. 2 Questons:

1. What size of plastic do you use for the chrome strip?

2. How do you make the seams look like they have been overlapped if you use a plastic strip?

[7000in5th]

I did this Revell '69 Camaro converted to a Penske TransAm racer many years ago:

The vinyl roof is overlapped masking tape and the trim is Evergreen strips. It is painted flat black. It was easy and I still like the look. I haven't tried any newer techniques.

(BTW, Penske himself told me years later that the vinyl roof was applied because the acid-dipped roof flapped so badly they had to cover it up!!!)

[sjordan2]

Len, i'd take the Nova body to the hobbyshop and have a look at the Evergreen rack. look for some square rod about the same size as the window mouldings or rain gutters to make the trim. for the overlap piece you want a small size of strip, maybe only slightly wider than the stuff you buy for the trim. when you glue it to the roof use liquid cement, this is where i like to use Tamiya's extra thin. after you've gotten the piece for the overlap glued down you can make multiple passes along one edge with the cement to soften the edge on one side.

after you've glued the trim down too, you can go over it with some sand paper or a sanding stick to soften the square edges and make it look like the trim on the rest of the car.

use plenty of reference pics to make sure the vinyl top trim matches the 1:1 car.

Dave

A very good point I seldom see addressed: When you're looking for supplies and aftermarket parts, take the kit to the hobby shop to see how all that would work on your model. That's one reason why I'm leery of ordering parts online that I can't put up next to the kit.

[AzTom]

i've seen the Testors vinyl top spray system on models and in my opinion it looks like ######. the texture is too big, more like that "make it stone" stuff. it's suprising since the Testors system is meant for scale model use, but i'd almost swear it's got enough texture to work out well on a 1:1

for a 1/24-1/25 scale model you want a very, very fine texture. take a look at any kit that has a vinyl top already on it and that's how fine you want.

tape systems or methods look like exactly what they are, textured fabric or paper. i don't think it would even look good on say a 1/16 or 1/12 scale model.

Dave

Dave, That may be correct on the model you saw, but you can change the size of the pattern based on how far you are from the subject. I don't think it tells you that on the can but one of the Testors Reps told me that at the Chicago Hobby Show. In experiments I did it worked great, although you do need to practice a little.

Tom

[Karl Sheffer]

I'm certainly no expert and feel that I just got lucky with the vinyl roof on my Cuda. I used Evergreen strip to create the seams and surrounds. For the seams, I glued down the strips and then blended the inside of each strip with putty. This leaves the outside edge a little "raw" and makes it look like the side that was folded over. I then shot Krylon Semi Gloss Black from a long distance (about the length of my arm) to get the pattern I was looking for. I can't remember if that was all I did or if I also did a few arm length blasts of Testor's Semi Gloss Clear. I was very happy with the results.

[Len Woodruff]

Great job Karl! What size plastic strip did you use, it looks perfect!

[Car Crazy 81]

What about Rust-Oleum "Textured" Black i'd used that on my 68 Charger it came out just fine it can also be used on replicating undercoating on frames.

Heres what the Rust-Oleum Textured paint looks like for a vinyl top.

Heres what it looks like on a frame.

Edited March 3, 2010 by LSU Fan 1981

[Guest Johnny]

Sorry no pics (gave the cars away long ago) but I did two tops back in the 70's. One on a 67 Firebird and another on a 68 Charger.

On te Firebird I used flat black enamel. I marked the lines for the seams on the roof. I ten coated cotton thread with black paint and laid it on te lines. After it was almost dried I ran the handle of an exacto knife along te threads to flatten them out. Then I coated the entire roof with a fairly heavy coating of flat black paint making sure it built up well on the inside side of the thread seams. As the paint tacked up i took a stiff bristled brush and dimpled the paint. After it was dry I recoated it witha thinned coat of flat black. After it was dry I lightly buffed the paint to a light sheen.

I did te same with the Charger except in white!

[Karl Sheffer]

Great job Karl! What size plastic strip did you use, it looks perfect!

Hi Len. Thanks for the compliment. I believe that the strips are .020 x .030 Evergreen. I have so much of this stuff, it's hard to keep track of all the sizes! I just go with what looks good. Hope this helps! Karl

[cruz]

Hey Jeff! I just replied to my old post on this subject in the tips and tricks section of the forum. In my humble opinion I think it's the best method for replicating the vinyl roof tops on a model!