Stardust - '57 Chrysler

Been working on this for a while. Its the paint job I was afraid of. Shiny black.
I used flat black as primer, sanded it, airbrushed on midnight black car paint, colour sanded, polished and was going great guns until I cleared it.
It looked great when polished, a nice shiny deep black. Except for the fact that a tiny amount of silver flake had contaminated my clear.

It wouldn't have mattered so much on a lighter colour but on black those few silver flakes stood out like a sore thumb.
So, what to do?
Reshoot with black & fresh clean clear or...



...dump a ton of flake into the clear and call it Stardust.

She's been nosed and will be dumped on wires & blackwalls but will be otherwise stock with full chrome.

Make the best out of a bad situation. Black is such a pain to get right.

Spray transparent blue over it Fred - give it some depth and take advantage of the silver in it - call it "moonglow".

Wot he said.

Good morning,Fred. Looks like a good save,but now Tezza has me wanting to see it in the transparent blue. Boy I'm a pain in my arse ! Oh,sorry,yours too,Fred

yes the transparent blue would look great,
iv had the same thing happen to a model iv done
awhile back but never finished it after the paint problem but
i may even try the dark blue over mine to see what happens
colud be intersting for both of us haha
will look nice with wires im waitn on my 20"wires for my 1/1 atm

Transparent or candy blue might have looked good but i've folied it now.
My backs still not good so i'm banned from long periods in the shed (I'm mobile but not allowed to sit). I foiled it propped up with pillows in bed. That I could mange but I don't think i'd get away with paint or glue in the bedroom...

I'm real sorry to hear that,Fred. I hope you improve quickly. All the best. Bill

Fred what are you doing resting in bed??? I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms by not seeing your regular witty comments and model builds.

But seriously I wish you a speedy recovery from your back affliction and hope you soon return with your usual sharp wit.

Cheers old buddy!

PS - hope your nurse is looking after you well?

I love her dearly but as a nurse Mrs z makes a great IT manager

Now, I need to Alclad the bumpers on this and would appreciate some tips on getting a really good shine.
Shiney black basecoat (like glass).
10 to 15 psi through the brush.
2 light coats.
But whats the best way to achieve the light coats?
Big nozzle choked down or smaller nozzle and move it faster?

When I Alclad, I use the Alclad black basecoat. Gradually build up the paint and at the end do a slightly heavier run so as you say, the basecoat looks like glass. You are also supposed to leave it for 24 hours.
The light coats I do by eye. I use a smaller nozzle, and gradually increase the colour. Just don't go too far or otherwise it will look like aluminium. I find that it looks dusty when finished, so once dry, use a soft brush to remove the dust and it should look nice and shiny.
All the chrome on this one I did with Alclad, except for BMF around the windows.
Hope this helps or confuses you.

Thanks Kane.
Alclad say use their black but then they would. I've read that any gloss black enamel will work well as long as its a shiny finish.
I'm just having trouble laying down a thin coat. I've been using my biggest nozzle (#5) with hardly any paint coming through but will try moving down to #3.

You mean thin coat of Alclad or the black?
I use a 0.5mm needle for all my spraying practically, and have no trouble (Alclad is about the only thing I don't have trouble spraying)

Thin Alclad.
I've got a Pasche single action brush so that's their nozzle sizes i'm quoting.

Can you post any pics of your practice attempts?

Not at the moment. But if the chiropractor doesn't leave me in too much pain then i'll get down the shed later and take some.

I had an idea which after my gloss black was no good, i sprayed flat black Tamiya and the covered the airfilter in 2K, i just loved the shine. I was then going to cover this with Alclad chrome but have now found out it will rub off.....shame as the finish on the filter is perfect...

It needs to have an black enamel base coat. I tried with Tamiya gloss black spray, but rubbed off once I handled the part too much.

I must be getting better as I got down the yard.
Here you go Kane.


I'm going to polish them back to glossy black and then try again with the alclad when its less humid.

It doesn't look too bad from these photos. If anything, I'd say go a bit less on the amount of Alclad.

zenrat wrote:I don't think i'd get away with paint or glue in the bedroom...

So don't tell her and she'll never know.

Kane wrote:...I handled the part too much.

I know a few guys have that problem, if they don't stop, they'll go blind.

Carps wrote:

Kane wrote:...I handled the part too much.

I know a few guys have that problem, if they don't stop, they'll go blind.

OK. Alclad attempt 2 with kit chrome for comparision

Not quite as shiney and darker but acceptable. Shine issue is probably due to the gloss black not being like a mirror.

Here's the interior. I was aiming for light tan leather. It's not super bright but hopefully still offends Bryce
Carpet is a mix of all my leftover odds & ends of flocking.


Pics of the engine in the engine place.

And here's the foiled body sitting on the chassis & (Fujimi) wheels. Front ride height is set - rear will be as close as I can get to how it looks here and there will be side pipes to add lowness.
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