Time for another update.
Much progress has been made, as I'm finally over the big test of glossing, rubbing out, and polishing the shell. As I said in my last update, I managed to get the decals to lay down perfectly except for a few that I screwed up not paying attention to where I placed my hands. Michael from Indy Cal has a policy of replacing one time any ruined decals no matter what caused it. Just send a picture. So i did, got a email from Michael that the decals would be printed ASAP and mailed to me. Got them 3 days later. Thank you Michael for the fantastic policy, and the speed in which you got me the decals.
Next step was to glosscoat the entire shell, then rub it out with 3,000 wet, followed by MCW 2 step polishing paste compounds. I originally bought one bottle of MCW lacquer Clear gloss, but I've gone through 2/3 of it ass ti's pre-thinned, and at $7/bottle I'd need another bottle just to finish the build. Way to expense for my tastes. My brother Peter, whose tested out just about every gloss out there for modelers, swears by Mr. Color Gloss, so I bought 5 bottles since they only come in 10ml bottles. I thinned it out 2 parts Gloss to 3 parts Mr. Color leveling Thinner. Then AB'd it @ a flow rate of 18 psi. Two tack coats, followed by 3 wet coats, with the last coat really being on the wet side. The shine was incredible to say the least.
I gave it a full 48 hrs to cure, then I wet sanded it with good old Tamiya 3,000. As I polished it the shine became opaque, which it's supposed to do. What I'm looking for is spots, and areas that remained glossy. Those are low areas that I have to carefully sand down to remove yet staying away from any ridges or sharp corners. When done, I used a tack cloth, then a rinse in warm running water. When dry, I once again went over it with the tack cloth.
Next step was the 1st bottle of polishing paste that I applied in circles, the exact opposite way that I sand which is in straight lines. Slowly the shine started to come back and the scratches started to disappear. When I went as far as i could with step 1, I repeated the polishing with Step 2. The shine was back. Even, nice, and deep. I still can polish it with either wax or a polymer polish, but that's for the end of the build if I feel it really needs it.
Now my efforts focused on finishing up the cockpit. I added a clutch cable as that's how the clutch was engaged back in those days. then I added the dash, shift level, seats, Steering wheel, and a 4 waySeatbelt harness by Tamiya. Unfortunately, it's a design for later period cars, so I had to modify it. The end results are good enough. One issue did pop up, and that's the rear cockpit bulkhead sliding plexi window. it's crude at best and slightly to large. I got it go fit, and the framing in real life is inside the cockpit. I've given it one color coat so far, and a 2nd coat will finish it up. The front suspension is done although you won't see much of it through the Firestone tires once installed.
thanks for stopping by and checking out my Porsche 917K build todate, it's always much appreciated.
Joel