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48 Scale Auto • OCTOBER 2019
and added drip rails and the upper
windshield seal with strip styrene. A
light coat of primer guided my sanding
to help achieve an even surface, 1.
The body, hood, and rear spoiler
were airbrushed Testors Colors by
Boyd true blue pearl (TS52906). It
exactly matched the full-sized car’s
finish. Two thin coats sprayed a day
apart covered the body and kept the
thickness to a minimum, 2.
The real car’s hood was damaged in
the Christmas Eve accident. Even
though I corrected it so the damage
was less obvious and didn’t obstruct
the headlight, it was never repaired. To
replicate the damage, I bent the same
area on the model’s hood with a pair of
smooth-jawed pliers. I made sure to do
this after I’d applied the paint so the
paint would crack naturally, 3.
The Monogram kit didn’t
have rear side-marker lights,
so I scribed them with a
sharp No. 16 stencil edge
blade. The front and rear
urethane bumpers had
suffered scrapes, punctures,
and gouges from both
accidents. And while I was able
to snap them back in place, they
were further marred by
compression cracks in the paint. I
used a No. 16 blade and files to
re-create those details too, 4.
Because the front and rear bumpers
had discolored with age, I painted
them separately from the rest of the
car. I airbrushed both with true blue
pearl first to build up the base color.
Then I mixed it with a less vibrant
metallic blue and applied another coat.
Notice the compression cracks, 5.
I let the body parts dry in the sun
for a full week before beginning the
weathering process. In the meantime, I
sliced a swatch of ¼-inch open-cell
foam in half with a razor blade. A sort
of stencil for weathering, the foam
halves don’t have to be uniform, 6.Using a 1mm-diameter needle, I
airbrushed a 3:1 mix of lacquer thinner
and Tamiya flat base (X-21) through
the foam onto the roof of the car, 7.
I varied the mix ratio depending on
how chalky I wanted the look: more
flat means a chalkier finish. Be warned,
it goes on clear but turns white as it
dries, which takes a few seconds.
Always make a few test passes with a
new mix over a scrap piece of plastic
before spraying it on your model. Also,
spray through an unused portion of the
foam every time.
A cotton swab with a tiny amount of
mild polish (I use Meguiar’s Ultimate
Polish) works great to define edges and
clean up any unwanted overspray. This
can be done within a minute of
painting. I polished the center of the
roof to define the shape of the sun-
faded paint and around the
roof ’s perimeter to shine
the paint that still looked
decent, 8.
Naturally, where the
clear coat had stripped
away, the paint
underneath was no
longer as vibrant as it
once was. To simulate
this effect, I
airbrushed the