Scale Auto – October 2019

(Jacob Rumans) #1

11 12


13 14


50 Scale Auto • OCTOBER 2019


gray (XF-56) went on the side-marker
lights first, followed by Tamiya clear
red (X-27). As a decal artist, I already
had a license plate ready to go. The Hot
Wheels sticker went over a puncture in
the bumper on the full-size car, and I
made a decal for it, too. I mixed a drop
of Tamiya pearl white (TS-45) into a
quarter-full airbrush cup of Testors
Dullcote to give the license plate a
slightly reflective effect and tone down
the decal gloss. I dulled the lower edges
and underside of the bumper with the
same mixture, 13.
I masked along the side trim and
airbrushed the lacquer thinner-flat
base-color mix in light coats until it
looked like the reference photos I’d
taken of my Camaro: about four
uneven passes on the driver’s side and
two passes on the passenger side, 14.


Using the same mixture and a
paintbrush, I picked out the odd spots
around the vehicle where the clear was
going bad. After they dried, I hand-
painted Dullcote over areas where the
base-coat blue had completely shed its
clear. A toothpick fine-tuned the edges.
Even when my car was new, the
wheels weren’t chrome. However, the
center caps were. A bead of white glue
masked the wheel centers. After the
glue had dried, I stripped the chrome
plating with oven cleaner, 15. I let the
glue dry again after I rinsed off the
oven cleaner, then cleanly removed the
glue with tweezers.
Originally, the wheels were clear-
coated gloss metallic silver with a
diamond cut lip, but they had lost
much of their gloss and the clear was
separating and peeling off. I brush

painted the model’s rims flat
aluminum. The outer lips received a
highlight of Tamiya chrome silver
(X-11) decanted from a paint pen, 16.
Distressing the wheels started with a
finely pointed brush and some flat base
thinned with Windex (other glass
cleaners may not work the same)
painted in small uneven blotches to
mimic the spots where the clear had
peeled off. After 20 minutes, I stippled
the rims with a flat-bristled brush
dipped in Tamiya medium gray (XF-
20). Flat aluminum went into the
center of the blotches of flat base,
leaving a tiny uneven ring of the white
finish. I went back and added a second
layer of chrome silver to the lip of the
rims, 17.
For the final touch on the wheels I
made decals for the center caps. The
tire sidewalls received a light wash of
Tamiya German gray (XF-63) toward
the treads and flat brown (XF-10) near
the rims, 18.
I built the chassis straight out of the
box except for eliminating the dual
tailpipes and chrome tips. Our Camaro
had a single tailpipe, but matched the
rest of the model’s exhaust system. The
colors and weathering mimic the real
car, including the non-stock rear
shocks. While the model has a V8 and

THAT BASE-COAT DRAB
I was lucky to have the paint colors in my supplies to simulate the
original clear-coated shade and the less vibrant base coat. However, don’t be
afraid to tone down a better looking clear-coat color to make the drabber base
coat for other colors. Use a small amount of a medium gray, such as gunship or
German gray for mid-tone colors. White, light gray, or even silver or gunmetal (if
metallic) works for lighter colors. With darker shades, black (for cool colors) or
brown (for warm colors) work well. - Mark Jones
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