Cobra Daytona Coupe

[Steve Zuleski]

Ya, look great!

[handiabled]

Wow that window slide looks fantastic!

[TJ]

Incredible work. And that paint

[406 Silverado]

Those sliding glass window sections are just crazy Paul!!  The painted car body and decaling have/ are turning out pretty dang spiffy as well. I can't get over the level of detail that is in this build but after seeing how much these kits go for it would be a shame for them NOT to put all of that detail in the box. Something that I had not noticed earlier on in this build was the Laski Liquid Glass from Art Laski. I did NOT know that he had his own site for some reason and I've been knowing that guy for YEARS!! 

[kyledehart5]

Another great update!! Those windows are just super cool!

[joelw]

Paul,
Both you and the designers at MFH get a standing ovation from me for how they designed those side sliding windows, and how you assembled them to working perfection. I'm truly impressed.

Even the decal placement that you figured out makes for perfect alignment which is paramount in 1/12 scale as the smallest of issues easily show.

joel

[project510]

Great job on the sliding window. That looks awful tough to do Paul.

[brandonk]

Let's see here. There were 6 of these made and 5 are known to still exist with one lost to time. Looks like we just found the missing Daytona. WOW !!

[2whl]

Oct 8, 2024 9:20:52 GMT -5 brandonk said:

Let's see here. There were 6 of these made and 5 are known to still exist with one lost to time. Looks like we just found the missing Daytona. WOW !!

Interesting story about the lost coupe


barnfinds.com/tale-lost-daytona-coupe/?fbclid=IwAR2F6_S3sDgItWReVB8cH0Qt0F5SPfeV1KH-RU6Nw_WqlGehW7lNseRvNKU

[2whl]

Thanks for all of the generous comments guys.  It's much appreciated.

I've been toying with the idea of actually clear coating this build.  I know Tamiya TS-13 spray clear is very aggressive and has killed many decals in the past.  But I was wondering how their new LP line of clear would be.  So I grabbed a spoon I had done a color test on and put a spare decal on it.  Then I mixed up a batch of clear.  I had been told that if you use Tamiya's own thinner with their line of LP paints that the result would be shinier than generic thinner.  I sprayed the spoon with a medium coat followed by two heavier coats a couple of minutes apart.  So I kinda laid it on heavy to see if there would be a decal disaster.  I think the results in the second picture speak for themselves.







On the decal front, I'm slowly getting there.


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[keavdog]

Oh boy that looks just spectacular.

[joelw]

Paul,

Oh WOW. You've nailed that gloss finish to a tee.

I've been using Tamiya LP9 since it became available here in the states. It consistently produces an excellent and high shine finish. But I don't use their Yellow cap Lacquer thinner. Rather I use what many consider the best lacquer Thinner out there, and that's Mr. Color Leveling Thinner #400. The difference is that the Yellow cap doesn't have a leveling agent in it, so you have to add your own. I always start with a 1:1 mix and just apply light even coats till I'm satisfied. I've been reducing the final coat to 40:60 or so just to increase the leveling effect. And what ever you do, don't clean out your air brush with either lacquer thinner as it's way to expensive. For that use the cheap stuff from any hardware store.

Joel

[handiabled]

The decals are looking perfect! Your test spray has an amazing gloss finish!

[kyledehart5]

Brilliant work. The decals look great. And that clear looks like a super nice product as well!!

[benb]

That looks great!

I've been impressed with Tamiya's LP line. I thin it with Mr Color Leveling Thinner and have had excellent results. The clear gloss is very good and it polishes up to a really good shine.

Ben

[2whl]

Oct 8, 2024 18:00:14 GMT -5 keavdog said:

Oh boy that looks just spectacular.

Thank you John

Oct 8, 2024 18:35:20 GMT -5 joelw said:

Paul,

Oh WOW. You've nailed that gloss finish to a tee.

I've been using Tamiya LP9 since it became available here in the states. It consistently produces an excellent and high shine finish. But I don't use their Yellow cap Lacquer thinner. Rather I use what many consider the best lacquer Thinner out there, and that's Mr. Color Leveling Thinner #400. The difference is that the Yellow cap doesn't have a leveling agent in it, so you have to add your own. I always start with a 1:1 mix and just apply light even coats till I'm satisfied. I've been reducing the final coat to 40:60 or so just to increase the leveling effect. And what ever you do, don't clean out your air brush with either lacquer thinner as it's way to expensive. For that use the cheap stuff from any hardware store.

Joel

Thank you Joel.  I didn't use yellow cap Tamiya thinner.  I used the LP-10 thinner.  I've got some MLT and I'll probably use it next time.

Oct 9, 2024 2:04:54 GMT -5 handiabled said:

The decals are looking perfect! Your test spray has an amazing gloss finish!

Thank you Brent

Oct 9, 2024 3:15:36 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Brilliant work. The decals look great. And that clear looks like a super nice product as well!!

Thanks Kyle.  I usually don't use clear, but I give the LP clear a big thumbs up.  I would use it before mixing a toxic two step clear

Oct 9, 2024 15:49:34 GMT -5 benb said:

That looks great!

I've been impressed with Tamiya's LP line. I thin it with Mr Color Leveling Thinner and have had excellent results. The clear gloss is very good and it polishes up to a really good shine.

Ben

Thanks Ben.  I'm going to give MLT a try next time.



I went out of my comfort zone and decided to clear this build.  I put the smaller blue pieces on the body and shot it with a 50:50 mix of Tamiya LP-9 clear and LP-10 thinner.



 
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[joelw]

Paul,
The clearcoat came out absolutely perfect. I'm actually jealous.

joel

[kyledehart5]

Ah, now that is beautiful. What a great looking finish you've achieved there.

[handiabled]

It turned out absolutely gorgeous!

[benb]

Very nice!

Ben

[2whl]

Oct 11, 2024 18:14:18 GMT -5 joelw said:

Paul,
The clearcoat came out absolutely perfect. I'm actually jealous.

joel

Thanks Joel.  But it wasn't perfect.  I had a run/sag in the clearcoat I had to fix.

Oct 12, 2024 2:48:41 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Ah, now that is beautiful. What a great looking finish you've achieved there.

Thanks Kyle

Oct 12, 2024 2:51:52 GMT -5 handiabled said:

It turned out absolutely gorgeous!

Thank you Brent.  

Oct 12, 2024 14:14:04 GMT -5 benb said:

Very nice!

Ben

Thanks Ben


Well, like I said above to Joel, I had a small run/sag in the clearcoat.  So over a period of a few days, I built up that area with more coats of clear.  Once I had enough clear down, I did the 3000 to 12000 sanding blocks on it and got it to disappear.  Sorry, I didn't take any pictures of it as I was focused on getting rid of the sag.   The rest of the time was spent getting some sub-assemblies ready.

So while I was putting more clear on the body, I also put the last coats on the doors and finished building them.





The seat belts got installed.  Once the body is on and the interior put in place, the upper harness anchors will get installed.





Another sub-assembly I worked on was the firewall.  It's not glued in yet, I was just checking clearance.  





The last thing I worked on was this working gas cap.


1662

[chrissmith]

Looking awesome Paul!!

Almost makes me want to pull mine out and try make it as nice as yours is 😁

[406 Silverado]

Such masterful work going on in this thread Paul and I'm glad that you decided to clear coat this one as it's really going to bring out the best in that paint and decal work that you've pulled off. These cars are "all that" already IMO and you're knocking this one out of the park. I still can't get over that sliding window assembly that you put into the door glass.

[handiabled]

You are bringing this build home in grand fashion! It looks like it's assembling like a 1:1 scale version!

[benb]

Wow, those look like real car parts! Amazing work there!

Ben

[kyledehart5]

Truly incredible work as usual. And your clear coat on this one is a nice choice. The shine goes well with this car. Wonderful stuff

[joelw]

Paul,
I'm still in total awe of those door windows and tracks. And lets not forget the gas cap that I still can't tell if it's the real deal or not.

joel

[BattleScale Collectica Show]

absolutely outstanding build.

[brandonk]

This thing is really a work of art. Incredible.

[2whl]

Oct 19, 2024 23:04:01 GMT -5 chrissmith said:

Looking awesome Paul!!

Almost makes me want to pull mine out and try make it as nice as yours is 😁

Thanks Chris.  If you get yours out, it will be better than mine

Oct 19, 2024 23:09:58 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Such masterful work going on in this thread Paul and I'm glad that you decided to clear coat this one as it's really going to bring out the best in that paint and decal work that you've pulled off. These cars are "all that" already IMO and you're knocking this one out of the park. I still can't get over that sliding window assembly that you put into the door glass.

Thanks Joe.  Those windows were definitely a learning experience for me.

Oct 20, 2024 4:43:16 GMT -5 handiabled said:

You are bringing this build home in grand fashion! It looks like it's assembling like a 1:1 scale version!

Thank you Brent.  I wish it were a 1:1.  I'd like to give it a go.

Oct 20, 2024 5:56:05 GMT -5 benb said:

Wow, those look like real car parts! Amazing work there!

Ben

Thanks Ben.

Oct 20, 2024 6:41:18 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Truly incredible work as usual. And your clear coat on this one is a nice choice. The shine goes well with this car. Wonderful stuff

Thanks Kyle.  I know I should clear more often.

Oct 20, 2024 7:39:18 GMT -5 joelw said:

Paul,
I'm still in total awe of those door windows and tracks. And lets not forget the gas cap that I still can't tell if it's the real deal or not.

joel

Thank you very much Joel

Oct 20, 2024 18:28:36 GMT -5 BattleScale Collectica Show said:

absolutely outstanding build.

Thank you BSC

Oct 21, 2024 9:12:52 GMT -5 brandonk said:

This thing is really a work of art. Incredible.

Thanks Brent.



I'm slowly adding details to this build.   First up is the back end.






I also got finished with the headlights and fog lites.  Then the headlight covers went on.  



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