Tamiya 1/20 Scale 1979 Williams FW07

[joelw]

Keavdog
 Thanks for stopping by and checking out my decaling effort to date. It's greatly appreciated.   Today I should be finally wrapping up the decaling. Gee, it only took me 4 days, but like I said, it's my favorite part of modeling.  

joel

[adrian29341]

Joel!

Man those side pods look fantastic - those colors pop like crazy - love that iconic Saudi scheme.

You are doing a fantastic job with decal positioning despite the eye issue so you should be very pleased

with this my friend - looks amazing

It's funny the things that come up because I have always used cold water for my decals - I will
have to try warm next time and see if there is a difference.

[joelw]

Adrian,
Thanks for your thumbs up, it's always greatly appreciated.

My decaling is old school with the addition of Solvaset. I've always used room temp water until I ran across a decaling vid by Paul Budzik whose more like the Grand Master of IPMS. Anyway, I learned from him a few things. Warm water loosens the decals from the backing paper quicker, and it softens the decal so it is more pliable.

Give it a try and let us know if you see a positive effect.

joel

[brandonk]

I need to switch from a plastic bowl to a thick glass or ceramic bowl for decalling. The plastic one cools quite rapidly and kinda sucks for doing long sessions like modern jets. Not sure I'm ready to put a warmer on the bench, but good idea.

[2whl]

Aug 5, 2024 8:30:18 GMT -5 joelw said:

Aug 4, 2024 21:08:50 GMT -5 2whl said:

Joel, that decal work is looking great. And I use a coffee mug warmer whenever I decal. I usually fill the bowl I use about halfway and turn on the warmer for about 30 min before I start.

Paul,
  Much thanks for checking out my decaling effort.  As always your thumbs up is much appreciated.

 And thanks for posting a picture of your decaling setup.  I bought the same warmer but in black  I'm assuming that you use the low 135 temp setting and just leave it on during the session. 

 And one more question,. I noticed in the picture that you use Micro Set and Solvaset but not Micro Sol. Any reason for this, or is it a straight swap between the two?

joel

Joel, my warmer only has an on and off.  No temperature setting.  From the feel of the water, it is probably like your low setting.

Since Microsol and Solvaset are both softening solutions, I usually only use Solvaset.  I think the Solvaset is a bit stronger, so if I need it to be less aggressive, I just dilute it with water on the decal.

[406 Silverado]

Aug 3, 2024 15:31:18 GMT -5 joelw said:

 

 Looks like you spent some very worthwhile time on those cals Joel as they laid down nicely for you. Lookin' sharp so far bud. 

[joelw]

Paul,
  I used my coffee cup warmer today finishing up the rear wing.  I had to turn the unit on and off as 135 degree water seemed way to warm. But the truth be told, I have no idea of what the best temp is for the water to be at.  No issues with any of the Indy Cal or Tamiya decals after I let the water cool a tad.  Guess I just have to test with some extra decals and see if 235 degree water causes any issues.

joel

[joelw]

Joseph,
Thanks for your thumbs up friend. It's always greatly appreciated.

joel

[joelw]

   Time for another update as I finally glossed the major body panels, then wet sanded, and polished, but not waxed till the final stages of the build.

  One again I've switched lacquer glosses from Tamiya LP-9 to AK Real Color new Super Gloss Finish 1K.  And it's by far the best gloss I've ever used. Come pre-thinned, so just load up your airbrush and paint away. But here's the catch, it's Alcohol based!  So rather then cleaning your Airbrush with Lacquer Thinner, and having to put up with that nasty smell and headache, you just clean your Airbrush with Iso Alcohol, but it has to be the 99.1% one, as the 70% Iso just leaves a mess in your airbrush to clean with good old LT. don't ask me how I learned that the hard way.  Anyway it produces a super glossy self leveling gloss clearcoat every time.  For me it's 2 tack coats, and 2 wet coats.

  Here's how the body sections turned out after wet sanding with 6000 through 12000 followed by polishing with the Novus 3 part system, but I only used the final 2 steps.


joel









 

[kyledehart5]

Beautiful paint, decal and clear coat work Joel!! That looks so good.

[project510]

Yea, this is going to look real nice when complete. Great job Joel!

[handiabled]

Wow that finish looks fantastic!

[joelw]

Thanks Kyle, James, and Handiabled for your positive comments and thumbs up. It's always much appreciated and keeps me wanting to push forward towards the finish line. And as you can plainly see I have a long, long way to go to cross that finish line.

joel

[adrian29341]

Joel can you take pics for me of the clear coat bottle you use and the novus packaging?

I ask because this method really has produced and exquisite clear finish my friend - WoW just beautiful!

This is really coming along nicely Joel, outstanding work.

[406 Silverado]

Dang Joel!! I may have to give this AK Super Clear a shot after seeing those results. Right now I'm still using Testors Wet Look Clear which to date was the best clear I've used yet with no thinning. I'll be ordering some of this stuff on Friday.

[joelw]

Aug 14, 2024 14:38:40 GMT -5 adrian29341 said:

Joel can you take pics for me of the clear coat bottle you use and the novus packaging?

I ask because this method really has produced and exquisite clear finish my friend - WoW just beautiful!

This is really coming along nicely Joel, outstanding work.

Andrian,
  Thanks so much my friend for your most positive comments especially since your clear gloss coats are consistently outstanding.

  Here's the bottle of AK Real Color Super Clear Gloss 1K


Notice that the bottle has a fire hazard warning.  That's because it's not an acrylic but a Iso Alcohol base




joel
   

[joelw]

Aug 14, 2024 15:01:21 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Dang Joel!! I may have to give this AK Super Clear a shot after seeing those results. Right now I'm still using Testors Wet Look Clear which to date was the best clear I've used yet with no thinning. I'll be ordering some of this stuff on Friday.

Joseph,
  try it, and you'll never go back. It's so fool proof that even I can get a near perfect gloss finish.

joel

[406 Silverado]

Aug 14, 2024 18:50:21 GMT -5 joelw said:

Aug 14, 2024 15:01:21 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

Dang Joel!! I may have to give this AK Super Clear a shot after seeing those results. Right now I'm still using Testors Wet Look Clear which to date was the best clear I've used yet with no thinning. I'll be ordering some of this stuff on Friday.

Joseph,
  try it, and you'll never go back. It's so fool proof that even I can get a near perfect gloss finish.

joel

I'll be giving it a shot Joel. Thanks again buddy. 

[adrian29341]

Thanks Joel! I think I may try this on my Zakspeed Your finish looks fantastic congrats!

[joelw]

Adrian,
  I'm 99.9% sure that you'll love the stuff.  Like I said, If it works for me, it will certainly work for you.

joel

[joelw]

  Modeling sessions at the bench as been few and far between of late even with being retired. It's been basically for both my wife and myself running to doctors, hospitals, labs, and medical centers. Plus throw in a full week's stay for my wife at the hospital when she fainted in the bathroom and hit her head . This time she wasn't so lucky. And I've started with my 5th Retina specialist trying just to get my eye disease under control as my vision is getting worse and worse. So it's back to a new vaccine of monthly eye injections as my last resort.

  On the modeling front I've managed to build up the basic engine



The exhaust headers are just glued together, and still need to be final sanded and painted.



Gearbox, transaxle, and most of the rear suspension.  



Unlike my good friend Adrian, knowing that none of this will be seen once the body work goes on, for me at least it's hard to keep focus, and the Mojo tank full, Here's just a kind of dry fitting for a visual effect.





joel

[adrian29341]

Joel, firstly I am so sorry to hear about everything you are going through, and I hope your wife 
recovers fully from the fall. My father fell in the bathroom and hit his head and ended up in the
hospital so it sounds very familiar. I want to tell you that based upon your work I would honestly
never know you have the eye issues you do, having said that I am truly hoping that you will find
some relief and things move in a positive direction for you moving forward - I've got my fingers
crossed for you.

Now, to this engine assembly - it is beautiful work Joel, the metal finishes you've achieved look
amazing and very realistic. You always create beautiful engines so it's no surprise, but this 
Williams assembly looks awesome my friend

I can't wait to see this Formula One car come together!

[kyledehart5]

Joel, I’m so sorry to hear about your wife and I hope she is doing ok! That’s a scary situation for sure. My dad has done that a couple times himself. And as for your own eyes I hope you’re able to find some relief or something that can help. But from where I’m sitting you cannot tell you have an eye issue at all. Your work is always so nice and this is no exception. Awesome work on that engine. Your Williams is really coming together great.

[joelw]

Adrian & Kyle,
Thanks guys so much for stopping by and checking out my super slow progress to date. Glad that both of you like it. I'm always amazed at just how different it is looking at your work in these super size pictures which are usually larger then real life, and I'm constantly finding issues. I already need to try and re-align the velocity stacks which look fine in real life, but not so great in the pictures.

And thanks for your concerns for my wife and me. She's doing better but at our age better is a vague term with the doctors. As for me, this is my last shot with combating my Retina disease. I was told that at best I've got a 25% chance of improvement. I'm just hoping on stopping or slowing it down. Got a full month before the 1st injection, so plenty of time to think and worrying myself over the outcome.

joel

[handiabled]

I hope your wife is doing well. Falls are scary especially when it involves a head injury. I hope the treatment for your eyes gives you some improvement. A good friend of mine has been going through similar eye treatments and after a spell of his vision being so bad he couldn't do any modeling things have improved enough that he started building again.

[kyledehart5]

Pictures are brutal and unforgiving. I hate looking at pictures of my work. lol. I much prefer looking at my builds on the display shelf. But I think even in pictures your engine looks nice.

[joelw]

Aug 31, 2024 9:14:42 GMT -5 handiabled said:

I hope your wife is doing well. Falls are scary especially when it involves a head injury. I hope the treatment for your eyes gives you some improvement. A good friend of mine has been going through similar eye treatments and after a spell of his vision being so bad he couldn't do any modeling things have improved enough that he started building again.

Handiabled,
  Thans so much for the support as it's greatly appreciated.   Wife is doing somewhat better, and I'm waiting for my 3 different vaccine. It's slightly better then a true Hail Mary as the Doctor gave me a 25% chance of it actually working.  Like your friend it just gets harder and harder to do the most basic modeling functions as the colors, distortions, and the amount of light just seems to get less and less.   At this point I'm even thinking that if the vaccine does slow or stop the disease to trying 1/12 scale and see if that makes is easier to model. 

joel

[joelw]

Aug 31, 2024 13:15:49 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Pictures are brutal and unforgiving. I hate looking at pictures of my work. lol. I much prefer looking at my builds on the display shelf. But I think even in pictures your engine looks nice.

Kyle,
  Exactly my point of view.  Maybe reducing the size of the pictures to closer real life would be a better way to view ones work.

joel

[kyledehart5]

Sept 1, 2024 10:00:54 GMT -5 joelw said:

Aug 31, 2024 13:15:49 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Pictures are brutal and unforgiving. I hate looking at pictures of my work. lol. I much prefer looking at my builds on the display shelf. But I think even in pictures your engine looks nice.

Kyle,
  Exactly my point of view.  Maybe reducing the size of the pictures to closer real life would be a better way to view ones work.

joel

digital photography is sure unforgiving so maybe you’re right.

[maverick]

Good grief man! God bless you both! Hope all works out well for your wife and you to get better! When it rains it pours... The model looks amazing so far! Im sure it will just get better as you go here too...Looking forward to the next installment! 1/12 scale is nice...But...You can not fudge small details or overlook stuff you could get away with on smaller scale builds. Its all big, and right there for all to see!