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Hi everybody, let me present myself, my name is Pierre Jobin from province of Québec Canada. I am 70 years old and doing plastic model since my youth between 10 years old to 18, and then since 25 years up to now. 2 years ago i bought from a guy here in Québec this 1/8 scale Jaguar for 135 dollars unbuilt and searching on internet some stuff for this kit i found this incredible treasure that is Leadfoot Model, and i couldn't believe this seeing what i could buy to upgrade my kit.

I bought 3 times some stuff from Colin as you can see on my pictures. To give and answer to Ed Bird i will explain what happened to my paint. Let me tell that i always paint my models with real automotive enamel and never use clear coat. I do my paint with many layers and after it has dried i sand it down beginning with 1,200 wet grit under water and go to 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10,000 grit. At the end it is all hand polished with automotive compound, it is long but worked.

Ok for my Jag, as i want it orange color the best with orange color is to put a white primer, and the guy with which i always go business i ask him to by a pint of white primer but he could only sell me a full gallon which was too much expensive, so he suggest me a new product in spray can which was affordable, so on good morning after that everything was ready i went to use this primer but an hour later i almost had a heart attack of what happened to the finish as you can see on theses pictures.

The binder in the product was too much strong for that king of plastic and it cracked everywhere but not only that but it also stamped the plastic so i had too fully sand all the plastic surfaces because it was a bit deep in the plastic, for a second i thought to throw all this in the garbage but as all the interior and engine was done i couldn't doo this but if it was at the beginning i swear i would had jumped with my both feet in the model.

Everything for now in on hold because i am waiting for Colin to do all the under bonnet parts so as soon as this was available i will add all this and then go back to the paint session but doing a little test with another primer not to fool myself for a second time.

As i am not a computer and internet specialist this is the first time i do a post on this site and i hope that all my pictures will be seen, we keep in touch gang

Oh by the way as i am a French Canadian i hope you will excuse me for some fault in my writing

Gilles
Painting is a real problem for me, I’m just not good at it...

That may be the reason why I am multiplying the construction details in order to postpone the painting step as much as possible.....

I also heard about the product for stripping ovens, it is widely used here, in France.

The guys put the parts to be stripped in a plastic bag with the product and let it work for an entire night...


smillervette4
Hello Pierre, I just turned 75 and started building plastic model kits at age 5 in 1955. With 70 years of building experience, I should be a much better builder. I do not attempt nearly as much scratch building as you, Chris, Ed or the other builders on this forum. Like so many, I was overjoyed to discover the incredible 3-D resin printed parts offered by Leadfoot Models. Colin has created so many highly desired detail upgrade parts. I bought an airbrush with compressor about a decade ago, but really have not used it. I plan to chrome Collin's gorgeous wire wheels with Alcad chrome...so I better start practicing. I have stuck with the spray cans of my youth. I prefer Lacquer to enamel. I like Tamiya spray paint. As my fellow Texas frIeND Chris Craddock said, air brushes provide much better control than aerosol spray cans. I just never liked all the hassle of airbrush cleaning and paint mixing. A number of companies provide airbrush ready paints which do not require thinning. I asked our Houston, Texas model car club members what product they use to remove paint from plastic models. I received at least 5 good suggestions. I went with a somewhat expensive product called SuperClean. It can take up to a week or two to remove Lacquer or enamel paint from plastic. I have purchased several bottles of the stuff. I buy at at an auto parts store. It has not harmed any plastic yet. Your found a great home on this forum. There are a great number of dedicated and experienced modelers like yourself. Best part for me is the photos forum members post. You did a fine job visually documenting your build progress and the paint crazing you experienced. You can certainly save the body and create a paint job worthy of your skill level and passion for our hobby. It is great to have you with us!

Steve

Gilles
Bonjour Pierre (from France )

Be welcome on the LFM forum!

Just like you, I am also 70 years old and I see that Ed is going to join the club soon!

Your work is magnificent, very detailed, and perfectly finished. It's a feast for the eyes!

No luck with the painting but beautiful repair

I appreciate the hinges of the trunk, its coating, the leather interior, all these small collars on the durites, the work on the carburettors, among others.

Don’t hesitate to continue to make us benefit from your progress

Chris Craddock
I’m also not far off (67). I started model making as a child. Gave it up during/after university and eventually came back to it about 15 years ago.

I like challenging projects much more than “out of the box” because I love tinkering and making things more realistic, but without being a replica. It’s a hobby after all. And it’s wonderful to see a group of like-minded people sharing their own projects.

Ed Bird
Pierre,

Very nice work. I like what you have done with the center dash panel. I too am going along those same lines. As Chris said, brake fluid will remove paint. I know this for sure, as for some years I was a mechanic working on cars and trucks, and can tell you first hand that brake fluid will remove/damage the paint finishes on real cars. DOT 3 fluid I have seen on several model sites will do it. I do not know if it affects the plastic but would have to assume that since it is mentioned many times that is does not.

Your "writing" is fine. You might have to excuse us in "ours" as Colin will verify, I make way too many typos.

I am like Chris, I too have moved to airbrush, as it gives so much more control in the application. I decant paints sometimes from the spray cans, also have done with primer, as the pressure is way to high from the spray cans.

Like you, I am almost 70years old. I built models of all types when I was young but stopped around when I was 17-18 years old. Real cars and other things were there. Got back into it about 2.5 years ago.

Please keep send us pictures of your progress! Always nice to see what other us crazy model makers are doing!!

Ed


Chris Craddock
Welcome. And you have done a great job with this idiosyncratic model kit. It’s a shame about the paint. What kind of paint was that?

Pierre Jobin
This is the dammit primer that done all this $@÷"^^[*=:$ mess



Chris Craddock
Bummer. I almost always avoid spray cans. I use my airbrushes for just about everything and use lacquer paints, or 2K paints. I do use acrylics pens for some detailing and for faux leather finishes.

I have heard of people using brake fluid to take off enamel paint. It wouldn’t hurt to give that a try on some sprue.

Pierre Jobin
Yes brake fluid is a good paint remover but it's à little bit long and expensive, you can also use oven cleaner like (easy off) it works well and faster than brake fluid

Chris Craddock
That’s good to know. I rarely need to strip paint because I do thorough preparation and the airbrush lays down just enough paint to provide coverage. But of course, I have had some howlers as well.

I was building the 1/12 Revell/Monogram Chevrolet Bellaire coupe and had a mishap with the white gloss paint for the roof. So I dunked the body in a solution advertised on the internet. Well it took the lacquer paint off ok, but it turned the body into a gummy mess. “Oh well”.

I have never tried oven cleaner, but will definitely give it a try the next time I screw up a paint job.

Thanks for the tip.

This may be way too late, but how did you do the hammertone finish on the tank? That looks awesome.