looks AWESOME Spence!!!! I can't see my dislay case until Christmas day, as it is a present from my Girlfriend
My replacement parts have arrived too....so can look forward to building again!

Chris

hey spence it says your inbox is full and i cant post it on the main forum

Sorry if this has already been covered but all the chrome that meet the red, are they all delegated by decals as I am looking to do this myself and I know that will be my only flaw is blending it in

Great build BTW :)

I really want to attempt it but not sure if I should, do you think the standard paint on it is still a good match? Looking at the amalgam models it looks very similar to standard deag model

Hi Rift and first of all a big welcome to ModelSpace and your kind comments regarding my build

You have also chosen 2 very nice kits to do.. Ok lets se how I can answer your questions.

The carbon decals I got from HLJ(hobbylinkjapan)and are still available but they may be low on stock but the ones you have a link to are just as good.

With regards to the "Smoke" over the decals, I used Tamiya Smoke from a rattle can as this gave better coverage but only do 2 very light dust overs.. to many coats and it will go too dark. The reason for the smole was to tone down the decals and to give them a "Glaze" so that when completely dry they could be given a go over with 6000 micromesh and then 8000 and 12000 to buff.

Woth regards to repainting the body, initially I used Automotive cilicon carbide 1500 (wet and dry) but later found out it was quicker to submerse the parts in automotive brake fluid for a few hours. This stripped the paint without attacking the ABS. Once the parts where washed and all traces of fluid removed.

The areas where the Zero Paints MP4 red was being added where outlined and the body parts where given a coat of Halfords white primer.

Where I had marked the lines that seperate the MP4 Red from the chrome was masked off only leaving the areas that needed spraying for the MP4 red, one this had a few coats the Red was then masked off and the rest of the body panels where then treated to a coat a Halfords Matt Black and allowed to dry for at least 24 hours.

Once the body panels had been left to dry for a few days they where given 2 coats of Halfords Clear Lacquer and once again given 2 days to completely dry. This was then given a rubbing down with 6000 micromesh then 8000 then 12000 to achieve the shine ready for the AlcladII Chrome.

No finger prints had to be on the car what so ever otherwise the chrome would have shown them up like something out of a murder scene.. (they use the same type of powder for fingerprint dusting and someone had the idea to mix it with Cellulose to make the AlcladII)

The black you see in some of the pictures in this build are of the highly polished black ready for the Alclad and the £Grey£ is in fact the Chrome but under flash photography can appear to look like grey

Aa for the rest of the decals I would suggest looking on ebay as thy are still available..

Hope this has helped answer your questions and feel free to ask any more

Spencer

BTW: I did'nt use the candy red for any of the build as it was not needed.

@Warthog thanks a bunch for clearing my questions up! I actually just got my first parts for each kit today and am pretty pumped about starting this.

Three more questions for you =)

1. Did you clearcoat all the parts after doing decals and so on? Or did you just leave the Alclad2 as your final coat?

2. The micromesh are these in cloth form or are the ones you are using almost like a sponge with abrasive on each side and a soft foam in the middle?

3. Was the Zero paints MP4 Red your final decision to replace the stock color?


@Casino

Thanks a bunch for the decal links!!


Thanks again for all the help!

Yeah I definitely want to do a clear coat afterwards to get that painted on look.

If I can I think ill pickup this Zero stuff and see how it goes =) Thank you for the update on that. Problem I'm seeing is finding a place that will ship to the USA. Seems Hiroboy doesn't?

Hi,

I'm in the process of alclad'ing my MP4-23,

Just a few questions....

Will I have any reaction from the alclad to the decal softener microsol (clear red bottle)?

I used your method is this correct; Halfords primer, then Halfords gloss back then Halfords clear, I then used the micro mesh pads and it's very shiny but there is the faintest of scratches in places (especially on edges,

I will be chroming tomorrow and want to make sure it doesn't end up ruined lol!

Please put my mind at ease lol!

From what I have read microsol is definitely not recommended over alclad because it can cause oxidation of the metal in the paint.Some people say it is OK to use others say the alclad turns black after microsol application.
Microset doesnt seem to be as bad, but a clear coat of future seems to be what most modelers do-although that will reduce some of the shine from the alclad.

I have been doing some reading on it because i will be using it for a natural metal finish on some airplanes and I plan on using a clear coat over it before applying any decal setting solution.

Hope that helps

Carl

Hey
Could you help what color from tamiya or some other brand can be used to make some repair of original paint? , like silver, black mat and glossy ect?