2018 Spitfire Mark III

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kcarchitect
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

Post by kcarchitect »

I've made a bit of progress, spent 9 hours in the car this weekend (late family christmas get together) so no time to work on derby cars. But I have all the final primer and prep work done for now.

In the past I've had a friend of mine who is a very talented painter and airbrush artist do my final paint jobs. He's been great with my son teaching him how the airbrush worked and helping him lay down lines on his cars. I decided that this was the year to take the plunge and try to teach myself how to use the airbrush and not have to rely on him for all the color work. The compressor, paints, and two airbrushes were delivered right before we left town and I hope to get to play with them a bit this evening. Will post pics and a review of the kit I ordered if it works out well, wish me luck!
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

Post by whodathunkit »

Hay hay!! hope you'll pass some pointer's along on air brushing!
I'm still looking at getting one and getting started with it my self.. just can't seem to make up my mind on what style or brand to get started with.
Been thinking about picking up an air brush package from harbor freight and giving it a go to get started with a lower end model..
then moving up into higher end model air brush if i get into using one.. just don't know!
Last edited by whodathunkit on Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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kcarchitect
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

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So I finished up the wheel hubs with my typical method, chucked them up in the drill on my mandrel and did a slow spin against the tip of a silver sharpie. I want to airbrush them to have white walls like the hot rod and little blue cruiser I've done before. Not sure yet if I'm going to attempt the fenders or not, it may be worth a try if I can also incorporate a "shield" at the back of the wheel. I've looked at some of the options I can buy but $20 is just too steep, I'm a cheap skate. Going to try my own first.

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Have the base coat of aluminum on, the airbrush was rather finiky with the heavy flake in the metalic. Micah didn't have any problems with his neon orange, flowed beautifully, but the silver/aluminum kept plugging up on my. Going to try the next coat with some reducer added to thin out the paint and slow the dry time. Will probably build up 4-5 coats before wet sanding and clear coat, toying with the idea of adding some body lines, rivets, and airplane inspired artwork. I want to add some shadows at the vents on the sides, fog the canopy, and give a darker wash on the bottom of the car. Still LOTS of paint work to do.

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I like the low look of cars that nearly drag the track and this one looks amazing, but I'm also concerned that it needs to clear the guide rails. I'm going to borrow the check in guide and see if I can adjust my front axle holes to a "permanent" position, otherwise I may have two positions. One for "show" and one for "racing". If I do it adjustable, I won't be able to run fenders. If I can set it permanent then I can attach shields, fenders, etc.

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Lowered position

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Upper (typical BSA kit) position

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Lowered Position

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Upper (typical BSA kit) position
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

Post by whodathunkit »

So I see you removed the lettering on the fat stock wheel. .That was a good idea speedster had on the rear wheel.. it looks wild on the car!

I also like how the weights look like jet motors. Wow!! What a nice job your doing!

Edit:
Well Kcarchitect.. I went and did it!
I went hole hog on a high end masters airbrush kit with 3 types of air brushes and a compressor paints & cleaners.. and then topped it off with a paint booth!
So well see if this airbrushing thing will work out for me as I'v been wanting to try it anyway. ( Guess there's no better time to learn it then now.)
So i'm wishing you luck with your air bushing as well!


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kcarchitect
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

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So in considering how I wanted to finish out this car I really wanted to make it look like an old dirt track racer. Kind of a nod to the old belly tank dry-lake mod cars and make it look like something that a guy might have built in his garage post WWII out of an old spitfire airplane. I really wanted to get the true aluminum look with riveted panels and give it enough road rash and wear to have a history of races behind it. It was also my first opportunity to play with the new airbrush and experiment with layering colors and washes. I decided to change up the wheels as well, previously I've done classic whitewalls and I wanted to do something similar on this. Instead of shiny white though I went with an aged dirty white, something that might have seen more than a few runs through the old dry dirt and dust on a salt flat. All in all I'm really happy with it, torn between adding a few more details and knowing when to quit.

Base metallic layer with aluminum paint.

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First layer of shadows and panel washes, added exhaust pipe details, blacked out canopy.

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Final wash, shadow, and burnishing details added. Rivets and trim highlights done. Canopy trim detailed and exhaust and body wear added.

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I just need to finish up the wheels now that the coloring is complete, should have final pictures soon!
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

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For someone just starting out with an airbrush it looks super cool kcarchitect! :thumbup:
Can't wait to see it all finished up and what you have done for the dirty white wall tires.

I like your painted rivet details.. you really have me wanting to play around with the airbrush when i get it and get it set up.
If I were to try my hand at airbrushing rivets.. i'm afraid they would not turn out looking as good as your's did!

And that id have to go a different route for rivet details.. something like the (3d) rivet decals seen in this link.
https://www.micromark.com/HO-scale-deca ... ce-details
It's a route i'd have to take for the fine rivet details I'm afraid to say.
It's either that or a lot of sewing pins cut down and pushed in for rivets!

Whoda.
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kcarchitect
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

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Finished up the Spitfire, the track clearance is going to necessitate riding in the "raised" position so no fenders it is. Really happy with the final paint, i did buff and wax it a bit after pics were taken to get rid of some fingerprints and a few small blemish spots. It's shiny as a new penny now.

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All three axles are bent to 1.5 degrees. The front axles are set to be straight and the rear axle is adjusted for steering.

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Really happy with the look of the "old dirty" whitewall tires. I did some light shadows/shading on the wire rims in the middle and some small highlights on the exhaust pipes.

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This thing really came to life with the addition of the rivets and canopy highlights. My favorite derby decorating tool is still a simple silver sharpie!

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I may still add some details to the "exhaust" weights. They look kind of boring all one color and I'd love to airbrush in some highlights and shadows to make them look more like "pipes".

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We are waiting on delivery of our track expansion (going from two lanes to 4 lanes this year). Expecting it sometime this week. Will shoot some videos when we get the track setup and tested.
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2018 Spitfire Mark III

Post by whodathunkit »

Man kcarchitect what a job you did
on the Spitfire Mark lll !

It's different and I like it how it turned out!

Just an idea to look at for your fenders..
Would be to shave off the front axles some
And build back plate that matches your fender
design!
Kind of like an air shield behind the fender!
Now you relocate the two axle hole locations
For your raised or lowered wheel setting.
However your fender will have a larger gap
When your using your raised axle setting.


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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

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whodathunkit wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:03 pm
And build back plate that matches your fender
design!
Kind of like an air shield behind the fender!
Whoda,

My thoughts on the fenders are that they may be a "for show" element only. I thought about building out something around a "weighted" air shield that would attach only via the axle nail. The fender would attach to the air shield with a weight at the bottom to keep it upright and oriented. By pulling the axles I could remove the fenders alltogether.
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

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I know what your saying having a way to remove the fenders would be neat and your weight idea to keep the fenders up right sound's awesome!
What if you were to use a thin sheet of clear plastic for the backer plate to help locate the axle holes where you need them?
You can always paint it later to match the rest of the car.

Don't know but you might enjoy seeing.. Some pic's of a fender and air shield / backer plate idea.. that I just played around with.
It might give you some more of your own ideas to play around with as well.
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Well kcarchitect..
Told you I went all out and hole hog for airbrush supply's.. most all of it showed up today!
I'm still waiting on cleaners and paints to get here.
( Anyhow been wanting to try airbrushing for a good long while now. So like you.. I guess there is no better time then now to learn .)
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Wish me luck as well!

And Awesome job on the Spitfire Mark III kcarchitect!
I've just got to know.. did you have fun with your airbrush or what?
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

Post by Darin McGrew »

Wow! That's a really nice design. I don't think it would fit our track (the rear wheel would probably drop into the slot for the start gate), but it's still gorgeous!
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kcarchitect
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

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Darin McGrew wrote: Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:06 am Wow! That's a really nice design. I don't think it would fit our track (the rear wheel would probably drop into the slot for the start gate), but it's still gorgeous!
We run on a best track and I made the rear wheel wide enough to ride over the slot thanks to the heads up of some of the guys here.
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

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Kcarchitect
Your welcome for the head's up on the track slot.. ( However it was Speedster's fat stock wheel idea that really sets your car off! )

I had no idea in the design that you would only be using one axle support for mounting the rear wheel however.
So Speedsters idea on the wheel looks awesome!
Also seen your video on how it tracks as well and all's i can say is.. WOW is this Spitfire car different!
And thank you for airbrushing pic's.. hope i can do the same trying out airbrushing for the first time myself.
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

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https://youtu.be/olmBB9osybE

Here's video of the Spitfire Mark III in the first trial run. Best time of the day after graphite and adjustments was a 2.5048, enough to win the outlaw class for our pack.
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Re: 2018 Spitfire Mark III

Post by whodathunkit »

kcarchitect wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olmBB9osybE

Here's video of the Spitfire Mark III in the first trial run. Best time of the day after graphite and adjustments was a 2.5048, enough to win the outlaw class for our pack.



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