Mister Towed's Tai Chi build

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by seanick

Good stuff T, I suggest you invest in some paint filters for the top coat, sort of 800 micron size. Cheap as chips and you will be amazed what ends up in the filter!! N

Good advice I feel, will be filtering the top coat for definite.

[cabbage]

Looking good :-), also don't forget to take the nossel off your spray gun after each session and sloosh it around in some thinners, otherwise the spray quality will gradually degrade as the smaller passages get blocked.

[Mister Towed]

The plan to spray the top coat tomorrow will have to wait I'm afraid - I underestimated the length of time the final sanding would take and I forgot that I had an unavoidable commitment this afternoon.

Back to work Thursday but I should at least have it ready for paint by tomorrow evening if all goes to plan...

[Paul L]

Good luck with the spaying & more photos please.

Cheers, Paul.

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Good luck with the spaying & more photos please.

Cheers, Paul.

OK, here it is a couple of days ago, looking like a Luftwaffe night fighter.



Should be some more progress, and pictures, tomorrow.

[Mister Towed]

My word, prep for paint is a laborious process.

It's like painting the ruddy Forth Road Bridge - every time I go round sanding down the primer I find more dints and scrapes to fill that I hadn't noticed before. It's now taken almost a whole tube of knifing putty and it's still not completely smooth.





I have at least discovered the contour sanding sponge though, which is proving invaluable seeing as there isn't a flat panel of the Spyder.

I've packed in for the evening now though. After spending eighteen hours sanding over the last two days I'm absolutely knackered.

Oh well, back to work for a rest tomorrow...

[Viatron]

towed, having just been through a similar process with the navigator buck i can tell you that high build primer is your friend here, we used 3 coats almost ladelled on with a tint in each coat then wet sanded by hand the high build filled most of the small imperfections so that we were left with very little stopper work to be done. Adding a different tint to each layer also helped in that you got some warning when you were gettting close to sanding through all 3 layers of primer filler. keep at it though as im sure the sense of satisfaction when its done will be immense.
Mac

[Mister Towed]

Cheers Mac, it's already wearing two coats of high build as I'd hoped it would fill all the little pinholes and scratches. The tip about tinting the primer is a good one, I used a much darker etch primer so I can see when I'm getting close to cutting right through.

Plan is to get it as smooth as possible, cover the bits that have worn right through with some more etch primer then give it another two coats of high build. I should have a good enough base for the top coat then. It all takes time though...

[Paul L]

Mr T - You have clearly put a lot of effort into your prep. work.

So I hope you are rewarded with the nice Silver looking Sammio you want at the end of it.

Good luck, Paul.

[davecymru]

Keep going matey, you'll get there...

Just be prepared for the 'special' moment when you've finally painted it and polished it and it's all shiny... and then you spot one last pin hole.

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by davecymru

Keep going matey, you'll get there...

Just be prepared for the 'special' moment when you've finally painted it and polished it and it's all shiny... and then you spot one last pin hole.

Once it's painted I'll be so chuffed I won't care if there's a pin hole the size of the grand canyon in the paint. So long as it's shiny and looks ok from ten paces I'll be happy.

[oxford1360]

Keep going. Fingertips are designed to bleed.

[GazDavies]

Originally Posted by Mister Towed

Once it's painted I'll be so chuffed I won't care if there's a pin hole the size of the grand canyon in the paint. So long as it's shiny and looks ok from ten paces I'll be happy.

That's the best attitude to have! I was so scared of putting a mark on my nice shiney pro paint job that it took away from the sammio experience. Just enjoy it and don't worry about the imperfections, its supposed to look like a 50s race car after all and I've never seen one of those with perfect paint.

[seanick]

I like the top pic, never mind a Jag, it looks like a Snow Leopard.

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by seanick

I like the top pic, never mind a Jag, it looks like a Snow Leopard.

This was my inspiration -



Conversation at a Luftwaffe base close to the Russian front, February 1945 - "Herr painter, we are needing the world's first operational jet fighter for the combat today"
"But herr Kapitan, it is still wearing the guide coat and I am now finding the pin holes everywhere..."

[phil9]

looking good towed... or is it herr towed .....i found pin holes [very small] just go with a good top coat top job mate

[mikmiglia]

Dont forget to go around the car with a heatgun, or heat the workshop, and any bubbles will come to the surface , dig them out and refill with you top stop.

[Viatron]

Hope hes done that already or he will be in bits if he has to start digging chunks out of it at this stage!

[mikmiglia]

You never know its still worth a go still, as he might of forgot !

You got to remember he is learning , and all this doesn't come natural as this is his first time.

Still time to resolve any problems.!!!!!!

[Paul L]

Sorry for the thread hijack Mr T, but...

Originally Posted by mikmiglia

... Dont forget to go around the car with a heatgun...

Hi Mike,

Can I just check this is an electric DIY paint stripping type gun?

Also how close does it need to be & how long would you hold it in any one spot?

I already have gel coat breaking off all over the place, so I know I am going to have to do this one day.

Cheers, Paul.

PS
Mr T - I think your car is going to look good a lot closer than 10 paces.