Mini for the mrs

Hi Guys

Was a little bored and modelling was not taking over anymore and I was slowly loosing my mojo even though I keep buying things it seems that the more you have the less you want to use it.. Anyway the mrs decided that I should build something for her and chose the BMW MINI as I have 2, she chose the colour scheme and I set about painting it..
Blowing the dust off the compressor and taking out one of my freebie AB's I got out a free base coat (came with the mini's) and started to paint, it was a little thick but was going on, I then painted the colour on and left it before hitting it with the Halfords clear...
Waking up this morning I realised that the panel lines had almost disappeared so I tried scribing them in with my home made scriber but disaster struck and I went into the bonnet with it.. Oh well, a quick trip to buy some brake fluid and I would start again.

Once the paint was almost off out came the tooth brush to help it the rest of the way, I rinsed it as normal and oh my word whats happened here? the base coat had started eating the plastic, divets and ripples had appeared in the body and the plastic had deformed.. Hmmm, im wondering if there was something in this basecoat put in by the guy i bought it from, like he had tried to thin it or the paint had a high acetone content, either way I couldnt use this anymore so in the bin went the base coat and out came the new shell from the 2nd kit.






Bought some Tamiya primer and did the body with this instead, then painted it with a Tamiya rattle can to cover up the primer, then onto the AB again to get it back to where it was before followed by the 2K clear I have purchased by Hiroboy.





It now looks like this, top half will be matt black when I get the time and the wheels will be like the one below but need to tidy it up and paint the wheel nuts, seems to be a lot of orange peel but will actually rub it down and polish it out for once.







Roof



Wheel



Not decided on the interior yet, so its still in the box.

To make something positive out of it, I have now removed one box from my stash which means I can buy something else!!!

Sorry for the epic story I have written was just setting the scene.

i like the colour scheme!

not a fan of the real car though, horrible to drive, look great but i always feel like im in a go-kart lol lol

I tried to convince her to loose the green and keep the orange and black but she not having it.

Liking the build and the paint. Nice work.

A5h wrote: but she not having it.

thats women for you

Oddly, I think the colour combo will work.

On the orange peel.

I think the 2k clear coat may have been too thick. IIRC Zero paints call for a 2:1:1 thin ratio. (2 clear, 1 hardener and 1 thinner)

I find 2k works much better through and airbrush with a 2:1:2 thin ratio and maybe even a tad thinner.

Also spray a little closer to the surface and maybe lower your pressure a little. (I spray it at 20-25psi)

Thanks for the tips Al, I did think it was too think, pressure was less than 20 psi.

I will give it a go next time

Automotive catalyzed clears work well when used with added reducer. When I was painting motorcycles, I would use several coats of clear to even out the graphics, then wet sand smooth. Flowed on a wet coat of very much reduced clear for the final finish. ( I did the same with lacquer also, back in the day before the modern stuff).
Color combo seems a little garish to me, but you know, 'Different strokes for different folks'.

That is beautiful color combo Ash !!

Hi Ash,

Love the colour, as for the other body, could you not use some fine filler to smooth it out...

Andy...

Colors are a bit much for me too.  It breaks up a single item into smaller ones, breaks up the unity.  However, never question the color taste of women.  They are "color attracted" and "color sensitive."  Sorry about the paint mishap too.  Occasional failure adds to one's experience and wisdom, so it has an up side.