I’m finally back!

It’s been over 2 years since I have posted here but it’s also been over 2 years since I customised a 1:64 scale vehicle… and I must admit that I forgot how much fun it is!

My Custom Hotwheels Hiatus is Over!

I must admit that since it was the Ferrari models that got me into Hotwheels in the first place, it was nice to see Mattel finally get their license back and start producing new Ferrari models. I was especially pleased with the new F40 model because whilst the old one was OK, it was too chunky, and the opening rear that exposed the engine bay was rather hideous if I’m going to be completely honest.
It was therefore the easiest choice when it came to what vehicle I was going to choose to get myself back into the saddle… see what I did there? Takes a stable genius to be this witty (see what I did there again?

OK I’ll stop horsing around…. see what. Yeah you did

Whilst the build was pretty straight forward, it was far from uneventful and despite my years of customising experience, I made a handful of errors that I want to share with you today, mainly so you don’t go through the pain that I went through. Whilst I tend not to learn from my mistakes, I figured at least someone else might 🙂

How to Create Super Clean Lines When Painting Your Custom

I have always used Tamiya 2mm masking tape to help mask the initial lines when painting cars that have multiple colours or require sections in red and white like these Marlboro customs. Not only is the tape easy to use and apply, it also bends (to a point) and allows you to follow the contours of the vehicle (to a point but we will get to that)
However, I have also always used a good quality 3M masking tape to then mask the rest of the vehicle once the Tamiya 2mm line tape is applied. I have never had problems with it before but through a combination of old tape, or humid conditions, or the spray paint quality… or maybe I just suck, it did NOT work out how I planned and I had to spend hours trying to fix the mistake (at least half of which was spent sobbing in the corner)

The application of white paint had gone flawlessly – the coating was even and shiny and had that depth to it that we all love – and then I applied the mask and went to town with the red (as shown in the image above)
The problem was that after 48 hours (I always like to leave it a minimum of 24 hours before removing any masking to ensure the paint is good and dry) I removed the masking tape and it decided to also remove a nice layer of my white paint – effectively ruining the perfect coat and making it look like a meth addict had attempted to paint the car using a toe nail he found in the carpark at Walmart or something.

Interestingly, the only part of the white that was perfect was a thin 2mm wide strip where the Tamiya tape had been applied, and whilst it was now too late to do anything about it, the very next day I went to my local hobby store and purchased the same Tamiya masking tape in a range of thicknesses so that next time I undertake a custom of this nature I can confidently mask the area without worrying about what it will do to my beautiful paint underneath.

Something else I will also mention at this point is the importance of making sure your initial masking line (again I recommend starting with the 2mm tape as it helps you to keep the lines even on both sides of the vehicle as well as following the contours) is flush with the casting. If you are going over a sudden edge or dip as I had to do with the F40 hood holes then make sure before you let the tape touch the paint on the other side of the hole that you use tweezers or something similar to press the tape down into the space before letting it continue on it’s way. With the semi there are steps under the door and now matter how well I pressed the tape down up and over these steps, there was still some overspray (leakage) that occuirred and I had to manually fix this with a paintbrush after the fact.

The takeaway here is that no matter how good you are at applying the masking lines and no matter how much time you take preparing the casting for the next coat, there will always be a tiny line or leak here and there – that is perfectly OK and can be fixed with a paintbrush and a steady hand. The final application of clear coat will then hide any slight imperfections that the brush may have caused.

I mentioned above how a good coating of clear can mask any imperfections and give your custom that overall shine that makes it go from’yeah not bad’ to ‘holy shitballs batman’ – but I made another stupid mistake and so I need to share what happened so it doesn’t happen to you.

How the Wrong Clear Coat RUINED MY LIFE!!

I’m not sure why I went with something different but I sure as shit won’t be doing that again! I sell decals as you know – and before I can ship them to you I need to apply a layer of clear gloss acrylic spray so that the decals actually work and the colour doesnt all run when you dip them in water. The Clear coat I use is Dulux brand Duramax clear coat and its brilliant! Dries clear, works beautifully every time and its the brand I have chosen to use for almost 10 years of selling decals. It’s also the clear coat I use when creating customs so it would make sense that it would continue to be the gloss of choice – especially with these amazing new customs I had just created – right!.. right? No of course not – because Alex is an idiot and likes to make his own life a misery.I had heard that Rustoleum brand clear gloss was actually really good and that whilst it was not a 2pac spray (if you have ever used them you will know how amazing they are at creating that depth that looks like you are staring into a swimming pool or something) and so I purchased a can.
Did I test this new clear coat on a random car or something else that I had painted to make sure it was definitely OK before applying it to my newly minted F40 and trailer – vehicles that I will remind you, had been fussed over for many additional hours due to the stupid masking tape ruining the white paint? Did I?
No of course not!

*At this time Alex would like to direct your attention to the previous statement made in the third person about his insistence on making his own life miserable*

So I heated up my can of spray and made sure the castings were also not cold and applied the first coat to both the F40 and the trailer.
When I came back to check on them and ready everything for a second coat I nearly died of frustration – because greeting me was not the clean lines and perfect paint that I had left, but blurred lines with the red leaking badly into the white – and in the  case of the trailer, the huge decal in the middle actually leaked a yellowish goo that then had to be sanded back in order to (attempt to) hide the imperfections that this stupid Rustoleum clear had caused.

OMG I hate my life sometimes – and I KNOW you can relate, if not to this specific situation then to something else where you are like 90% done and then some random thing happens and BOOM, you are back to step 1 or 3 or something.

Another tip when you are spray painting your customs is to ALWAYS heat the can up in warm water and also make sure the casting is not too cold (I place it under a lamp for a while prior to applying any coat of paint) as this will ensure you get a clean even application and no dreaded orange peel

Getting Old Sucks

Oh yeah, the other thing that is really annoying is the fact that last time I customised a Hot Wheels I had no problems with my eyes and simply did my thing without a care in the world. This time I find I cannot do anything without reading glasses, and it’s not just that I need them to focus on details up close, if I get too close then I lose the focus again! It’s like there’s some magic spot anywhere from 30cm to 70cm away from my face – and I like to do my really detailed brush work close to my face – so yeah, that sucks.

It got so bad that I finally conceded defeat and went and got an eye test! – Turns out I still have perfect 20/20 vision but my left eye is officially a +0.25 (whatever that means) and so I now have prescription reading glasses that are 1.75 magnified and slightly stronger in the left eye. (Sorry – you didn’t come here to read about my visit to the optometrist – let’s move on)

 

Some Work in Progress Pics

There’s something very satisfying about adding the details – even if those details will never be seen by anyone because the casting covers it up, it’s still nice to know they are there. I didn’t go too crazy on the interior but I did enough to feel satisfied

My Custom Marlboro Ferrari Racing Set

The Ferrari F40 is the new casting, the other one is the beautiful 288GTO and IMHO they are the two most beautiful Ferrari’s ever made. The Semi Trailer is a cheap KMart job but had random non shiny grey wheels at the back of the main truck so I had to buy multiples and strip the second one of its wheels. Meh.
The only other point of note is that the wheel of the Ferrari are, well they’re sexy AF is what they are but for those playing along at home, they are from CHIISAI and you can purchase them on this website

Oh and the decals are from…. me – you can purchase them at this website…like literally this one – just head to the decal store (or just click THIS LINK you lazy sonnova)
If you are interested in making your own custom Ferrari then you will also need the Ferrari decal pack – just click the link

Please enjoy the photo gallery and as always, if you like what you see then give this a share and