Painting Chassis and Engine Parts


First of all I use an airbrush for all painting of the chassis and it's related parts. Usually there are 4 colors for each model in this process. The first is the chassis color (frame, floor pan, firewall and fuel cell) most will be standard light grey (2 parts testors white to 1 part testors grey) I have done several in red (Yates, Childress, Elliot and Wood Brothers) one in black (1995 #4 MC) and one in yellow (#30 Pennzoil Pontiac). The next color is gloss black. This is used to paint the following parts:The front suspension, trailing arms, rearend and associated parts (which include the rear gear oil cooler pump and belts) rear springs, dash, steering wheel, seat in some cases (others can be red and silver and grey according to which car they go in!) shifter and the wheels (here again some cars have colored wheels but most are gloss black). The next color is flat black which I use to paint the roll bar padding, and window nets (here again a few are special colors usually matching the body) this is brushed on ... I tried to airbrush it on once but decided there was too much touching up to do afterwards! Also if called for I mix some gloss and flat to paint the flat area between the hood and windshield of the car (I know this has nothing to do with the chassis but I just thought about it and decided to include it here before I forgot to include it at all!) The last color is Testors metallic silver. This is used to paint the engine parts, radiator, water lines, oil cooler parts shock hardware, oil cooler tank and vent (rear underside of the car) and the dash gauges.

First step is to paint all of the parts of the actual chassis. Roll cage, floor pan, frame and fuel cell. I made a little stand for these parts to dry on but all you need is a clothesline or something similar that you can clip them on to dry! I use an airbrush because with the 60 or so I've put together already and the 10-15 more I plan to build or am in the process of building I have saved a great deal of money in lost (wasted) paint because the airbrush is so much more precise!

Any way back to the painting! Note: I have gotten to know what part is what without an instruction sheet and numbers and particular steps so I really can't explain step by step according to the instructions in the kits how to do this! I will just tell you my method of doing it! I will try to refer to the terms used in the instructions though!

Please Note: All words in " " marks are from an actual model instruction sheet!!!

Also please note: remove all parts that are to remain white ie:exhaust "header"s and "Drive shaft" and lay them aside! If you have a model that is molded in color ( some pre-1996 kits) these parts have to be painted white!

I take and paint the above pieces first(these include: "frame", "firewall', both "cage sides", "roll bar", "stiffener bar", "petty bar", "top stiffener bar", "top brace", "rear shelf", "kicker bar assembly", "arm assembly" and "frame braces") and hang parts trees up to dry. Note:I usually paint the "arm assembly" the same color as the chassis then mask off the part in front of the trailing arms and paint them black. I then touch up the area in between before assembly) once these are dry (overnight) I remove all the chassis parts from the trees and then I paint the "upper arms", "pedals", "shifter","stiffener brace ","hoses"(air duct hoses in the cockpit),"springs", "rear axle", "front axle", "coolant pump" and"pump belt", steering column", "steering wheel", "dashboard top", "dashboard front", "lower arms", "outer wheels" and"inner wheels", engine "belt assembly",and engine "sump belt" gloss black. Once I have painted these I again hang them up to dry (overnight). Once the black parts are dry I usually remove them from the trees as well ( I believe that the instructions show parts clearly enough to tell what they are and where they go without the numbers). I then take the trees and what parts are left: all engine parts from "step 1 ENGINE ASSEMBLY parts A and B" except for the distributer!!! The "steering shaft", "shock assemblies"(front and rear), "exhaust pipes" (new MC and Pontiac kits only unless you are doing a BGN car!) "Fan shroud", "upper and lower hoses" (radiator), "radiator", "oiler tank", "mirror" and where applicable the "seat" and paint them silver. As I said I am used to just painting the parts removing them from the trees and then putting them together without any instructions whatsoever! I'm hoping that those of you out there reading this can use the pictures and part names in the instructions to put these cars together! If you have to follow the instructions to the letter (and number I'm sorry but I will be of little help here and it would be impractical to try to lead you through that way!

As I said I am not a model building purist so I do not do a full detailing job on my engines (again because they just won't be seen that much!) Though they do not look like junk either!!!

A couple notes on the "air cleaner", "fire extinguisher" and "distributer". I do not paint the filter element in the air cleaner I use a strip of white decal stock the same with as the filter is tall to cover it (looks better than paint ( at least it does to me!!!) Also I paint the distributer the color of the manufacturer usually red or blue! The Fire extinguisher is painted red with silver fitting on the end. One last thing when you remove the parts from the trees there will sometimes be excess plastic which must be trimmed (try to trim as close to the part as possible when removing it to avoid most of this) do that now! You will touch up these areas after assembly! Also go ahead and paint (brush) the roll bar padding and window net areas!

Note:I will include a line about painting the dash dials in the assembly section!

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