One of the hardest parts of building car kits (other than dealing with MPC’s dodgy quality, of course) is getting a really good finish on them. Whereas other modellers can often hide behind matte or semi-gloss finishes (thank goodness!), car builders cannot. Let’s face it, most cars come from the factory all shiny and new. From the smallest “city car” to the biggest of big rigs, and the cheapest of Econobeaters to the highest-line Luxobarges, every car starts its life shiny. For someone like me, who wants to build their cars as “fresh off the line” museum pieces, this means there’s nowhere to hide when it comes to the final finish.
That shine doesn’t come easily! Even econoboxes deserve some love when it comes to a factory-fresh finish!
As many of you likely know, I am a member of the International Plastic Modeller’s Society, IPMS. In particular, I am a member of IPMS London (Ontario, Canada) and we meet once a month. At those meetings, we always have a blast, sharing looks at whatever we’re all working on, and there’s also a “show and tell” table where people can bring in their finished (or even in-progress) works to display. We also do workshops on particular skill sets, such as groundwork, decalling, etc. Recently, I was asked by the club to do a demonstration on how I get my car finishes so glossy.
This was quite an honour, and I was more than pleased to do a demonstration. Our club IT folks even recorded it and put it on YouTube, along with some other presentations that have been done at the club. So, if you’re curious as to how I do it, grab a beverage and some popcorn and follow the link below!
The Sprue Lagoon 