My new obsession.

[REV73]

Just a few shots of the latest thing I have that keeps me from doing housework. If you have a copy of the November 2011 Radio Control Car Action magazine lying around, the truck is featured in the readers rides section. I also managed to win "truck of the month" at rctruckstop.com last week.

[Brian in PA]

Nice looking truck! its one of the best looking stock King's around!

[Gregg]

It is not hard to become quickly obsessed with these beautiful models.

[ihbuilder]

nice looking king hauler you have there

next time when you post photo links , please put the next link on a new line instead of behind the previous 1 . makes it easier for the guys with small screens to read

[Msmaddie]

That's a beautiful color. What is it called? Did they make a couple different decal colors or is that custom.

Anyway regardless that is a nice looking truck.

[REV73]

The colour is called brushed nickel, and those are the decals that come with the kit, they just look a bit different in the sunlight I guess. There are 4 coats of paint, and 4 coats of clear, but it really isn't shiny at all, I was a bit disappointed if you wanna know the truth.

[REV73]

Originally Posted by ihbuilder

nice looking king hauler you have there

next time when you post photo links , please put the next link on a new line instead of behind the previous 1 . makes it easier for the guys with small screens to read

That's what I did...at least I thought I did! I see you're an IH man?? me too, in fact I have the box trailer for the truck and my buddy who paints cars at a body shop is going to be painting the trailer IH red, and then I will be applying some IH and farmall decals to it!

[civic83]

Great looking rig, can't wait to go for a drive with it

[1985 kenworth]

yes it is for some reason the nickel colour as a base against the decals look really sharp

[Msmaddie]

Thanks. . I don't think there is anything to be disappointed about. In the pics it turned out great.

[SWAGGER]

Lovely truck, first think that caught my attention was the paint, lovely strong color. I love base metal colors, nickel being one of my favorites. I notice that PJD do nearly as much nickle plating as chrome on their choppers these days, it's really in fashion.

Sorry if you already know this, but you said that the finish is a little dull. Did you wet sand and buff the clear after it was done? That's how you bring out the shine. I wet sanded mine to 2000 grit after a week of drying time and then spend hours buffing with a cutting compound, then another couple of hours with polish, then wax to lock in and protect the shine. With enough effort you can get a glass finish.

[REV73]

Thanks for the advice Swagger! I thought the clear coat would make it shine. I am only an average painter at best. I may remove the decals and give it a try. In fact the actual texture of the paint is so rough that the decals are having trouble staying stuck to the cab. What exactly is a cutting compound? and where do you get it??

[CustomClod]

Thats a good looking rig. Nice work and Congrats!
Scott

[Goose19]

I was at a friends last weekend, who has a subscription to rc car mag, spotted this.........



nice work rev!

[glorydays24]

I have to agree with the others, love the color, and a good looking "KING"
Do you have plans for a trailer?

Big John

[REV73]

Yes, I have the tamiya box trailer, and I am going to be painting it International Harvester Red, and going with a farmall theme.

[SWAGGER]

What you should have done was put the decals on before the clear coat. That would eliminate any sticking issues, plus, it would be more realistic. It would look like they are painted on instead of decals. It would also mean that you could wet sand and polish the whole outside without damaging or removing the decals. It's all a learning process anyway.

Cutting compound is basically for buffing out small scratches and swirl marks on car paint. There are many different brands, I use Turtle Wax or T-Cut. Just ask at any auto parts / spares place.

What you do is start with a rougher sand paper, like 800 grit, fill a bucket with warm water and a tiny bit of washing up liquid and literally sand the whole body, keeping both the paper and body very wet the whole time. Just be very careful to be light and delicate and try to go in a circular motion. It will seem mad at first, but trust me, this will get results. You don't want to go through the clear, but with four coats you should be well safe. Once you have flattened the "orange peel" texture of the clearcoat, move to a higher grit of paper, like 1200 for example. The idea now is to even out the marks from the rougher paper. Once you are happy, move to 1600 grit and remove the marks from the 1200, all the time doing this with plenty of water. Keep checking your work in good light. The whole point of moving up to finer paper is to remove the marks from the last one, until you get to about 2000 grit (I actually went as far as 2500 grit), the surface should be super smooth and flat. At that point, dry off and use your car paint cutting compound. Take a small area at a time, and with a damp cloth, work it in circular motions for as long as you think it takes to rub out all of the fine marks from the sand paper. Then with a clean dry cloth, buff off the compound and move to another area. This will leave the finish of the body perfectly smooth, like glass, but it will be very dull with no shine. That's were the polish comes in. Again, automotive polish. Buff the crap out of it and the results will blow your mind. Then you can use a car wax if you want, probably going a but far, but up to you.

If I were you I would practice on some cheap static models or whatever you can get your hands on, before you do the truck. That's what I did. My truck is my one and only one so far and I was terrified to ruin it, so painted some guitars and stuff and finally was happy enough to go for the truck. Turned out great. Could be better, I can see where I made mistakes and can improve, but overall, for a first attempt I was pretty happy with myself!

You can see my build here, but the pics are a bit crap to be honest, was not a great camera and there is a lot of dust and fingerprints etc. Must take some new shots.

http://rctruckandconstruction.com/showthread.php?t=3175

Happy sanding!

[REV73]

Swagger, I just checked out your paint job and all I can say it WOW!!! It really makes me want to re-do the cab of this truck, but much like you described in your thread, this is my only truck (probably ever) and I am petrified of screwing it up since in all actuality it looks pretty good even if it isn't shiny. That being said I just may paint some scrap styrene that I found at work and give your tips a try. Thanks for the information!

[Diesel Demond]

it is a nice truck forsure!

[Goose19]

Make sure, if you decide to clear over the decals you test the paint first!
I attempted that on a model once......didnt turn out so good. I used an enamel based rattle can clear and it ate the decals.

can't wait to see the ih trailer. Glad to see more than a few people who know what color a real tractor is supposed be!

some good ideas for when I get around to painting mine!