Toyota Corolla Pilot Project Part 5

The Rolla after a light coat to fix the overspray

This project should have well & truly been done with by now but the saga continues and I am happy pleased overjoyed going to share the results  ongoing stuffups in the name of hobbiest comradeship :-).

If you haven’t seen the earlier parts of this blockbuster, start here and use the archive on the right to work your way through them.

Ok so we had to repair our little overspray after deciding to give the little ‘Rolla a blue lid.  Looking ok right? Well at this point it might be best to go to dot points:

• Do not try to rush between coats if you have to mask parts of the car. When we removed the tape from the roof it left a blemish. We have used this type of tape many times and this is a first so it had to because we didn’t let the roof cure for long enough
• Do not use newspaper to mask the car. It will (and did) leave print marks, especially if the paint is white
• Do not try to fix blemishes with turps, eucalyptus oil or anything like that. It will (and did) lift the paint, especially if you don’t let the paint cure (which we didn’t)

Also, it is important to keep in mind, small mistakes are big mistakes on little cars. However, on the other hand, they are quite easy to fix. So there is a trade-off there. The most important thing I think I can share is do not rush anything.  Allow plenty of time between stages.

So what next? I think I have enough data here to move onto my VH Valiant Charger project so I could stop here and just do that. But where does that leave the little Rolla? Well I see a couple of options.

1. Apply a coat of clear over the car, blemishes and all,  just to see how that goes. Then screw the the model back together and be done with it
2. Apply the clear for test purposes then apply paint stripper and start again. New colour and all
3. Apply paint stripper now and start again

At this point I am leaning towards option 1. Stay tuned.

If you have enjoyed (endured?) the journey with me and wish to continue, sign up as a follower or for email updates. Also please take the time to leave a comment. Use the archive on the right to access earlier items. Cheers, Doogie.

Diecast 1974 Leyland P76 Targa Florio

 

1974 Leyland P76 Targa Florio 1/43 Scale

I began this blog with the diecast Leyland P76 Targa Florio in 1/43 scale by Trax. You can see that entry here where I describe having been a passenger in one of these rare Targas. Anyway I felt that entry didn’t really do justice to the car and this model so I decided to share some more photos and info about it.

The Big Leyland Front on

Some highlights from one of the better articles by The Motor Report (see link below) about the big Leyland states the following:

• Suspension was ‘floaty’ by today’s standards
• the car had a cavernous interior and its famous boot. People still talk today about the P76 boot and its ability to swallow a 44 gallon drum like a cheeseburger at a Biggest Loser temptation test.
•  On the rump of the Leyland was a difficult to read P76 badge that looked like PIG from a distance and the Leyland salesman soon had a pet name for the new car
• Even Australia’s Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam called it a dud and Bill Hayden joined in by calling it a lemon
• However, the news was not all bad for the P76, which enjoyed a brief and successful motorsport career. Evan Green drove one to success in the 1974 World Cup Rally and made the fastest time around the leg in Sicily. This included part of the former Targa Florio course and Leyland celebrated by introducing a limited run of 300 P76 Targa Florio’s to celebrate. The P76 Targa Florio had a large sticker down the side to commemorate the win

You can read the article in its entirety here and for more info also see this article here

You could fit a 44 gallon drum or a bale of hay in this boot

See a 44 gallon drum in the boot of a P76 here

For me personally the P76 is one of those cars I wish I had taken the opportunity to own as I had a couple of opportunities to buy one used before they made it to their present cult status. Nice cars that rightfully hold their place in Australian motoring history.

The big Leyland at rest overlooking the ocean

Toyota Corolla Pilot Project Part 4

Well surprise surprise here we are again, part 4 of the saga. If you haven’t seen the earlier posts on this topic you can start here. Ok so after the beetle arrived and landed on the very last coat of paint (search archives to the right for part 3) we left the paint to dry for a couple of days. Rather than being too disappointed we decided to see this as an opportunity to try something different (this is only for a bit of fun and experience after all). So read on, see the pics and enjoy the saga. It isn’t over yet 🙂

Prepped for the blue coat

Ok so the roof required a light sanding to take it back to smooth after the bug did his job on it. So we decided we would add a colour so we also lightly sanded the pillars ready for two coats of blue.

First coat of blue

Second coat of blue

The Rolla with a blue lid

Looking good? Well, not really. Here we go again… we had some overspray which we then tried to rectify but alas we made it worse.

Blue overspray

Attempt to rectify overspray. See the culprit in top right of photo.

Overspray on the underside

Ok so as you can see there will be more parts to this story. I am so glad this is just for a learning curve and a bit of fun. In hindsight, I should have just stuck with the white paint and I would have been finished but I wanted to try a two-tone paint-job since I have plans for a two-tone model in the future. I include the final photo to show the underside after the blue coats. Keep this in mind if you care what colour your interior will be if you use two different colours.

Use the archive on the right for more stories and pictures of diecast models and check back soon for more on the diecast Toyota Corolla repaint saga. Also please take the time to leave a comment.

Trax Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III

Trax Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 3 1/43 Scale

Here we have a fire-breathing Aussie muscle car; the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III. There is plenty of info out there (for example this) about this car, but you should realise that at the time of its release in 1971 it was said to be the fastest four door sedan in the world. The model here is the Trax 1/43 scale Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III in Wild Violet colour. It is from the Trax Aussie Muscle Car Set.

Back in the day a mate of mine had the Fairmont example. It was a 351 (5.8L) T-Bar auto with a very nice dual exhaust and alloys. I was passenger in many a drag from the lights and I don’t remember it being beat. Of course with hindsight I now think things like dragging from the lights and burnouts should be kept for the track but I do remember a time when young men in big Aussie cars went out on the hunt for street drags. On occasion I was one of them. I no longer recommend it.

Anyway enjoy the pic of the model. Use the monthly archive on the right to see more articles and if you’ve enjoyed the blog, please leave a comment. Cheers, Doogie.

Toyota Corolla Pilot Project Part 3

If you haven’t read parts 1 and 2 of this saga use the archive to the right of this post and take the time to read them to find out why I am doing this and of course to see the photos. The paint stripping photos are particularly interesting

Ok so the following is what we did next. It is not necessarily the best way to do it but keep in mind this is experimental for me which is why I called it the ‘Pilot Project’. Also understand this is for a bit of fun as well, despite the ‘minor’ disaster you are about to see… so read on and enjoy and please take the time to leave a comment, it makes it much more encouraging to continue with this circus if we get some feedback. Thanks.

Part 3a: 2 Coats of white

Ok, so to continue, we gave it a quick sand with 1500 grade wet and dry. Now one issue we found was you need to be careful rubbing on the edges like say the guard (the very edge of the front guard) because it is such a small area and you rub the top and as you go to rub the side, the top gets unintentionally done again. The outcome was some tiny areas where we actually went back to bare metal. It was only minor so we bashed on.

A light spray of the first coat of white paint

Then my trusty assistant (I was official photographer) applied a light coat of white, left it for about 3 minutes, just enough for it to go tacky. The weather here was warm and dry (approx 27c)  so it wasnt long before we applied another light coat. Now, I am not sure if this was the right thing to do or not but we decided to call stumps there as we were concerned things like the door handles might begin to drip. The plan is to leave it and apply another coat or 2 later (see the pic below for results, we are not done yet as you can see).

The Corolla after 2 light coats of white over one coat of primer grey

Part 3b: A third coat of white

Ok so far so good. Two days (not an intentional break of time, just the way it worked out) after part 3a the Corolla got another light coat of white. Looking good. Should have stopped there. See the pic and then go onto part 3c below.

The Corolla after its 3rd white coat

Part 3c: A fly in the ointment

Have you ever done anything like this project when you look back with the aid of hindsight and say to yourself  “self, I should have stopped there”. Well this is one of those cases. Ok so we waited an hour after part 3b and wanted to give it one more light coat and then be done so we proceeded and… right at the end of the last tiny spray of paint, a ‘delightful’ bug flew in and sat right on the roof while it was nice and sticky with paint.

A fly in the ointment... so to speak

All I will say at this point about this incident is “one is not amused with this development”.

Check back sometime soon or sign up for email updates to see where we go from here. Also, please leave a comment or suggestion.