Mike Sullivan Stars and Stripes Fiat Altered
Feb 18, 2024 15:55:30 GMT -4
Post by DAVE "THE DUKE" ARMSTRONG on Feb 18, 2024 15:55:30 GMT -4
Mike Sullivan Stars and Stripes Fiat Altered
This is one of my all time favorite altereds, Mike Sullivan's Stars and Stripes Fiat Altered. Not a perfect replica, but a pretty fair representation. The body is resin from Competition Resins, the guts are a Bantam Blast, Slixx decals, Tamiya Pure White paint. It is by far not a perfect job, and it shows it; but it's the best I could manage under the circumstances.
I already gave a bitching blow-by-blow rant on this as it was happening, to Harley- so I might as well tell the story to anyone else who sees this build, so you understand how it came to be, and that it's almost a miracle that it got built, with it's flaws, at all!
I have NEVER come across the problems I had with this, in all my decades of building. The Bantam Blast guts were no problem, I've built so many of these. I test fitted the body, and even though this body is specifically made to build this, using the B.B. and the Slixx decals, the hood opening was not right, had to open it up more in the front. OK, no problem, wham-bam done. Cleaned it up, sanded and washed. S.O.P. Tamiya primer, Tamiya paint, clear coat, let it rest for a few days. Then ATTEMPT ONE; I started applying the decals, they didn't want to stick, and they broke up a lot, and I had to use some paint in places. Didn't look great, but I went with it; waited some days to dry, and applied Tamiya Clear, a clear I usually use on my planes, not cars. There was a bad reaction, and the decals kind of melted. ATTEMPT TWO; I stripped the body, cleaned, reprime, repaint, clear. The decals simply would NOT stick! Just slide around and break up. Once again, it was like both the decals and body were Teflon coated, repelled each other. ATTEMPT THREE, ETC. Twice more, I went through stripping and repainting; I had several sets of decals, so I could do this. Once again, I got to the point where I managed to get some of the decals on, and did the rest in paint; sealed with a different clear coat; incredibly, even being sealed, the decals came off! This as close as it comes to like when I talked with Rick, those times when we wanted to either stomp on or throw a build against the wall! Well, I'm not stripping the body a fourth time and getting another set of decals, and repriming and painting- nope, it all went in the trash, not dealing with it. I walked away from the situation for a good month, I think. I just could not understand this- new, not old decals, that WOULD NOT STICK, just slide around and break up. I normally have no problems with Slixx decals, they're great people, great product; I wrote to them asking what might be the problem- a bad batch, what? Never got an answer.
I really, really wanted to build this, it's one of my favorite 1:1 cars. So, stubborn ass that I am, I bought another resin body and more decals. All the rest of the car has long been built, just waiting for the body. I cleaned up, primed, and painted the body- had to paint it twice because I got a couple of oops the first time. Let it sit for several days. I tried eliminating all the possible causes of my problems. First, no clear coat on top of the paint- I hoped the paint was glossy enough not to have any silvering, and maybe the decals might get more traction on the paint rather than a clear coat. Then, I cut and trimmed the decals where I had the most problems with the decals sticking to the body, where it curved in problem areas. Smaller parts of decals, flatter areas. I tried different setting solutions, but wasn't having any success. I use Solvaset sometimes, but it's pretty strong, and melted these before; so I got some and diluted it with some water, so it wouldn't eat them. I spent the day, very slowly, part by part, getting them on- still having the decals fracture and refusing to stick; nursing them back together. After they were on, I got some paint and fixed the parts that needed it. Hurray! I didn't clear coat it, that was another problem, a bad reaction to the clear. Still no explanation for those decals. I let the build sit for quite a while before taking pics, waiting to see if the decals would come off- so far, OK! So, it's not perfect, but it's as good as I'm gonna be able to do it- what a problem child!
This is one of my all time favorite altereds, Mike Sullivan's Stars and Stripes Fiat Altered. Not a perfect replica, but a pretty fair representation. The body is resin from Competition Resins, the guts are a Bantam Blast, Slixx decals, Tamiya Pure White paint. It is by far not a perfect job, and it shows it; but it's the best I could manage under the circumstances.
I already gave a bitching blow-by-blow rant on this as it was happening, to Harley- so I might as well tell the story to anyone else who sees this build, so you understand how it came to be, and that it's almost a miracle that it got built, with it's flaws, at all!
I have NEVER come across the problems I had with this, in all my decades of building. The Bantam Blast guts were no problem, I've built so many of these. I test fitted the body, and even though this body is specifically made to build this, using the B.B. and the Slixx decals, the hood opening was not right, had to open it up more in the front. OK, no problem, wham-bam done. Cleaned it up, sanded and washed. S.O.P. Tamiya primer, Tamiya paint, clear coat, let it rest for a few days. Then ATTEMPT ONE; I started applying the decals, they didn't want to stick, and they broke up a lot, and I had to use some paint in places. Didn't look great, but I went with it; waited some days to dry, and applied Tamiya Clear, a clear I usually use on my planes, not cars. There was a bad reaction, and the decals kind of melted. ATTEMPT TWO; I stripped the body, cleaned, reprime, repaint, clear. The decals simply would NOT stick! Just slide around and break up. Once again, it was like both the decals and body were Teflon coated, repelled each other. ATTEMPT THREE, ETC. Twice more, I went through stripping and repainting; I had several sets of decals, so I could do this. Once again, I got to the point where I managed to get some of the decals on, and did the rest in paint; sealed with a different clear coat; incredibly, even being sealed, the decals came off! This as close as it comes to like when I talked with Rick, those times when we wanted to either stomp on or throw a build against the wall! Well, I'm not stripping the body a fourth time and getting another set of decals, and repriming and painting- nope, it all went in the trash, not dealing with it. I walked away from the situation for a good month, I think. I just could not understand this- new, not old decals, that WOULD NOT STICK, just slide around and break up. I normally have no problems with Slixx decals, they're great people, great product; I wrote to them asking what might be the problem- a bad batch, what? Never got an answer.
I really, really wanted to build this, it's one of my favorite 1:1 cars. So, stubborn ass that I am, I bought another resin body and more decals. All the rest of the car has long been built, just waiting for the body. I cleaned up, primed, and painted the body- had to paint it twice because I got a couple of oops the first time. Let it sit for several days. I tried eliminating all the possible causes of my problems. First, no clear coat on top of the paint- I hoped the paint was glossy enough not to have any silvering, and maybe the decals might get more traction on the paint rather than a clear coat. Then, I cut and trimmed the decals where I had the most problems with the decals sticking to the body, where it curved in problem areas. Smaller parts of decals, flatter areas. I tried different setting solutions, but wasn't having any success. I use Solvaset sometimes, but it's pretty strong, and melted these before; so I got some and diluted it with some water, so it wouldn't eat them. I spent the day, very slowly, part by part, getting them on- still having the decals fracture and refusing to stick; nursing them back together. After they were on, I got some paint and fixed the parts that needed it. Hurray! I didn't clear coat it, that was another problem, a bad reaction to the clear. Still no explanation for those decals. I let the build sit for quite a while before taking pics, waiting to see if the decals would come off- so far, OK! So, it's not perfect, but it's as good as I'm gonna be able to do it- what a problem child!
