Jurassic Park Ford Explorer Toy Upgrade

My current fear is that this is that type of plastic on which enamel will never cure.

If you haven't come across this stuff, you haven't earned your wings as an RPFer.
 
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Latest...

The front two seats are the original plastic color - too light
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THIS is the red I want - Testor's Dark Red. Hard to apply; the rattle can applicator / sprayer sucks...
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Console is Testor's Wood, and will add darker wood grain.
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I feel your pain.
Agents of shield logo. Simple right. Nice easy chrome paint spray....shouldn't be so hard.
After a week or so, I was ready to smash the thing and forget it.

If you were retired and had nothing else going on, not like 20 other projects, and all, maybe things like this wouldn't seem so difficult....but nah, still probably be annoyingly difficult.
 
I feel your pain.
Agents of shield logo. Simple right. Nice easy chrome paint spray....shouldn't be so hard.
After a week or so, I was ready to smash the thing and forget it.

If you were retired and had nothing else going on, not like 20 other projects, and all, maybe things like this wouldn't seem so difficult....but nah, still probably be annoyingly difficult.

Yeah this one is mildly frustrating.

Of my list of reasons, biggest is that I'm rushing it.

All other reasons play, and are valid, but are lessor reasons.
 
Enamel cured overnight, so caught a break there.

Hoping against hope I can sand / polish out the blemish I created in the canopy. Will sand to 2500 and dip in clear acrylic floor wax, IF I can find any floor wax.

Have to find something inert (not rubbing alcohol) to remove the stupid tape adhesive residue; again, tape marketed as "for delicate surfaces, and it left residue. :mad:
 
Under the category of "this project is fighting me", this happened today.

Was primed with Rust-O-Leum Automotive Primer, (not etching primer). Also, though I washed the car with dish soap, that was prior to dismantling, so this part did not get washed.

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And have I shown you this? The blemish I created on the canopy...?

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Well...

I came up with a correction for the Canopy.

Bought myself a spare!

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Progress..

Building out an interior.

Because the Testor's Wood enamel peeled right off the dash console, I ended up masking the console to preserve the original plastic color, which is pretty spot on for the base color of the console. And as such, there was no longer any paint for the tape to peel off.

Adding styrene for the floor, and building up the rear cargo area. I am not stressing over making it perfect - even "roughed out", it is far better than the toy out-of-the-box.

And of course the white styrene and the black plastic will all be painted beige.


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I will also of course and the burlwood striations on the console, will print small versions of the monitor read-outs, and detail-paint the dash.

Plus, there will be backs added to the seats.
 
Just come out the victor.

Speaking of Jurassic Park stuff. My work has made me as part of advertising type stuff, so a week ago they had me make a tiktok account to make short little videos for things. I made a few shorts showing off equipment, and a fun little one with a forklift toy....but, heres an idea I want to actually make here soon. You get the sneak peak....and this here is just a quick little test taking a picture of our building and trucks, and then I found an animated T-rex over greenscreen on youtube.
I think I can have some fun with this.
I can only find a low quality JP jeep animation, but not the explorer. Its free on youtube, so can't complain.

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Just come out the victor.

Speaking of Jurassic Park stuff. My work has made me as part of advertising type stuff, so a week ago they had me make a tiktok account to make short little videos for things. I made a few shorts showing off equipment, and a fun little one with a forklift toy....but, heres an idea I want to actually make here soon. You get the sneak peak....and this here is just a quick little test taking a picture of our building and trucks, and then I found an animated T-rex over greenscreen on youtube.
I think I can have some fun with this.
I can only find a low quality JP jeep animation, but not the explorer. Its free on youtube, so can't complain.

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That is really cool! And certainly an attention getter!
 
On my console (and I'm just "thinking out loud" here), I want to have a nice shine to it, like varnished wood or - as in the film - shiny fiberglass.

But considering that primer and paint peeled right off this plastic, I'm uncertain how well it will take a clear coat.

Keep in mind there will be considerable hand-painting work prior to adding a clear (burlwood grain).
 
Without having it in my hand (one of these days...), I would wager that the body and chassis are ABS, which you should have no problem with, but the interior is likely a flexible plastic like polypropylene or polyethylene. For getting those bits to accept paint, your only hope is adhesion promoter. There's also a method using a flame, but on such small pieces it would be difficult.
 
Progress...

Apparently, I have speckled the dash in front of the steering wheel with black paint. Probably flicked off the brush painting the wheel.

Funny thing is, regardless how prominent the speckles appear in the image, I cannot see them with my eye.

And 1:18 scale burlwood grain (not my best work).

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