What I've learned

I have determined that I do not have a dust-proof balcony.





After doing some test painting, I have also found that the white spray paint I bought is not the right color. It's sort of a cream white, looks like the color of 1960's Honda F1 cars. Both the Tamiya white and blue paints are heavy, they will run easily, and will need to be applied in multiple thin coats. It looks like the white is a touch hot as well, will need to make sure that all surfaces are adequately primed, as it looks like it crazed just a touch painting on bare plastic



Most exciting of all, I've got a ticket to BMW Pit Lane Park at the Bemowo airport in Warsaw for this Friday! www.pit-lane-park.pl



Total: 38 h

Primer

I tested the tape that I had, and I found it left an adhesive residue on the plastic when removed. I therefore decided that I had to have Scotch brand "Magic" tape, which doesn't have the same effect on plastic. It's expensive! Jeez, it's about 5 times more expensive in Poland than in the US. I eventually found some at an artist supply store.



I used this tape to tape the parts to be painted to boxes.



Here is my ultra professional balcony painting booth.



I don't know what the instructions say in Japanese, but I'm sure it's cool!



And here we go, my first impression after the first coat of primer is very good!






More to come on the priming and condition of the monocoque and undertray.

Last thing I did today, besides clean up, was paint the radiators and gearbox.



Total: 37.5 h

successes

Well, first of all, Robert Kubica won his first F1 race this past weekend while in Canada! I was lucky enough to catch it live with a couple of friends in Krakow.

On to the model, I'm really close to painting, so I thought I better do some quick research to make sure I plan to paint it right.

The instructions say to paint the lower element of the rear wing all black. As can be seen in these two photos, the top of the lower element is black and the bottom or rear is white.




The instructions would also have me paint the aerodynamic element around the gearbox black, but it should be white, as seen in this picture my dad took.



Here is a view of the putty work I did to get the sidepods to fit.



The sidepods kept on flexing slightly, so I glued this plastic brace in, to keep them from flexing. If the putty cracks again because of the flexing sidepods, so be it, I'm not going to chase this part of the kit forever, especially when it already looks so good.



Before and after pics.






I'm ready to paint. I haven't sprayed the first coat of primer today because I need to pick up some good scotch tape that doesn't leave glue behind when you remove it, and it's way too windy on my balcony today. I'll spray the first coat of primer sometime this week.

Total: 35 h

actual real painting!

Not a whole lot to do here, I've got to wait for the putty to cure on the monocoque through the weekend, so I did a little bit of tinkering.

Here, another component of the engine is glued together



Then, I painted my first parts flat aluminum. This paint is spectacular, but very thin, it will take a couple of coats on the engine block and radiators.



Finally, prepared the steering wheel for painting.



Total: 32.5 h

Cutting the last parts from the tree

Ever closer to the first coat of primer and some assembly...the only part that remains to be cut from the parts tree is the steering wheel.

Below are the ready for painting wheels, a couple winglets, rear-view mirros and monocoque bits.



This is the underside of the lower element of the rear wing. I successfully managed to putty up some mold ejection pin marks.



Total: 31.5 h

Lots of work

Well this was a hard day. For the second time in my life, I lost a job that I never actually started due to work permit crap. So, I spent a few hours sanding. I had everything perfect, when I did a test fitting. Fitting the monocoque to the undertray flexes the sidepods, and made the now smoothed out putty crack at the mating point between the sidepods and the monocoque. I ran a touch of glue along this seam and let it dry, with the sidepods flexed out. Then I smoothed it over with a little bit of putty again.

If anyone ever asks me, if I have ever balanced a Samsung subwoofer on top of a 1:24 scale F1 model, I can now say yes.



I did this so that the putty would dry with the sidepods flexed fitted to the undertray for a couple of days. I'll probably come back to this next week and do the final sanding and polishing before the first coat of primer.



I have to say everything looks great, everything looks like it will fit together fantastically, and I'm really enthused to see how the first coat of primer comes out, more good things to come!

Total: 29.5 h