Atlas Van Lines 36" Dumas kit BUILD

[Alexander King]

I already scanned the atlas dumas decals, and redrew them with cadd so my friend at work can cut me some high quality Atlas decals for the build. Should be nicer than the ones that come with the kit. Mike

The dumas decals look good but yeah, I'm not a big fan of those waterslide decals either. If your lucky to get them to slide off and put in position without falling apart in pieces they do look good and lay flat against the finish. But man they can be a pain.. The extra cost of having them printed up for you is worth it I think. Looking good! B)

Im no expert but if you search on model forums there are products out there for scale model decals that you can spary on a clear layer to the decal to keep the decal in tact So it will not separate while applying if you are thinking about using the ones you have.

PS your build is nice!

 

[R.J.West]

I have had decent luck with Testors decal spray. Testors waterslide decals that you can print up on your printer at home work real good for the little stuff such as those little Pennzoil or Champion decals.

I started to apply decals and cut out the stripes on my U-76 Atlas from monocoat. Man I'm glad I bought spare decal sheets from Dumas though.

 

[Mike Luszcz]

I got my hardware in the mail saturday, and got my decals made, so more of the build very soon! Mike

 

[Mike Luszcz]

I got the hardware fitment done Friday afternoon. Got the white painted saturday, and did all the graphics today. Wing, cowling, and the light blue "A" on the rear fin will be next! Enjoy, Mike

 

[R.J.West]

Thats one thing that I failed to master, and that's a great paint job like yours, man that looks fantastic! What brand paints did you use?

I give up I'm just gonna pay people to paint N detail my boats.

 

[Mike Luszcz]

The white is plasticote spray can, the light blue is testors light blue, and the navy blue is marine boat stripe vinyl I got a west marine. Once I have all the parts painted, I will spray all of them with Urethane automotive 2k clear coat to protect and isolate all the undercoats. Its a great, easy, and cheap technique. Boats like this, that do not hold much value beyond eye of the beholder just dont need full on basecoat/ clearcoat. Its just not worth the extra expense! Enjoy the pics, the wing is now painted, and the cowling has the first coat of white. I will detail it out tomorrow night. Mike

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Deleted

 

[Mike Luszcz]

Hydro, thanks. I am surprised however you did not see the 1/8th scale smokin joes in the background! haha. Mike

 

[R.J.West]

An awesome paint job definately!

I have a couple cans of Testors paint including a few cans of that same light blue. The lt. blue sprays real nice but I had difficulties with my whites. They kept bubbling in spots. have you experienced that before with any of Testors paint?

.Keep up the good work and I might have to send ya my boats to paint too! :lol:

 

[Mike Luszcz]

Well, the light blue is the first I have used the testors. I would have used plasticote or rustolium but I could not find the right shade of light blue for the hull. The testors does go on kind of orange pealed tho. After the white dried, I sprayed clear acrylic lacquer, and after the navy vinyl, red vinyl, and light blue testors were added and dried for about an hour, another coat of clear acrylic lacquer were added. I do this, so once the color coats cure a couple days, I can scuff that clear lacquer coat so the Urethane clear will have something to bite onto. If you scuff your color coats directly, well, you could break threw them, or you could sand the metallic s..and you don't want that! You have to be very careful with enamels, there is a window of time you cannot topcoat them. Acrylic lacquers do not have that window. The enamels will wrinkle, so read your directions!!!! Testors is an enamel! Plasticote offers lacquer and enamel, so read them over! Mike

Also, keep in mind, I have been doing automotive paint work off and on since 1995. I have learned a lot of tricks, and damaged a lot of stuff while taking these risks, lol. Its a new learning curve everyday!

 

[R.J.West]

I painted my Atlas U-76 with 4 10.oz cans of Dupi-color's acrylic laquer, which i though is an easy paint to use, i also had very good results with Krylon's enamels. My experience with Testors paint has been hit or miss.....I had absolutely no problems spraying my light blue, but my white has been a nightmare, it keep orange peeling in spots, so Im guessing maybe I bought some white that sat on the stores shelf too long?

I shot another 4 10.oz cans of acrylic laquer clear over my Atlas cause the stuff dries so thin. I allow it to cure for about a week or so before wet sanding with 2000, it gets nice N hard after curing for some time....

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Deleted

 

[Mike Luszcz]

Got the cowling painted. Now I wait 2 days, let the spray can stuff cure, then I can auto clear everything, and reinstall hardware, and RUN!

 

[R.J.West]

Ok, I have a boat that needs paint n detailing, what was your address again?

Good Job Man! B)

 

[opio]

looks very nice!

 

[Mike Luszcz]

Haha, thanks guys. It really is far from perfect, but I am pretty happy with it so far. Mike

 

[Mike Luszcz]

A few more pics! Mike

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Deleted

 

[Mike Luszcz]

Yup, it actually runs really nice! I had it out on the course saturday and it ran probably in the low to mid 50's, which is all I wanted out of it. Stable as can be and looks like a real hydroplane replica out there. I was more than pleased. I will have videos hopefully soon. Gotta drag the wife out to get some while I drive, Mike

 

[R.J.West]

Very good work! Looks just as good as the real hull!

How did you attach the cowl to the hull?