Quickie Cooler Project…

[RoughboyModelworks]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions Marc. As I mentioned, it came out a touch darker than I had originally intended. Though I had lightened up the primary red, it probably could have been a touch lighter yet... just didn't want to start out with a pink cooler  . I'm going to let it sit for a few days and may do a little more work on it or maybe not. If it still bothers me after a few days away from it, I may just blast it off and redo the paint with some colour adjustments.

Paul

[finescalerr]

It does look a little faded and dusty. If the idea is to find it amid some junk out in the desert then it's about right. If it is supposed to be in service, you probably overdid it. Either way it's a nice piece of modeling. -- Russ

[Malachi Constant]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions Marc. As I mentioned, it came out a touch darker than I had originally intended. Though I had lightened up the primary red, it probably could have been a touch lighter yet... just didn't want to start out with a pink cooler  . I'm going to let it sit for a few days and may do a little more work on it or maybe not. If it still bothers me after a few days away from it, I may just blast it off and redo the paint with some colour adjustments.

Paul

Paul --

If it comes down to re-doing the color, try mixing a light pastel green into your red ... that will lighten your red:  (a) with more of a neutral effect and (b) without turning it pink.

Cheers,
Dallas

[Chuck Doan]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryw64/4893833179/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattbatt/152939744/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smokey2006/2129436891/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mapzitro/2296077229/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reluctant_paladin/3196957385/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuddy/4363226598/

Before you do anything drastic, search "coke machine" tag (full text) on Flickr. You might find something that comes close to yours.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/

Type in the upper right box and hit search. When it shifts to the photos, pick full text to expand the search.

[lab-dad]

Couldn't you do some "panel fading" with oils (yellow & white).
I have read about it in my Mig book, but have not had the need to try it, yet!
Marc may be able to expand on this?
Also FichtenFoo did this on his "Vinny".
-Marty

[RoughboyModelworks]

Thanks for all the input guys... much appreciated. I've pretty much decided to blast off the colour coat down to the rust layers and redo. I think the problem is the weathering is too heavy, I rushed the transparent filters and they are overdone, giving a generally unfocused appearance. Nothing drastic about redoing it Chuck, it's just the OCD perfectionist side of my psyche coming to the front again... sometimes a benefit, more often a curse. I know it can be better than it is and my haste to get it done is to blame, so essentially this has become the "Not-So-Quickie Cooler Project." 

Russ, the cooler is destined to sit on the stoop outside a depression era roadhouse café along a dirt road, that has deteriorated over a couple of decades to the point where the business is just hanging on. The cooler is meant to be in use, show heavy use, thus the dented top flaps and the modest amount of corrosion, wear on the logo and sun fading of the primary red colour. Kind of hard to describe but I know the look I'm after and this is just not it. I'm also not entirely satisfied with the decal work, that can be much better.

Some good photo leads Chuck... thanks. I had done a fairly extensive search for cooler photos and didn't find exactly what I was looking for so it became a compilation of several different shots. I was pleased to see the heavily oxidized samples... very close to the colour I ended up with.

Marty, I did do some panel fading after painting the original colour, but it was a little too subtle and became lost with the application of the filters.

Dallas, if I remember my subtractive colour theory, if you mix red and green you get a tertiary colour, grey or more often then that, brown mud. Perhaps if the green is pale enough as you suggest... will have to experiment a little.

Paul

[Ray Dunakin]

I seem to recall reading that you can mix a little yellow into red as a way to lighten the red slightly without making it pink. Haven't actually tried it, though.

[finescalerr]

You read that in my rag: Bob Stears wrote that in his article about Rio Grande stock cars in the current NG Annual. See what brilliance abounds? -- Russ

[RoughboyModelworks]

Here's a shot of the revised cooler. As threatened, I removed all the paint and started over. The changes started when I came to the colour coat after the gum arabic step. This time I lightened up the red by adding both yellow and white, then sprayed approx. 12 very thin coats modifying the colour slightly for each coat until it built up into the shade I was after while still revealing subtle hints of the underlying colours. After scrubbing away the paint in the gum arabic areas, I gave the entire cooler a gentle soda blast to uniformly oxidize the surface.



I soda blasted the decal this time before applying which is a little tricky as it's very easy to just blast the thing into oblivion. Using very gentle pressure and several light passes, I wore down the lettering enough to look as if it had been rubbed or worn off in several areas. The blasting also removed the decal film outside the printed areas which is a real benefit, however it makes the decal extremely delicate and difficult to apply.

This was followed with some very light glaze coats of Dr. Ph Martin's Sepia Synchromatic water colour diluted with denatured alcohol sprayed with the AB Turbo around the base and in the decal area to subtly stain and discolor the white decal. A little streaking with an 18x0 brush and alcohol followed by a modest application of powders finished the job. I'm much happier with the end result this time, the colour is better and the decal looks the way it should with no visible decal film. Now it's ready for the Clyde's Place display.

Paul

[Mobilgas]

Paul,   Second time around turned out a lot more realistic on the paint finish and weathering    Craig

[Ray Dunakin]

Much better!

[finescalerr]

What they said. -- Russ

[Malachi Constant]

It worked!  Looks like a faded cooler that's been mildly beaten and abused for a good while and lettering looks like it's been rubbed off over time.  Neatly done ... maybe a touch of dust/grime along the very bottom edge and a bit of gunk in the cooling fines.

Cheers,
Dallas

[Hector Bell]

I would never have dreamed of criticising the original model, Paul, but I must say the second version is noticeably different, I suppose better IS the word.  I think the actual fineness of finish is much improved.  Even though I am partially colour blind, I can see that the second time around is definately an improvement on what was already a remarkable piece of work.
I do admire a man who sees every little part as a model in its own right.  That way lays consistency of the highest level.

Well done.
Martin

[Chuck Doan]

Looks nice! I'm glad it worked out; complete redo's are sometimes required if things keep gnawing at you.