Making a mess of my garage

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

I have a backlog of bodies to paint, I decided the first one to tackle will be the easiest. One color, pre trimmed - it doesn't get much easier!

It's an F100 cab for a Vaterra Ascender. I picked up what available bodies were left locally when this was discontinued (Chev Suburban and this).
I still have to assemble the cage and put a light kit in this shelf queen lid. I have a local plate for the front too

I never tire of this color!

Also, never tire of looking at my old truck

Eventually I'll pick up the matching wheels from RC4wd. They're on my wish list and no rush as it'll be a static model for that look.

Next up will be the Heritage Bronco

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

 

[Littlemotor]

I have a backlog of bodies to paint, I decided the first one to tackle will be the easiest. One color, pre trimmed - it doesn't get much easier!

View attachment 259015

It's an F100 cab for a Vaterra Ascender. I picked up what available bodies were left locally when this was discontinued (Chev Suburban and this).
I still have to assemble the cage and put a light kit in this shelf queen lid. I have a local plate for the front too

I never tire of this color!

View attachment 259016

Also, never tire of looking at my old truck

View attachment 259017

Eventually I'll pick up the matching wheels from RC4wd. They're on my wish list and no rush as it'll be a static model for that look.

View attachment 259019


Next up this week will be the Heritage Bronco

Had a ‘78 SuperCab w/460 & C6, and a ‘77 F100 mud truck on 40’ Mickey’s w/351Modified & adjustable BBC valve train.. I legitimately chopped a brand new Acura RSX in half with that one..

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

‘77 F100 mud truck on 40’ Mickey’s w/351Modified & adjustable BBC valve train.. I legitimately chopped a brand new Acura RSX in half with that one..

That's awesome!
I didn't think you could do anything to the 351m?
I remember going to a few speed shops in my twenties with my 351m equipped '79 and the guys said that heads aren't available for it. They all advised I yank it. I left everything numbers matching since it was complete.

Side note for this body, I ended up ordering an all new complete roller to set it on. It comes with an unpainted, opened package body.
I'm going to list the other sealed body I have.

I'll take the Ford body out next summer, but on the lightest of trails for photos.

 

[Littlemotor]

That's awesome!
I didn't think you could do anything to the 351m?
I remember going to a few speed shops in my twenties with my 351m equipped '79 and the guys said that heads aren't available for it. They all advised I yank it. I left everything numbers matching since it was complete.

Side note for this body, I ended up ordering an all new complete roller to set it on. It comes with an unpainted, opened package body.
I'm going to list the other sealed body I have.

I'll take the Ford body out next summer, but on the lightest of trails, mainly for photos.

Not to derail your thread-I actually mis-spoke; it was a 400M. I also had a 351M some years later, that I jerked from an old Town Car, or Thunderbird. Doesn’t matter-they’re the same for all intensive purposes. These were the garbage, factory Ford castings that received screw in studs for the BBC valve train so that it was adjustable, roller rockers were available, less prone to failure, and cheaper than aftermarket Ford parts. They were ported, but being the piss-poor design, they still didn’t flow all that great. Was cool though, and I never met anyone else with my setup (and likely for good reason ) ..

Also side note-the lexan body looks killer!

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

@Littlemotor - You're good! This is a safe haven for old Fords. And, I think I am a collector at this point? lol

Thanks for the compliment. It's really too bad HH didn't keep the line going; they had some nice bodies in the Vaterra line up.

The description of the head improvements sounds super interesting, I have never heard of a setup like that. Thanks for sharing!

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

My little dude has been home from school sick the last few days. I haven't been able to accomplish much hobby related but that all changed today!

She's trimmed up, washed up and ready for a bunch of masking!

Edit: Dec 12 2025

I cut out all the masks for the Bronco body last night. I'll see if I can start laying them out today.

I was more into spinning wrenches on different projects including painting and installing some LEDs on that Ford body.

Another plus to multiple projects at once, the Tamiya body came with stickers that I might snag for the F100 lid. The FORD letters are just screaming out to be repurposed.

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Masking is finally complete!

 

[Littlemotor]

View attachment 259853

Masking is finally complete!

Very nice sir!! Let the fun begin!!

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Very nice sir!! Let the fun begin!!

Thanks man!

It is well under way!

Here is a thread update

After I painted the F100 body I learned a thing or two. #1 remember to use a box - I had forgotten that. And #2, increase ventilation!

Everything in the garage had a noticeable look of metallic or metallic green.

My poor ventilation unit I installed when the house was new just wasn't going to cut it. It was never designed for this type of task or environment.

Doing this in a pinch I had to come up with an immediate solution; leaf blower!!

Please excuse the mess, I'm working on storage solutions in the coming weeks.

Look at this poor fan unit

It has a very noticeable green and white/grey look to it lol

I have a plan to upgrade the ventilation in here but that's not the task at hand.

Back to painting!!

I didn't have the exact shade of red I wanted so we have to make due.
I started with transparent red as that was the shade I wanted. I backed it with cherry red, then I backed that with copper so when I move on to white it doesn't lighten it up.

Checking the red mixture

And the grille ready for white

Oh poop, hopefully it doesn't come out to dark

And since I had the transparent red out;

One of the guys at Mile High asked me if I tinted the windows red as the electronics LEDs caused it to light up red. Well, they're now red

I ended up picking up a can of black backer by Spazstix. Not my favorite at all but I can't find any representations of the Heritage Red Ford Bronco that have white fenders; they're going to have to be black. Plus I have the bumpers to paint too. Of course I also spent a bunch of time masking those out separately LOL

Regardless of how things turn out it's time to let it cure - tomorrow I'm moving on to white.

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

I would say we're about half way on the white.
Somewhere around 6 coats I believe. I wasn't counting. I was trying to max out a can and I should have quit when I was a head; it starting spiting globs of paint. Thankfully only a few landed on the white area.

Once I am happy with the white I'll back it up with silver and let it sit for an hour or two.

Okay, so officially on to the drying phase:

I have to switch brands now so I have this positioned beneath the garage heater to cure for a bit before I move on to blacking out the body, fenders and bumpers.

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Here's where I have to hit pause for today.
I definitely prefer the Tamiya paint over the other brand; It just isn't drying.

I was hoping to move on to smoking the rear windows because then the internal lexan spraying would be done and I can focus on the exterior.

Looks like another day of labor into the paint.

 

[9x19]

Looks good so far...

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Looks good so far...

Thank you

The Spaz Stix cured over night so I am moving on!
I am doing all the detail stuff; tail lights, turn signals, light window tint, etc.

Next step after that will be flattening out the exterior: Roof, side skirts, fender flares and bumpers.

Paint correction time!

After removing the masking on the roof to paint flat clear I noticed a few areas where some red mist came threw my single layer of masking tape - lesson learned!

Instead of just painting the roof clear and saying "good enough" I decided to spray it white to save it. That also has the affect of flattening the finish.

As I near the end of this one I thought I would show all the products I used

All the stuff on the right we all know and love (at least I do) and then a few products on the left I have never used before this body.

For clarification, I always preheat my spray cans along with the work pieces and space; I like to paint in 20c + (70f+).

The Spaz Stix "sprays heavy" as in the nozzle is difficult to depress and seems to come out with more product.
I also found the dry time to be far longer than the Tamiya products I have been accustomed too. Full dry from tacky took overnight (8-12 hrs).

The Revell Flat Clear was also a new to me product.
I found it sprayed well, the can was easy to work with, almost familiar.
Also a plus was the dry time, to be fair it is a clear so there isn't the pigment that there would be in other paints. But in the "booth" it was flashing off pretty quick.
Once I had sprayed one side and moved on to the other, I could already see it drying on the opposite corner. It really helped speed up the final steps which is always welcome in a labor intensive project.

Then there was all the masking tape I used. Corner tape by Tamiya (2-3mm), 6mm masking and 10mm masking tape by Tamiya. I then had a roll of 1" generic painters tape I used for larger areas.

I unfortunately had a few lifts with all the various tapes but the worst offender by far was the generic painters tape. It wasn't the cheap beige stuff either, this is a similar color to the Tamiya tape. It just unfortunately didn't have the same level of adhesion. You definitely get what you pay for.

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Well, darn. Unfortunately while removing some masking some of the Spaz Stix black came off.
I am hoping that is a fluke and not an omen for the rest of it. All I read about or even hear about first hand is the stuff flaking off.

Here's how it looks leaving the booth for the final details

While that was drying in the garage I went for a ride to my LHS. I won a GC on the weekend at the comp I entered so it was time to spend it!

I needed a few things to finish this project but I also wanted to grab a few new bodies. I snagged this ECX one for 19 bucks, I plan on chopping it up and using it on my TRX4-M.

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

I need to come up with a color for my "team".

This was my basic theme back in the day.

I was thinking purple to pay homage to the past.

This is more about performance than looks, and I don't really want to do anything crazy elaborate; I'm a little burnt out after painting the Bronco body. I just want to personalize and get better performance out of these platforms.

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Back at it again today. These will be the last bodies I paint for awhile! I think my wife would be happy about that too. I have been doing my best with ventilation but it's been minus twenty Celsius or below so it's been tough.
In the beginning it was mild outside and I could leave a second floor window of the house slightly open and get a negative on the home keeping the smell down.

Well, frost and ice are keeping the overhead door open slightly. I cannot move too much air without putting the garage in a condition not conducive to painting and freezing me out of here!

Half way through with these two though. So happy to be spraying Tamiya again today!!!

Follow up on the Bronco body:

I am still working on details. Unfortunately my worst nightmare has come true. The Spaz Stix had flaked off in one area when I flexed the body making holes in it.
Thankfully that area has a black out sticker to cover it but dang. I will never, ever buy one of their products again. It didn't even bond to the lexan at all.