How to feel bodywork

[olds45512]

Originally Posted by Maxwelhse

Good video. Speaking as an amateur that has gotten lucky on a few projects (including sanding down some Teak speaker cabinets), I can tell you that the only way I can "feel" much of anything is with a Durablock and some sort of guide coat (on the wood I could just vaguely dampen the surface with water to raise the high spots... can't do that with steel). Before I got a couple a big blocks I re-did lots of rattle-canning.

I'd like to know how you body magicians deal with complex/hard angles (the 1x9/QL hood scallops, the ones that slope downward toward the dash) come to mind. I know there are various different blocks and stuff you can buy, but I can't wrap my mind around how to get those angles really sharp while keeping everything else flat. When I look at that panel I just envision myself sanding gallons of material before I got it right.

I'll let you paint mine for free if you want to cover the topic. Oh, what the hell, I'll even cover shipping.

thats a tough one, even at my skill level something like that would be trial and error. i only have about 4 different blocks i use and i make it work, imagination plays a big part when it come to complex angles.

[Maxwelhse]

Originally Posted by olds45512

thats a tough one, even at my skill level something like that would be trial and error. i only have about 4 different blocks i use and i make it work, imagination plays a big part when it come to complex angles.

Doh! You gave me the answer I was afraid of, which I interpreted to read, "just gotta know what you're doing".

I have 4 cars lined up on my "learn to paint 'cause good paint costs $10k even if it isn't very good" list, and I have done a few projects and even some custom work that turned out well, and getting that stupid tractor hood right is the only thing that scares me out of all of them. I mostly have cars with simple body lines. Most folks wouldn't think of a tractor as being heavily styled, but they really are if you look at them... That white paint hides it...

...which is why the first car I plan to paint happens to be white.

[olds45512]

Originally Posted by Maxwelhse

Doh! You gave me the answer I was afraid of, which I interpreted to read, "just gotta know what you're doing".

I have 4 cars lined up on my "learn to paint 'cause good paint costs $10k even if it isn't very good" list, and I have done a few projects and even some custom work that turned out well, and getting that stupid tractor hood right is the only thing that scares me out of all of them. I mostly have cars with simple body lines. Most folks wouldn't think of a tractor as being heavily styled, but they really are if you look at them... That white paint hides it...

...which is why the first car I plan to paint happens to be white.

Theres an old bodyman saying "if it ain't right paint it white" because white will hide just about any imperfection. The only downside to white is that it's harder to paint simply because its harder to see how it's going on while your spraying, use a hand held light down low on the sides to make sure the paint went on looking good.