The engine, for the most part, is finished.  The only things left to add are done further along in the build.  I've turned my attention to the chassis now and have the exhaust painted and attached. With that done, I can focus on painting and installing the rest of the suspension and driveline.

 

I wish real cars were as straight forward.

I painted the chassis, engine bay, and hood to match the body.  I like doing this because the details show up better.  It also gives it a cleaner look. (In my opinion.)

When I assemble and paint engines, I like to use flat or semi gloss finish.  This, in my opinion, gives the subject depth and realism.  Unfortunatly, the only paint that came near what color I wanted was a gloss.  To compensate, I used dull tones on all of the details.  Heres the break down so far.

 

Block/Heads: Gloss Red

Intake Manifold: Steel (to mimic cast aluminum)

Exhaust Manifolds: Steel (to draw the eye away from the heads)

Valve Covers: Flat Black wash with the fins wiped off to expose the chrome. (I like the contrast)

Starter: Flat Black w/ Steel details (to look real)

Water Pump: (same as the Intake)

Carb: Thinned Gold over the chrome part. (to look anodized)

Distributer: Gloss Red (to look like an after market part, MSD in this case)

Yesterday, I shot the Black Pearl on it.  It turned out great!  After letting it cure for a couple of hours, I placed the stripe decals on the sides.  I also picked out the emblems, lights, and trim using a dry brush technique.  I used "steel" for those.

I've started working on a model by Revell.  It's a new tooling of Chevy's 1969 Nova SS.  It comes with some neat options like a cowl induction hood.  So far today, I have the body in primer and I'm starting to assemble the engine.

 

I think I'm going with a mild custom theme with this one.  The paint choice is "Black Pearl" made by Testors.