Hey guys,

Just finished redoing the taillights with the candy apple red and clear coats as suggested by 1900WattCelica. I did about 4 coats of the red and about 6 or 7 coats of the clear coat. The color is a lot more even and transparent. See results below:


Testors Transparent Candy Apple Red and Clear Cote






After about 4 coats of red.




Masked off black trimming to prep for clear coat.


After about 6 or 7 layers of clear coat. Not that easy... >>


Here's the results, I think I'm going to wet sand it, some areas not very even.

This post has been edited by Chanh55: Jul 18, 2005 - 10:13 PM

It doesnt look too bad. Im actually suprised that car wax would help it.

What you may want to do is use denatured alcohol to remove your paint, and then do it again. Then let it dry for a day or so. Then scuff over the painted surface with a scuffing pad. Then get a clear coat and lay some thicker layers of clear over it which should give it a glossy even look and may not be so splochy. IF you want to get the true candy apple red, you can probably find it online at alot of Testors dealers.

Here are my tails, which are smoked also:

I will definately try that, thanks for the tip 1900WattCelica.

Where would I get "denatured alcohol"?

Ahh any local hardware store should stock it in their paint department. Usually next to the turpentine/mineral spirits/paint thinner/etc. The denatured alcohol will take the paint off like nothing (side note: DO NOT USE ON OR NEAR YOUR CAR, REMOVE LIGHTS BEFORE USING IT ON THEM)

The scuffing pads are gonna be next to the bondo and fiberglass resin at an automotive store.

I couldn't find scuff pads, so I got super fine 360 or something sand pads, it says "great for between coats". Would that work? I was able to find candy apple red Testor's paint at the hobby store down the street, the guy at the hobby store said rubbing alcohol would work as a paint thinner as well...is that true?

The sand paper will probably work fine, just need to make the surface even and not smooth so that the clear will adhere to the paint.

Im not sure about rubbing alcohol, it will probably work. I just used the denatured stuff because someone told me it works and yes....it does work extremely well and its pretty cheap.

That actually looks really good. I was going to smoke my tails, but I'll do this, it looks really great. Nice Job.

I'm gonna go re-do it tonight with the testor's candy apple red tonight when I get home, I'll post pictures.

Thats good, Im sure it will give you much better results than the stained glass stuff

I redid it, check it out.

o sure just copy me why dont u

OK this is the complete how to here...

I did this way back to my old tails and they came out just like Chanh55's. I didn't like the way they looked on the outside - the outer part that I redded then cleared wasn't quite like the rest of the tail. It was lighter, almost looked hazy compared to the rest of the tail (also, I only clear coated the part I redded, not the entire tail) it wasn't that they weren't glossy...like this pics you posted


left lighter - right darker - kinda looks like it's missing something, huh ?

or a bit hazy/blurry ?

the problem is the inside of the normal red tail part is darker than the inside of the amber part of the tail, so when you red the amber, the inside is still lighter and doesn't give the newly redded part continuity with the rest. You dig ?

>> so to fix the problem and make the newly redded part match the rest of the tail COMPLETELY PERFECT was simple. Here are some pics of my old tails (that I dug out of the closet for a photo shoot >> )

the money shots >>









you can't even tell anything was done to the tails. They look like they are OEM red from the factory >>

you can see the dark "checkerboard" or "graph like" pattern the inside of the normally red tail gives off. I was able to make the newly redded part match that >> you just need to do one more step >>

anyone want to know how ?

how?

Yeah i want to know how to do this

TELL ME HOW! >>

Batmans a tease...

Ive seen your jettas headlights, your like the joey mod king >> To get my smoked and redded tails even I just sprayed a red coat across everything, and then smoked the same also.

not sure if this has ever been done before or if it could actually be done but why not put some tint film over the tailights? get a nice dark look...hope i dont get flamed for that coment, haha

I just bought ST-205 tails from Toysport, gonna go in a bit to pick them up in Long Beach, anyone want redded out tails?

-1900WattCelica+Jul 19, 2005 - 2:34 PM
I'm a tease >>

-Chanh55+Jul 19, 2005 - 5:49 PM
toysport = bad >>

anyway, the solution is simple. First I got this


then I DID NOT tint the outside of the lense. I sprayed the INSIDE of the amber lense a bit. Step by step, spray a little inside the amber part, and hold the tail at an angle so the tint runs down, then at another angle to run another way, ect...and repeat these steps until it is even and covered. You will not be covering the inside, just spraying a little at a time. The inside of the lense is rigid/jagged, not flat, so the tint goes between the crevaces and you get the consistant checkerboard look. After doing a little, look from the front and you can see the difference.

It is important not to use a lot of the tint because it will make the amber part look darker than the rest. If you look at the upper left of the tail in the second and last pic you can see where I used a bit too much and too much ran in the corner.

overall it was easy, and the results are very good. Remember, spray a little, hold at and angle, maybe shake it a bit, repeat.

any questions ?

-LewFX+Jul 18, 2005 - 10:09 PM

This one's for you LewFX, my new tails...

How did using a black tint on an amber lens give you a red look?

no hes saying u red the tall.. but after u spraythe black tint.. cause other wise it coems out lighter then the rest and without the pattern.. buy sprayin black it makes it as dark as the others so when u red its all even

Actually, Bats saying to pull out the bulb and shoot the tint in through the bulb hole.

I know its off the subject but you can make a generic set of jdm tails by making the whole corner amber instead of having the red refector on corner. I think thats what the jdm tails looked like before they came out with the newer ones. Just figured i'd share.

Very cool Dustin! Batman strikes again!