Here's something a bit different. In a bid to wind the clock back design-wise on the car I'm doing lots of little things, one of which is my steering wheel.
For some reason, my steering wheel is a Mk1 Polo item from the Wolfsburg factory instead of a Mk2 item, perhaps it's because it's one of the first Mk2's, or perhaps it's because this is normal and I just haven't realised it. It's okay Retrowagen put me right on this one. Regardless, in the middle of the steering wheel is the horn boss on which is moulded the Wolfsburg factory crest of a red wolf howling in front of a castle over a moat, but slightly modernised for the 1980s.
I set to with the enamel paints to bring it to life and, when I've given it a protective coat of varnish (which won't change how it looks here) it should look like an old-fashioned steering wheel boss.
Quick scrub with some bathroom cleaner to get the grot out of the leather-effect plastic. No primer required.
First coat of colours, very streaky.
Second coat, blue is now ready, chrome looks good, but red is still a bit streaky.
Final coat. Red is nice and solid, black areas have been painted to sharpen details, flat blue has had a single coat of metallic blue to immitate the original Wolfsburg crest.
The angle it'll sit on the car, the colours looking vibrant and fresh.
This took a while to do because it's 6 hours between coats and it's fiddly. All of it was done by hand with tiny brushes, the only masking I'll do is when I varnish the crest since I don't want the leather-plastic to be shiny. The varnish is merely to protect the paint since it's tougher than the enamel... I was going to experiment with a clear resin fill but since I don't know how UV stable it is and I don't have a back-up horn boss I decided not to risk it.
I set to with the enamel paints to bring it to life and, when I've given it a protective coat of varnish (which won't change how it looks here) it should look like an old-fashioned steering wheel boss.
Quick scrub with some bathroom cleaner to get the grot out of the leather-effect plastic. No primer required.
First coat of colours, very streaky.
Second coat, blue is now ready, chrome looks good, but red is still a bit streaky.
Final coat. Red is nice and solid, black areas have been painted to sharpen details, flat blue has had a single coat of metallic blue to immitate the original Wolfsburg crest.
The angle it'll sit on the car, the colours looking vibrant and fresh.
This took a while to do because it's 6 hours between coats and it's fiddly. All of it was done by hand with tiny brushes, the only masking I'll do is when I varnish the crest since I don't want the leather-plastic to be shiny. The varnish is merely to protect the paint since it's tougher than the enamel... I was going to experiment with a clear resin fill but since I don't know how UV stable it is and I don't have a back-up horn boss I decided not to risk it.