In the home stretch

All set up and ready to go!
Gideon is so close to being done it's driving me nuts.

Decals!
His decals went on very nicely,and while they look a little off due to their rising slightly off the paint, I think that he looks just so awesome I can ignore that annoying little detail.

Soaking.
The process is pretty simple; just place the trimmed part in water for 30 seconds...

Preparation.
Wet the surface so you can wiggle the decal around as needed...

Ta dah!
And you'll have a beautimous machine to use!

Close up of the bed.
He looks absolutely gorgeous. Again, the biggest hurdle with this process has been realizing that I'm not messing things up, I'm just having issues comprehending how these machines ever looked so pretty.

Sadly, something went wrong in the clear coat process, and the final finish became rough, pocked, and just plain ugly. I have no idea what happened--maybe pollen, maybe some solvent from inside the can got on the paint, I don't know, but something made the finish bork up in a couple different spots. I sanded them down, and I hope I can fix it with another clear coat, but I may have a slightly scuffed looking machine. At the very least the entirety of his exposed parts will have been painted, it's just a frustrating setback after so much hard work and patience.

On the brighter side of things, I found yet another vintage machine!

Ooo...
I almost took someone out running to this machine at the thrift store. I thought it was a 301, but upon closer inspection I realized it was a 401a. Still a neat machine, and for $25? Dream come true.

I knew Glenn would kill me if I brought it home, so I left it on the shelf and trudged back to the apartment. I mentioned I thought I could sell it for far more than $25, and Glenn said, "Yes, but would you have the time to list it?"

Ah hah! I don't have the time, but Tom from The Antique Cellar does! A quick phone call to him, and I had permission (sorta kinda) to go get the machine to trade it to Tom and find it a good home. Success!

Some of the attachments.
It came with a ton of attachments, some of which I don't even know what they're for. I do wish I had the time and permission to keep it, but I'll settle for a discounted repair on Gideon when I take him in sometime this week (I hope!).

That's all from me this week. Check back on Sunday or Monday for the final reveal for Gideon, assuming all goes well with the clear coat recoat.

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