Primer and paint questions

[chrisguyw]

Tamiya TS 16 over white primer............why use paint for lawn furniture (thick), when you can use paints (thin) formulated for plastic models ;)

Cheers
Chris Walker

[slothead]

Thank you. I didn't know what to look for but have now placed a $60+ order with Tamiya-USA and will be getting the TS-16 yellow plus white primer, clear coat, silver for bumpers, and a few basic colors.

It may be 10 days before the stuff arrives so the project is on hold except for body prep. That will allow me to move ahead with 2 other projects on my to-do list.

[mattb]

You can't go wrong following Chris' advice. You won't find better looking work than he does.

[Wobble]

For bumpers, if you don't wish to use a Molotow chrome pen, Duplicolor chrome spray does quite good job, - https://www.google.com/search?q=duplico ... 15&dpr=1.1

[slothead]

I just had a thought about 2 other cars I've put together and painted recently. Getting the front and rear windows to fit properly took a bit of doing, the windshield needed to have the sides and lower corners filed to fit inside the pillars. As soon as I was able to get it in place by pressing it in with my thumb I grabbed some glue to secure it. I used Shoe Goo under the piece holding the front and back windows together, Locktite glue around the top, and super glue gel along the pillars which were the hardest places to get the fit right.

Both cars were painted with Krylon and still need to have the replica decals applied. I'm assuming that if there was a major problem with the decals to the point I decided to strip the body and start over that I'm in deep trouble because getting the windows out would probably be impossible without damaging the body, and if the windows got dipped in the alcohol bath they'd come out frosty. Am I right about that?

I've only ever stripped one body and taking the advice of someone on HRW I used brake fluid. All the decals and paint did lift off the body after about a day soaking in brake fluid and the body was fine. If needed, would there be a away to strip a body with windows in place and have them remain clear?

[Dogsbody]

Tamiya is the best for plastic models, IMHO, because their paint is so fine (scale?). You can't beat the drying time between coats either (10 minutes). Once finished, I put the body away and let it dry for 24 hours then clear coat also by Tamiya.

[strummer57]

Yellow is indeed the hardest color to get "right": I worked as a press operator at a print shop for about 10 years, and the sequence for using yellow ink was completely different.

If going from any one color to another, you would simply wash the press, then ink up in the next color. But with yellow..

... after the first wash, you'd need to ink up in your yellow, then wash the yellow off before then inking up in that same shade a second time. Seems yellow (in any shade) is susceptible to being tinted by the slightest amount of any previous color. It also lacks the "balls" to be a good stand-alone color unless you prep it correctly...at it appears Chris did. :clap:

Mark in Oregon

[slothead]

Yellow is the wavelength of light our eyes are most sensitive to, which makes sense because or environment (Earth) is illuminated with yellow sun light.

If the Cyclone I'll be painting turns out as vibrant as the car in Chris' post I'll be one happy camper. That's the yellow I'm hoping for.

[slothead]

The car came out fine after 3 coats of Tamiya TS-16 yellow spray paint. A few of the decals have been applied and will be finished later today. I'll post photos of the finished product.

On a different note, I'm thinking of converting a Carrera Torino from one replica to another by just painting over the factory paint & decals. If I can cover the windows, grille, and bumpers I might not even have to take the body apart to remove those pieces. My question is, is there an alternative to using tape for masking? Is there a film or gel that can be placed on such parts to keep the spray paint off them? Maybe Vaseline, Chapstick, or the stuff used for face masks as a beauty treatment.

Has anyone tried anything like this? How did it work? All ideas are welcome.

[bill from nh]

Liquid masking is available under many brand names. It's a thin rubber-like material that you brush on 2 or 3 coats. I would think you could find it at RC & hobby shop,s as well as craft places such as Hobby Lobby, A.C. Moore, & Michaels. It's available mail order too.

I had a friend who used Vaseline to mask off windows & other areas on clear bodies for painting. It worked quite well for him. but I've not tried it. I don't see why it wouldn't work well on hard bodies too.

[slothead]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to test using a few things on an old body. I can use masking tape on the front and back windows, but hope to find something to paint on the grille and bumpers. I'm looking forward to getting a small tube of peel off beauty mask to try. An advantage may be they come in colors so you can easily see where it's applied.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Like I told you a month ago, paint meant for scale models works better on models than paint meant for lawn furniture.

And yellow is a bitch. The darker the shade of yellow, the easier it is to get a good finish. Its a test of your self-discipline. Thin coats, properly timed, at least two, followed by a heavier coat for the finish. Make yourself do the right thing.

[slothead]

Waay - I finally made the switch to Tamiya paints and am happy I did. Used Tamiya white primer followed by 3 thin coats of TS16 yellow. The Cyclone looks good to me and how vivid it is varies depending on how it's illuminated.



I put the decals from Ken on the car last night and today. They were hard to get off the backing then once on the car were hard to get stuck down. The sponsor decals on the quarter panels got folded over so I give up on them. I may try to print my own replacements using sticker paper to complete the look of the actual car.

To complete the build I'll tape up the windows and add the Tamiya clear coat to lock the decals in place. Once this car is done I can move on to repainting the #92 Torino set to arrive on Friday. I already have Testors light blue paint to convert it to Petty's #43. No plans to strip or prime the body first, but I'm open to comments about that. I figure if I don't like the outcome it'll get a bath an alcohol bath at that point.

[chrisguyw]

Looking good Slothead !!..................Not to be critical, and I hope it is just the photo, but, the paint does appear a bit thin in places, and there does seem to be a bit of "orange peel".

With Tamiya spray cans, I have found the following process to work well and give a very smooth surface.

1/ Heat the can by placing it in the kitchen sink and let it sit in hot tap water for a minute or two.....you can use the can as a drain stopper....absolutely no worries about the can going "PoP".
This increases the internal pressure of the propellant, which atomizes the paint a bit better resulting in smaller droplets exiting the can.......

2/ Apply 2/3 dust coats......wait 20/30 mins between coats......these coats will help coat the edges of door lines etc. (in your pic., it appears some of the door lines are "thin")

3/Apply 2/3 final wet coats, again waiting 30 mins between coats......wet coats should be applied with the can 12/14 inches from the model.
"Orange peel" is the result of not enough paint being applied.......either moving the can too quick, or the can is too far away.

With a bit of practice, Tamiya paints will produce a finish that will be mirror smooth and most often will not require any polishing.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[model murdering]

What we're looken for in the top coat is technically known as a "uniform liquid film". Easier said than done, of course. Most amateur painters have had enough bad experiences to be a little gun shy (no pun intended). My sense of it is that negative outcomes force inexperienced painters into altering the recommended technique.

Take a moment and watch a factory robotic paint job video. Then watch a trained humanoid painter, and note the similarities. The secret to spray painting is temperature, pressure, viscosity, distance, and time. Basically, you'll see crisp consistently controlled over-lapping strokes at a minimum distance, at the optimum temperature; with the liquid paint's viscosity and delivery pressure precisely controlled.

Obviously bomb painting ties the hands with respect to pressure and viscosity. The contents are limited to a fixed nozzle size, so it's important to maximize the efficiency the orifice, so you get the best atomization possible. This is why heating your bomb can is critical.

The natural tendency is for folks to creep the shooting distance out. Pulling back extends the distance, and thus the time a droplet has to unliquify enroute to the surface. The actuality is that you want to be close enough that the atomized liquid paint remains liquid until it can hit the surface of the work piece, flow out, and lay down.

Folks who catch me painting always say something along the lines of, "Wow, you're really close." and "Boy you're really moving."

The truth is I'm at the minimum shooting distance and moving at the required feet per second, to lay an evenly over lapped liquid film, with no runs.

More later.