Using automotive paint

[Bryan Brogan]

I am just starting to get into modeling and will be using automotive paint cause I can get it for really cheep.  What primers would be best and how much paint will be needed to spray a normal sized 1/24 scale model?  thanks you your input.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Any automotive type primer will work fine.

I use Duplicolor.

I buy most of my paint from MCW, a company that mixes automotive lacquers specifically for model cars.

It comes in one ounce jars & 1/2 to 3/4 of a jar will usually do a kit depending on what all you are painting.

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

The OP said he "will be using automotive paint cause I can get it for really cheep".

The term "automotive paint" can be ambiguous. It includes lacquer, both nitro-cellulose and acrylic, enamel, again both synthetic and acrylic, and more recently the range of products from the urethane, polyurethane and acrylic urethane families. There are also epoxies used for race-car finishing. Without knowing EXACTLY what you're using, there's no way to answer your question accurately.

In general, many automotive-paints will work well over rattlecan primers made for real cars, like Duplicolor. Note that if you sand through your primer, the solvents in "real" car paints are generally significantly hotter than the solvents in paints made specifically for plastic models, and you may experience mild to severe crazing of the plastic.

Also, in general, you'll need a first coat of primer that will provide a barrier and "hold out" the hotter solvents in big-car paint products.

TEST before you commit to painting any model you care about. There's NO SIMPLE RULE that works every time.

Edited January 16, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[MrObsessive]

 

TEST before you commit to painting any model you care about. There's NO SIMPLE RULE that works every time.

My #1 rule when it comes to trying out paint! Plastic spoons to test are cheap------model kits are not.

[Bryan Brogan]

I figured I would use primer and more than likely polyurethane  base/clear or single stage since we don't have lacquer available 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Most of the rattlecan primers are lacquer-based, and will usually provide a decent barrier under real-car polyurethane base-clear systems. You can also use automotive 2-component primers (be SURE to add the catalyst BEFORE you add the reducer) reduced (thinned) to spraying consistency for model work with an airbrush.

Real-car primer builds rapidly, and will obliterate details if you're not careful.

ALSO, I'd recommend doing your testing on sprue or the undersides (that won't show)of the SPECIFIC KIT you're working on . Plastic-kit styrene formulations vary widely, and some are much less tolerant of hot solvents than the plastic spoons are. Some recent Revell kits, for example, will craze quite badly under hot primers....primers that work fine on spoons.

AND...depending on what you're doing, the high-build two-component primers can work really really well. I shot this model with a gray urethane 2K product, using a regular automotive gun. I did extensive heavy bodywork on this one and I needed a high-build and tough primer that would fill the sanding scratches and also sand easily.

Edited January 17, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[redneckrigger]

• As I used to own a body shop, and also worked for a construction company painting their trucks and equipment every winter, I also had access to 1:1 automotive paints. I still use the same products. I use ACME brand gray Quick Slick sealer.............don't know if it is still made, but I have a lot. I reduce it for thin coats to avoid hiding detail. I have also used Dupont Vari-Prime primers. I then use PPG or Dupont acrylic enamel, without hardener. I make my choice of brand based upon the availability of the color I want. I thin it with medium drying reducer, and spray thin coats. I try to make sure the plastic is covered with a sealer that won't attack the plastic, then I paint using whatever I would use on a 1:1 vehicle. I don't use hardeners only because I didn't want to spray Isocyanates any more.......did plenty as a youngster, and it works fine without. I have not used base/clears on any of my models, only on 1:1. I don't try to get the ultra high gloss on my builds as I did on the 1:1 jobs as I feel it looks out of place in 1:25 scale. I also use PPG flatteners for reduced sheen areas.

Edited January 17, 2016 by redneckrigger

[jeffbrad]

Plastikote sandable primer is very good if you can find it. I use the duplicolor paints over it and have never had a problem but it's getting harder and harder to find. Last few cans i got at a Carquest store

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Plastikote sandable primer is very good if you can find it. I use the duplicolor paints over it and have never had a problem but it's getting harder and harder to find. Last few cans i got at a Carquest store

 

CarQuest was bought out by Advance, no longer carries PlastiKote, only Duplicolor.

PlastiKote IS AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.com.

[Bryan Brogan]

What color of primer do you prefer and what duplicolor part numbers should I look for.  Any body use trans star 2 in 1 primers or sem high build?

[Ace-Garageguy]

What color of primer do you prefer and what duplicolor part numbers should I look for.  Any body use trans star 2 in 1 primers or sem high build?

I'll use a variety of primers, depending on what I'm trying to achieve. This is SEM self-etching black, shot over a lot of kinda rough bodywork to give a well-stuck base to the subsequent operations.

The next coats were SEM high-build buff, shot to get good filling quickly.

Sanded to get most of the bodywork smoothed out. Nice thing about using two colors is that you can easily see exactly where your problems are.

Then shot with Duplicolor high-build gray. Getting close to the final for-paint surface.

After working that down, I shot it with Duplicolor "sandable" white. Getting very close now.

This model has little surface detail to worry about filling up, and it will be used as a plug for a set of molds to duplicate it. It was necessary to re-scribe all the panel lines after every couple of coats of primers, and it was also necessary to rework the beltline / quarter panel character lines, because they DID get filled up and softened too much. 

I'm using Duplicolor white "sandable" here at the almost-end because it doesn't fill much, covers well, and won't require much work to get it right for paint.

Build thread here...

 

 

Edited January 18, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Bryan Brogan]

Thanks for the pics.  My first model will be the Amt pro shop 57 bel air so there will be lots of detail so I think the duplicolor might be best for what I need.

[gtx6970]

I use the cheap rattle can stuff from my local auto parts store. it has a decent nozzle and if you pay attention to what your doing it goes on pretty thin. I use the light grey almost exclusively .

Then mostly Duplicolor rattle cans  for exterior paint. And Plasticote or Duplicolor engine enamel  for engines