getting a flawless finish

[captin]

i ushally build rat rods or junkers for models and i tried a shiny one but ended up putting mud flinging up on the body cause there where some imperfections in the paint and i tried sanding it and polishing it but its didnt come out. i am starting a new model and its a 56 ford f100 and i want it to look like it just came off the showroom, but im not sure how to acheive a flawless paint job. i thought i did but it didnt turn out as flawless as i hoped (then again it was my first and only shiny build). any tips or tricks on acheiving a flawless paint job.

thanks chris

[Chas SCR]

Wet sanding between each coat of primer from 3200 to 12000 and then each coat of color and also each coat of clear. The better the body is like glass and smooth the better the paint job will be. Remember you are not driving this thing and the weather is not going to get to it like a real car so you can make it smooth as glass and still paint it and the paint and clear will hold.

[Custom Mike]

Chas, samding a primer is a no-no, I've seen many people have issues doing that, especially if they apply any kind of masking. The paint will lift if you sand the primer and mask it off for a second color/graphic/etc. And yes, I've had people say they've done it and didn't have a problem...well, you got lucky, and sooner or later (Usually on your best paint job ever), it'll bite you. Primer is supposed to be rough, it gives the paint something to bite into. If you're smoothing it out, well, you might as well paint the bare plastic.

Chris, spray a couple of light mist coats (Not fully covering any area) until you have full coverage, giving the paint a bit of time to "flash" between mist coats. Once you've got full coverage, lay down a couple of light wet coats. Let those flash, and determine if you need more paint. Once the paint has fully cured (Usually 2-5 days depending on the type of paint you used), then you can do some color sanding if needed.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Opinions abound. I ALWAYS sand primer, on 1:1 cars and on models, but NEVER NEVER with anything finer than 400-600 grit paper. This leaves sufficient grip. NOT sanding primer leaves orange peel, and you have to bury it in paint. After sanding, clean the primered surface with isopropyl alcohol. That should kill any poor adhesion problems, as it removes any finger oils or other contaminants.

Maybe not flawless, but not too bad...

Edited February 10, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[cobraman]

Yikes ! I love that car everytime I see it. Great build. I also always sand my primer.

[Longbox55]

I always sand my primer, too. The only time I had a problem with paint adheasion was the one time that I didn't sand the primer.

[Chas SCR]

Option is about all it is! Ummm never had any thing lift and I use all Du Pont paint products

[Chas SCR]

And if you do not think I do graphics here is one also.

No decal on nothing there.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Another one of my personal techniques...I recommend prepping the bare plastic body by scrubbing with Comet, a toothbrush and plenty of hot water. Sanding will NOT get in all the crevices around details (I've looked at the surface under high magnification to verify this), and it also tends to blunt and soften the crispness of details.

If you have heavy bodywork to do, roughen the surface under where filler will go with 180 grit paper, and make sure you mix your two-part filler correctly. Poor mixing technique and poor surface prep is responsible for the adhesion problems some folks have with fillers. Try to avoid putting two-part filler over primer. My orange Chevelle above has MAJOR bodywork in the quarter panels, as the top is chopped 4 scale inches.

After major bodywork is finished and very closely shaped, I shoot two coats of Duplicolor or Plasticoat (both the High-Build varieties) primer, letting it flash completely in between coats. I'll often bury minor inperfections on local areas in more primer, or if the problems are too much for primer, a little ONE-PART glazing putty, which is simply very thick lacquer primer.

LET IT DRY COMPLETELY. It WILL SHRINK as it dries. I sand out imperfections with 600 grit wet, and look over the model VERY carefully...then go back and rework any remaining problems. Again, LOOK AT YOUR WORK VERY CAREFULLY AND CRITICALLY, as paint will NOT cover or hide bad bodywork.

My final 600 wet sanding of the primer leaves a flat and smooth surface with NO orange peel. I usually shoot lacquer or automotive-basecoat, one medium wet coat of paint first, as I personally find that shooting a mist coat first adds to orange peel buildup. A medium-wet coat will also give you sufficient shine to show up any remaining flaws. Nice thing about lacquer or automotive-basecoat colors is that they dry quick, and any tiny imperfections can be sanded out before you go any further. Enamel has to be allowed a long dry-time, or stripped.

Depending on the topcoat color and the final primer color, three to six coats of color usually get it. I've learned to shoot the color wet enough so it self-levels but doesn't run, and usually requires no sanding prior to clearing. Solid color lacquers require no clear and can be sanded up to 12,000 grit wet and polished. Aotomotive basecoats, Testors basecoats (the two-part lacquer system) and metallics all require clear.

DO NOT sand metallics or pearls inmmediately prior to clearcoating. Sanding of these without recoating with more color is virtually GUARANTEED to leave noticable blotchiness under the clear. If you have a flaw in metallics or clears, let it dry hard, sand the flaw out and then CAREFILLY re-spray the affected area with color to hiding, then shoot your clear. I use three coats of model-car lacquer clear, minimum, to allow sufficient material for wet-sanding and polishing without cutting through the clear and screwing the color.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[captin]

Wow thanks guys this really helps me out a lot i appreciate all of your comments. another question when it comes to enamel or lacqoer paints is there one that is better than the other or is the only difference that one just takes longer to dry. thanks again guys

[Ace-Garageguy]

I agree entirely with Roger (plowboy) in post #12, but I still use enamels for things like wheels and engines for example, that you mignt want very glossy but can't possibly polish out.

These wheels are Testors ratttle-can enamel.

One other remark about Duplicolor...the flake in the metallics is very large for 1/24 scale models, as is Testors 1-coat lacquer. If you want to avoid the bass-boat, dune-buggy, kustom-kar look, you might want to look into something like Scale Finishes or others with closer-to-scale looking metallics.

Edited February 11, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[gman]

One other remark about Duplicolor...the flake in the metallics is very large for 1/24 scale models, as is Testors 1-coat lacquer. If you want to avoid the bass-boat, dune-buggy, kustom-kar look, you might want to look into something like Scale Finishes or others with closer-to-scale looking metallics.

I can certainly say some automotive sprays (including Duplicolor) can have huge flake in metallic paints, but this does vary.

^^ Duplicolor's Nissan Cherry Red Pearl, polished with no clear coat contrasted against Tamiya White Pearl for the roof insert.

While the flake size for the Tamiya white is washed out and you can't tell for comparison purposes, I was pretty pleased with the scale effect of the flake size in this particular Duplicolor paint. I usually gravitate to the pearl variants of automotive colors due to the smaller and more in-scale flake sizes they exhibit when used on a model.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Good tip on the Duplicolor pearls from gman Greg.

Great looking finish, Greg. You didn't have any blotching issues polishing that, with no clear coat? Did you sand it first, or shoot it so slick all it required was a polish?

Edited February 11, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[gman]

Good tip on the Duplicolor pearls from gman Greg.

Great looking finish, Greg. You didn't have any blotching issues polishing that, with no clear coat? Did you sand it first, or shoot it so slick all it required was a polish?

It didn't shoot so slick, there was a little orange peel after it cured. I actually polished that out with Bare Metal plastic polish and there was no blotchiness- this color was one of their non-clear coat colors indicated by no "CC" on the can. The beauty of Duplicolor is that it polishes nicely once cured.