Goodwrench3

I'm not a great painter either ! I try to follow the advice of others here, so I always have been using a primer first -- but I think the deal is, if you use Tamiya spray primer you pretty much have to wet sand it so that you don't end up with a "grainy" or not smooth finish. I just sprayed primer (one light coat, then a second coat 10 min later) on a body. My plan is tonight to lightly wet sand it with 1500 grit before spraying color tomorrow. I'd be interested in hearing from others that use Tamiya spray primer as to what they do before spraying Tamiya color spray paint over it.

Found this today and thought I'd post it. Probably old news to most here, but the instructions for the "stiffener bar" in the Monogram kits is very vague as to where it attaches to the corner of the cage. I was happy to find this.

I had planned on misting the wheels with the Tamiya rattle spray can of "smoke" rather than brushing it on the wheels ?

Really I'm just trying to tone down the chrome wheels -- I still want the "shine" -- just not the toy appearance. I remember in the article they looked like the treatment added warmth or depth. I do remember now that Tamiya Smoke was one thing they used -- there was another in the article and they showed the comparison. I'll have to try to find it in my "stacks".

Hi all: I remember reading an article in Scale Auto a while back -- maybe a year or two ? It was about toning down the kit chrome wheels -- adding depth and making them look less "toy like". I don't mean spraying them with dull cote. They still appear as chrome, but not the "toy chrome". Does anyone remember that or what the technique was ? Thanks !

Good to know. Yeah I've seen videos on YouTube of guys spraying bodies with Tamiya TS spray paint with no primer on them and they look great -- nice, smooth, glossy. They make it look really easy in the video (of course). I'd like to do that on the body I'll be spraying this weekend, but I really need the gray primer underneath for the color adjustment. I'll likely lightly wet sand the Tamiya primer with like 1500 grit just because I'm afraid of the Tamiya color lacquer being so thin that any irregularity in the primer coat is going to show.

Yep. Thought of that... but should have thought of that 3 months ago ! LOL.

Thanks for the tip. Might be a less expensive route for semi-gloss black parts (frames, chassis, etc.) than Tamiya TS semi-gloss black. I'm guessing if it's Krylon it also dries really fast even though it's an enamel ?

Wow. Hmmm... maybe with some heaters in the garage I could get it up to 50 deg. on some winter days and not have to "shut down" model building completely over the winter.

Yep that was the other big point that guys mentioned -- temp control ability is critical. I think they had theirs set at like 100 deg. F. -- no higher.

In your experience, which of the rattle can clears tend to level the best ? That last time I used a clear from a rattle can was back in the early 1990's. It was a Testors clear (can't remember which) that I sprayed over Testors enamel spray paint. I sprayed one coat and it leveled itself perfectly. No sanding, polishing, etc. needed. It was great.

That's interesting. I've actually heard some refer to Tamiya TS spray paint as "idiot proof". LOL. I've also seen YouTube videos of guys spraying bodies using Tamiya rattle cans with no primer -- and the finish is beautiful. No clear coat needed. They make it look soooo simple. I rarely never need to do any sanding on a body -- there almost always are sharp edges or mold lines that have to be removed. I guess if you go to fine enough sand paper you wouldn't need primer then (i.e. no filler is on the body). But the other case for primer is to adjust the tone of the color coat -- i.e. darken it a bit with gray primer for example. Which clear are you using over the Tamiya paint ? That seems to be another big debate.

Same here. Guys in our modeling club use them all the time to speed things up. Most are "Franken-drators" -- I.e. the have chopped them up, modified them, etc. I just haven't had the urge to do this yet.

Thanks. The only thing I noticed was on a car I did this with last year, the color coat wasn't real "smooth" obviously because I wasn't able to sand the primer coat on the roll cage/chassis. The finish was "grainy" in some areas. Not a big deal. It's a roll cage/chassis -- not a show car.

... Or a bee landing on it and leaving prints in the paint ... LOL. This time of year we seem to get a lot of bees. ?

Yeah I've sprayed some like sem-gloss black on parts without primer -- no problem. I guess there's always the risk of if pulling away from corners, etc. if it doesn't have the primer coat to "bite" to. Better safe than sorry -- I'll put on a coat of Tamiya primer first. Thanks for the reply.

Hi all: I have what is probably a dumb question, but if ya don't ask... I'm completing a NASCAR chassis/roll cage assembly now. I usually paint this an entire assembly. What I'm wondering is -- do I need to put on a coat of primer first ? Or what about the idea of spraying the Tamiya color directly on the bare plastic ? I'm kinda new to the Tamiya spray lacquers (vs. enamels). Looking for guidance. I've been reading a lot of posts where it seems some always put a primer coat under the Tamiya spray paints. I'd be using Tamiya gray spray primer if any. Thanks for the patience.

Super. That gives me something to work with. Thanks

Thanks -- super good information. So when spraying in cooler temps -- i.e. 60 deg. -- how long should I wait between light coats ? That's always been a mystery. 5 min ? 20 min ? Thank you

Thank you ! Obviously, when painting a body with Tamiya spray, you'd be doing it with multiple light coats -- i.e. first a "dust" coat, wait 5 or 10 min., then a light coat, wait 5 or 10 min., and maybe 1 or 2 "wetter" coats ? So while you will start with a body at "room temp", it'll be out there for about 30 min or so by the time you get the last coat sprayed. Not sure this really matters, though ?

Thanks -- I can bring it into the house after spraying. It's just the fumes during spraying that she cannot tolerate ... at least in Wisconsin ?

Hi all: I was hoping to get one more model painted yet this year, but up here in Wisconsin it's already turned cooler. I have to spray paint in the garage due to my wife's sinus issues. I was wondering what is the minimum temp. for the Tamiya spray paint ? I.e. where do you start running into finish problems ? 60 deg. ? 70 ? Thanks

Have you guys found that the front and rear clips are just a bit too wide ? I.e. the bumper part of the clips don't really line up with the bumper part on the body. Just wondering.

Thanks ! Yes... one less in the [overflowing] stash is a good thing !

I have to agree on the Humbrol brush enamels. I recently tried some and was really happy with them. They flow nicely, lay down beautifully and no brush marks. And they actually DRY well (no soft or tacky feel). I'll be getting more of them for sure. Yes, I wish they had different packaging, but I'm not going to complain about that with how well they brush.