E St. Kruiser50

Haven't used Testors pearl, but I have used Tamiya's. Whether it's an acrylic lacquer pearl or a urethane pearl, I always use my DupliColor gray High-build primer to seal the plastic first. For me it gives a nice base for whatever follows and sands wonderfully after sitting for at least 24 hours. I like to give it a week to totally dry and get rid of all the solvent, before I lay down paint. Then comes the white primer. Let it sit for a few days, sand, and then shoot a few coats of gloss white, for a deeper pigmented brillance, to lay the pearl over. Makes a difference in how the pearl looks more "FLASHY" . Lastly I use a clear-coat over the pearl so when I do the polishing, I'm finishing the clear not the pearl, which can be damaged when rubbed out like metallic paint can be too. George Barris learned about this many decades ago. He was one of the first to use CANDY APPLE RED over a metallic base, and he found out later that he could get even more "POP" or brillance shooting any candy color over a pearl base, after the pearl had a clear-coat. The pearl under the candy makes the candy look a foot deep.

WELCOME I always recommend getting a package of plastic picnic spoons, and using those to spray your samples on, and getting the proper distance and 'Rythem" for getting the paint laid down the way you like. The plastic spoons are made of styrene like your model kits, and will save $$$ on using your kit parts. You can practice doing taping and when to remove the tape, and practice your clear-coating also. Hope this helps - dave

Hi Marty A lot of good opinions here, and so I'll give you my 2 CENTS WORTH also . The first thing I tell people is do samples first whenever your not sure. I recommend using plastic picnic spoons to try out your painting on. You can do tape-offs and everything on them. They are made of styrene just like your model kits. Cheap and you don't have to ruin any kit parts. I'd look at all the answers here as "General Idea's" to start with, but develope your own technique like we all did by trial and error. Mistakes are just part of learning. Shouldn't be something you're afraid of. I like to paint wet-in-wet, and stay in a 24 hour window for spraying time, like the manufacturers recommend ( I read the directions on the can labels ) so I always recommend clearing within the first 24 hours of the last coat of color, while the color is still "Tacky", and acts as a good"Binder" to hold the clear, but that'll depend on what you eventually decide. To me there's no real time limit on when to pull the tape, because it depends on what kind of paint your using and the brand, and the weather and the temp., and, and, and . There's really no '"General rule of thumb", so doing the samples is still your best place to start. After a while it'll get to be sorta second nature to decide these things, without having to do so many samples, but the samples thing is a good habit to get into. Hope this adds a little extra help - dave

I LOVE 34'S Your's came out very, very nice .

(Quote) "Truck-meister....now that's a funny name for someone who's never owned a truck." OK...... THEN WHO DID THESE REALLY BELONG TOO ???

The "TRUCK-MEISTER" has returned . I will definately will be watching this build. Great start Raul - dave .

Hey neil First of all - WELCOME TO THIS GREAT HOBBY AND FORUM. I like to recommend to those new to painting to get a package of white plastic picnic spoons (They're styrene, like your plastic kit bodies), and try whatever you decided to on your "SAMPLE SPOONS" first. It really works great. When your comfortable with your spoon results, you're ready to spray the body. Everyone needs a dependable paint system that works well for themselves, so that your results become routinely successful. I have one that works repeatedly well for me. Haven't striped anything in years. As other's have stated here, a white final primer color before the red will give you the most "Brillant" result's. Ferrari, I'm told, actually uses a "PINK PRIMER" before the red, but for our hobby, the white seems to work well and give you beautiful results too, and no one I know of makes a Pink primer anyway . Oh, by the way- - YOUR QUESTION - HOW MANY COATS ????I always recommend three - LIGHT, MEDIUM, AND HEAVY - 15 minutes apart. Hope this helps - dave

Hey Raul Been followin' this since ya started and it's lookin' REAL GOOD . Built me this Standard Coupe a few years back with standard 24 inchers, and on the ground as usual. These are fun kits. As Ajulia (Tito) would say - KEEP ON WITH DA KEEPIN ON - dave

Nice start on your SMART . Bought me a couple of these a few years ago and finished one. Raised the front fenders, and scratch-built the side skirts. Not a drift car, but it sure was fun.

If ya haven't got any of these checkin' tools, WHY NOT JUST DRILL A TEST HOLE IN A SCRAP PIECE OF PLASTIC, TA SEE WHAT WORKS

This is a nice set of cut-off wheels of different diameters and thicknesses, and comes with a mounting shank that I picked this up at Home Depot today. Very reasonably priced.

Here's a nice little polishing cloth I get from Tap Plastics here in Portland for $2.00 each. TAP PLASTICS is a West Coast chain. IT'S MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR POLISHING PLASTICS, WHICH PAINT IS, WITH POLISHES AND WAX, LIKE WHAT'S SHOWN IN THE PIC WITH IT. Measures about 14" X 17", is re-washable, and is extremely effective. Each side has a different texture and work very well, and worth the low price. It's all I use!

Didn't appreciate what we got here in the Portland area 'till I read these posts. We got three really nice hobby shops here who really cater to the Model car builders. All three pretty good size and carry a pretty big stock of all types of hobby supplies. For a small town, it's amazing how many people here buy and build - ladies and girls too. We have three really well stocked shops 'bout a half hour away at the most. One Hobbytown and two independants. Portland area is kinda spread out. The Hobbytown does well, but the two independants do even better. All three always get the latest kits right away, and all of them are very friendly. Even ordering works out really well, especially at one shop. Longest it takes is a week or two, and they always call the day it comes in. Really good service. One of them even give the SABA club members a 10% discount on any purchase. Got a Michaels too, about 2 miles down the street. Those coupons are nice .

Thanks Bill . That would be a big help . I'll definetly get in touch with you about the "D" build. Any help greatly appreciated - dave

NO HOGWASH HERE .......I USUALLY PAINT EVERYTHING OUT OF THE SAME CAN , but I do agree with you about different brands varying. I USE A CLEAR OVER BLACK THAT MAKES THE BLACK LOOK A FOOT DEEP, RICHER AND MORE BRILLANT - MUCH NICER THAN THE BLACK BY ITSELF. GUESS IT'S ALL IN THE PAINT YA USE, LIKE THE DIFFERENT BUILDS YOU SEE HERE .

BOY TALK ABOUT SOME NICE BUILDS COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK - MAN :blink: . THIS TOPIC SURE BROUGHT OUT SOME BEAUTIFUL STUFF. THANKS GUY'S

It depends on how much clear your going to spray on. The biggest problem is with too much clear you can actually float the colors underneath and expose what's beneath it . - NOT GOOD. You'll have to experiment some , maybe on a plastic spoon, because you need to see what "WORKS FOR YOU. Envioramental conditions such as temp. and humidity can very and make a difference. All of us who are giving you advise think we're expert's , but you have to decide after some experimenting on your own like we did. HOW LONG TO CLEAR COAT?? On most everything, in 15 minutes, I shoot one medium sorta glossy coat of clear to seal the surface. Wait an hour, and do the THREE STEP ( Like a 12 step only quicker ), wait 24 hours and polish it out.

OH YEAH

Hi Mike . How are ya? Thought I'd add my two cents worth here with everyone elses . Got a system like most everyone else here, so here's one more choice for you. To me black is one of the easiest colors to shoot, because there's no variation in color. BLACK IS BLACK kinda like the STONES sing in I WANT MY BABY BACK . I think the big difference is usually the choice of paint brand to use. and what YOU CONSIDER GOOD RESULTS. To me prep is always one of the most important steps in the painting process, no matter what kind of paint I use, and knowing how to use the paint properly. PRIMER; Over the years I've discovered that most every primer I've used affects the plastic surface differently, and gives you a different kind of primered finish. DupliColor's black primer works wonderfully, but I don't like the finish directly over the plastic. It just doesn't seal the plastic, and give me the finish I like - PICKY . I still rely on my "old stand by" DupliColor High-Build Gray Primer to seal the surface first. A couple of coats, from a "FRESH CAN" of primer ( YES - THAT MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE FROM "ANY" RATTLE-CAN), let it dry stone hard a few days and then sand - It sands so nice and preps the surface so smoothly for the black primer to be laid down. The black primer gives the GLOSS BLACK DUPLICOLOR more depth and intensity. I don't sand the black primer. Once the black primer is done, I let it dry a day, and then shoot, the THREE STEPS with the gloss black DUPLICOLOR. Next, about an hour later, I'll shoot a coat of PLASTICOTE CLEAR # 349, ( I don't like DupliColor's clear as much) just enough to cover - not wet, just enough to be glossy, and seal the black, and have a like surface to paint on the next day when you re-shoot the clear using the THREE-STEPS. As you've read before in my posts, everything is done in 24 hour periods, and with multi-colors that can be over-lapping, even with clear. A wet-in-wet process mentioned here earlier in another post. All that waiting for days and days for the paint to dry, to do the next step, creates huge issues you read about here all the time, but you NEVER read about someone having problems with the wet-in-wet process. For rattle cans in black, even decanting, I really like Duplicolor. There's a lot of pigment in the paint, which allows it to cover extremely well, with very little build-up. I just do the standared three coat process - LIGHT, MEDIUM, HEAVY (Wet), 15 minutes between coats. Now I don't decant, because I like the way DupliColor comes out of the nozzle and lays down nicely in a warm enviornment (My heated spray booth), plus warming the can. I mentioned earlier about shooting from a fresh rattle-can of paint. NO ONE EVER TALKS ABOUT THIS and it's important to take into consideration, because the mixture of the combined chemicals in the can change as the can empties, no matter how well you shake it, because they're constantly settling. Also air pressure changes as you use the paint up in a can. Fresh cans of paint and primer shoot so much nicer on the first half of the can, and, to me, seem to degrade pretty quickly after that. I save half empty cans or less for doing the small accessory pieces , but the main body pieces get a FRESH CAN OF PAINT, especially on a build with a lot of work, time, and money invested - WHY SKIMP? Of coarse, urethane will always give a superior final finish with the least amount of paint, and will out-finish any other type of paint IMO, and my experience. Hope this helps Mike - dave

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