Anglia105E

I did pass through Telford on my way to Cornwall, which is a trip that I make once a year, every year. This year during May it was a train journey rather than a car journey, so I didn't see Telford . . . As detailed above, I shall do some Tamiya lacquer paints testing next week and once I have compared the results to the Rust-oleum testing, maybe I can have a look at acrylics. Your contribution is much appreciated Noel, and I think taking my time to get this paint application right for this particular model car is most important. Shortly, there will be a WIP topic to show the build process so far. David

Cheers and thanks David, David

Just ordered these two products from Ebay . . . Tamiya TS-10 French Blue and Fine Surface Primer White. Testing of the Tamiya paint products is scheduled for next week . . . Watch this space ! David

Many thanks for your input and words of encouragement David . . . Next week I shall be testing Tamiya lacquer paints from spray can, which will be my first experience with these products. It will be interesting to see how the Tamiya compares with the Rust-oleum. David

Oh I see . . . That's okay then Joe, because my can says ' Painter's Touch ', so no primer in there presumably. The Spa Blue Gloss over the Plastic Primer White seems to be stable after 4 days since application, and it hasn't eaten the 60 year old plastic ! The surface for this test is the underside of the engine bay, which will have a further week of curing to be safe. David

So true Les ! Absolutely . . .

That is a fascinating website Les, and I see it is from Australia . . . While researching Rolls-Royce motor cars I found several good sources of information from sites in Australia . . . The chart for 1964 Ford England PPG is particularly helpful, which is Imported Car Colors 1963 - 1965. I shall study this one closely ! Many thanks, David

Hello Noel . . . Yes, there is a Hobbycraft in Chesterfield, and I used to see Tamiya aerosols there when I visited the store. Now that I no longer have a vehicle of my own, I checked the Hobbycraft website before getting a bus to Chesterfield and despite wording my searches in many different ways, there are no Tamiya spray paints coming up on their product list, which seems odd. The funny thing is, now that you mention it Noel . . . I haven't been to a model show during the past 7 years while I have been building scale model cars seriously. Several times I had a look at the Telford show online, and thought about driving down there. Maybe I could take the train ? Certainly, it would be very interesting to meet the people who really know their stuff when it comes to model building and painting, as well as seeing a vast range of products that might not be available locally. When it comes to the three types of paint . . . so enamels, acrylics and automotive, I tend to prefer enamels. I understand that the auto paints, and particularly cellulose are not ideal for plastic model car kits, and I have very little experience of acrylics, so I usually go with Humbrol in small tins. Now brush painting is all very well, but of course we cannot hope to achieve a good finish on a scale model car body using that method, which is why I have to deal with the aerosols and airbrush. Thanks for the details, especially regarding Richard Middleton at IPMS and I shall take a look at their website. David

Okay Chad, your interest is much appreciated . . . The photo of my Dad's car is the only one I have, and it is from 1970, so the colour has faded quite a lot. The blue in the photo is much lighter than how I remember the colour of the actual car. For this reason, I cannot show the photo to a paint supplier, as it would be of no use really. I do agree with you that from the PPG 12949 code, and also the BY code, at least one of the paint suppliers should have a mix. This is assuming that Light Blue was the correct colour . . . and it does seem to be the most likely, based upon info gathered so far. David

I am torn between giving the ' BY ' paint code to Zero Paints, or giving it to Autopaints Brighton who can mix the colour in cellulose. Both suppliers would mix a product that would result in a matt finish. This is why I favour living dangerously with the Rust-oleum Spa Blue Gloss. David

Thanks a lot Joe . . . Certainly, the more modern paints are not the same as the older versions. Someone suggested that the Rust-oleum Spa Blue Gloss might even have a primer already as part of it's formula, and consequently if the Spa Blue Gloss was then applied over the Plastic Primer White, this ' might ' cause an unusual reaction ? (That's not what it says on the tin ! ) I thought about the Tamiya TS-10 French Blue and the TS-23 Light Blue, but cannot find a supplier for those paints. Also not sure about acrylics. Some WIP pics will be posted soon ! David

Wow ! . . . Now THAT is good news Chad. Cheers, David

That does look close Chad . . . Light Blue is a strong possibility . . . Ford paint codes from 1962 - 1964 are two letters, so ' BY ' is Light Blue. The other two blues are Sapphire Blue - BW, and Lagoon Blue - CJ Thanks for looking this up. David

Sounds like a good idea to me Bill . . . I have decanted paint from aerosol cans before, and a local model builder friend usually advises me to do just that. I would rather not end up with a matt finish, because I always struggle to achieve a high gloss finish, by using clearcoat for example The Rust-oleum Spa Blue is a gloss finish, so that should be fine. I like to use Tamiya Polishing Compounds, once a gloss coat has dried / cured for one week at least. David

Thank you Chad . . . I do have an airbrush, which I have used with reasonable success, and it is the cheapest Chinese airbrush on the market. Yes, I have some Zero Paints, and I had forgotten about those, so thanks for the reminder. Hiroboy is the company in UK that supplies Zero Paints. I thought about getting hold of a second Frog kit from 1962, but they are so rare and expensive . . . so not an option. I don't have the Ford paint code, and I am not certain which one of three blue colours is the correct one, which prevents me from getting this colour mixed. Usually, I would get my Rolls-Royce colours mixed, but I always have the precise paint code for those, and I use cellulose paint, which is fine over plastic as long as a good Halfords primer is applied first of course. Anyway, many thanks, and this is all useful info from fellow MCM forum members. David David

Thanks Chad, and I take your point . . . Keep in mind please, that where I live in Derbyshire rural UK, we do not have any stores that sell Tamiya aerosol cans, and Mr Hobby products are not available in UK . . . This restricts my scale model building to using paints from the Halfords chain of stores, which sells paint products specifically intended for automotive application ( so not plastic ), then the specialist automotive paint suppliers (also not for plastic models), and finally the Rust-oleum products, which according to US model builders are intended for garden furniture (PVC) and cheap surfaces around the home. Unless I can find a paint product that does not damage my prized Cortina model car, I shall not risk applying any of the above products. At this moment, I have only applied the two Rust-oleum products to parts of the kit that will not be visible when it is completed. David

I take your point Bob, but can I draw your attention to the wording on the back of the can for the Rust-oleum Spa Blue Gloss . . . See photo. This clearly states ' Bare plastic should be primed with Rust-oleum Plastic Primer ' - ( fourth line down, from the centre to the end of that line '. I am applying these two products to bare plastic (okay this is 60 year old plastic) and my local store 'Boyes' are authorised distributors for Rust-oleum paint products. This means that I am following the manufacturer's instructions to the letter, which clearly states that I must use the Plastic Primer product on the surface of the plastic, before applying the second product which is the gloss enamel. I quite understand that you guys probably have considerably greater knowledge of the Rust-oleum products than I do, because as I said previously, I believe these paint products are more widely used and available in the US than here in UK. . . . Also, I might not be as experienced a scale model painter as you guys, but in this case I am taking extra care to get this right, hence the extensive pre-testing. The Frog Ford Consul Cortina kit is extremely rare, and I have paid a considerable amount of money to get hold of the kit. So far (fingers crossed) there have been no unusual effects appearing on the surface of the plastic, but that does not mean that further down the line there may be something nasty that happens after one week, one month or even one year ! David

I totally agree Bob . . . This is why, despite reading about some disturbing Rust-oleum issues, I have decided to proceed with testing of the Plastic Primer White and the Spa Blue Gloss products, both of which are Rust-oleum branded. David

Russ . . . I forgot to include this photo of the paint cans in my recent post . . . David

Okay, thanks Les . . . Understood David

Sorry to hear that this has happened to your Cadillac paint on the Mercedes kit Russ . . . and here are my thoughts, based on what you have discovered. Your can of Rust-oleum primer on the left of your photo states ' Stops Rust ', so I would imagine the primer is intended for metal surfaces rather than plastic. Also, it says '2 in 1 - Filler & Sandable ', which implies this is a specialist product. Your next can to the right is an automotive basecoat, which I would guess is a kind of primer itself. I hope this might help you in some way Russ, but this is my experience of Rust-oleum products during this past week. I have applied Rust-oleum Plastic Primer White over a 60 year old Frog Ford Cortina kit body, and so far there has been no unpleasant reaction between the paint and the plastic. Having said that, I have only applied the paint a few days ago, so not one week as in your case. Also, I have applied Rust-oleum Spa Blue Gloss over the plastic primer white, and after 24 hours drying overnight I haven't noticed any odd reaction . . . The two Rust-oleum products were applied in a fine mist spray, three coats, with 5 minutes drying between each coat. I shall be getting a bit nervous by the end of this week, having seen what happened to your model car ! I have never seen that effect with the paint before . . . most odd ! Here are some photos of my efforts. David

That is a really nice build of yours Patrick, and much as I like the blue with gold wheels colour combination, this looks great in white. So many decals, and brilliant application over the many curves of the Subaru Impreza. Excellent ! David

Some very interesting reading on here with this topic, and to keep it short, here are my thoughts . . . I usually go for plastic kits to assemble, and usually in 1:24 or 1:25 scale. Every so often I really need to find a particular car that has not been produced as a kit, and this is where the diecast model comes in. Personally, I am drawn to Franklin Mint and Danbury Mint, but only if I can afford the asking price ! This is why I like Ebay, because if you have the patience to wait for the right model, you can be lucky enough to win an auction or even spot a cheap ' Buy Now ' price. I like to use parts from diecast Rolls-Royce models and fit them to a plastic kit build, or I might even repaint a diecast (carefully). Most important of course, is that these diecast model cars must NOT appear to be toy-like . . . Absolute realism and accuracy are always top of my list of priorities, and especially when I have a photographic project in mind. I cannot purchase a model car that does not have the correct proportions and details. My collection includes 1:12 scale models, as well as 1:25, 1:24, 1:20, 1:16, 1:32, 1:35 and 1:43 scales, and I wish I could build a 1:8 scale Pocher one day ! David

Yes Peter . . . I shall carry out test applications of any paints on parts of the rare model that will not be visible once assembled. Top of the list might be the Tamiya acrylic paints, then the Halfords enamel primer, followed by the automotive cellulose paints and bottom of the list will be Rust-oleum primer and gloss paint. I am hoping there will be enough surface plastic to carry out the tests ! This is a 1:16 scale kit, although the Cortina is not a large car. David

Thanks for the suggestion Carl, but the problem with that approach is that this Frog Cortina is 60 years old vintage plastic, and I don't have another kit that is anywhere near that old. The paint reaction on the much newer plastic would not give me the confidence to apply the paint to the older kit body. David