Dave G.

I don't use gloves. . I wipe my fingers with alcohol soaked tissues. I don't get carried away with it, just a quick wipe . I do use nitrile or latex gloves when airbrushing a body, for the sake of easy clean up of my hands lol..

We have had other reports on this issue using Tamiya tape. But on all different paints. I don't use Tamiya tape personally but I know from 1/1 painting two tones, not to leave the tape on for any longer than needed to get your second color on and tacked up. That's regardless of brand. Then get it off of there. Pretty much as Trevor mentioned above. On another note, I thin Tamiya acrylics with lacquer thinner, which according to Tamiya, leaves a harder shell finish. I dehydrate for X paints 30 minutes, then let it air dry at least 3 days before moving on. I've also had a new finish sit from one month to years lol !! Not because it was deliberate mind you.

Regarding the Createx white paint, Wicked or otherwise. You shouldn't need to thin that much. It will spray fine mixed thicker, especially with about 10-15% 4030 added. Thin that combo with 4011 or better yet 4021 reducer, up to 50% of the volume. So you're no where near skim milk. Up your pressure to mid 20's using the .5 tip ( I actually use bigger than that but .5 should do fine).. I use the white a lot, either as white or as the base to mix pastels ( I also use the pearlized white to good effect). I shoot over white Stynylrez primer, even if you thinned 1-1, you still get coverage over the white Stynylrez). Each coat needs to flash off, or flash dry, then add the next coat and so on till you get the build you want. Don't go by the leveling when first shot on and wet, but see how smooth it flashed off to. It should level right out. 4030 is your best friend when shooting models or other hard surfaces with Createx paints, for several reasons I've covered before in the forums.. And 4021 is their latest and greatest reducer.

Mission Models has acrylic red oxide. I would think you could vary the shade by the color primer you put on first. I've never used it, fwiw.

If what you have works for you, that's great. You should know that the ones I mentioned need polishing to reach full gloss. But it is a lacquer look alike once done. But I've never used 5604, so can't comment beyond it's description. So I asked if 5604 can be converted, here is what I got : "Yes, Createx 4030 Balancing Clear can be used with Createx 5604 Gloss Top Coat. In fact, it's often recommended as an additive to improve flow and adhesion when airbrushing, and it's also used as a carrier for candy2o dyes, according to Createx Tech. When used with the 5604 Gloss Top Coat, it can help create a smoother, more durable finish, according to Airbrush Paint Direct"

With Createx and airbrushing you can up the recommended thinning ratio, as it's only about 10%. But that's for spray guns..

Looking great ! I just want to say though, for the sake of the thread participants here. Not all acrylics can handle straight alcohol, nor all acrylic craft paint. Usually a blend is needed and of the mix 30% or so is or can be alcohol. In the case of Createx, they have a reducer with alcohol, it's a blend of two types and ionized water. They also have a reducer with acetone in it, I don't know the blend nor which paint line Createx uses that in.. It just came out in a discussion with one of the owners that I had. 4011 and 4021 have no alcohol that I know of, nor acetone. Too, glycol type alcohols can be part of acrylic thinners. IPA alone is gotten to be a kind of generic generic blanket in home brews. But no argument, those train cars came out awesome !

I rarely go over 20% 4030, but also reducer, yes. 4030 won't reduce the paint by itself. Or not much anyway. If you try this out you will see what I mean pretty quickly.

My wife has brush painted that Open series paint. I never tried airbrushing it, it's her stash in her art work. But I have bought their High Flow paints, made to be airbrushed and they work well. Cost a lot more than craft paints though. But they are super pigmented. At one time I used Liquitex acrylic airbrush thinner. It works fine but really I like some of my own blends better, and definitely 4021 better. I have not tried the Open Thinner. But imagine it works well too. The thing about artist grade acrylics is the bond compared to craft paints. But in craft paints, Createx ends that difference enough to not matter to me. And to me it's a no brainer because I use Createx products anyway.

I've been tweaking craft paint reducers now for the better part of 10 years. I could say that now with the new Createx 4021 reducer, that those days should be over. But probably are not, knowing me ! Think about it, 4021 was produced to specifically work together with 4030 and or 4050 intercoats in acrylic paint... A lot of science went into that after 4012 had hickups in those products. 4011 came out and now 4021 to aid flow.

I have posted it here before and I'm not aware of anyone else that has till today lol !! Anywhere from 10-20% is enough to kick the paint over to poly acrylic. Leaning more to the 20 or 30% side, you can usually thin less too and still have flow through the airbrush. It's great stuff. Better leveling with a heat gun too. I use 4030 now in all waterborne acrylic paints that I use, not just Createx.

Ya, his recipe is a little varied from one of my own. About the same ratio water to alcohol but then I add about 10% denatured alcohol, and use Liquitex retarder. The denatured alcohol itself adds flow but the retarder stops tip dry. I have several different mixes actually, some have no alcohol. There are a couple of paints in the DecoArt lineup that don't like alcohol, fwiw. But 4021 and 4030 have changed my whole craft paint game. Especially the 4030.

I've found craft paints to be as tough as any other if put down over well cured primer. I have a couple of different good working recipes for thinners that I've shared with others here. But lately have been adding 15% or so of Createx 4030, which cross links the paints to be poly acrylic. Then thinning that combo with Createx 4021 reducer, which has a little retarder in it. This makes for a whole new and acrylic strengthening process. And it goes on more solvent like in nature. I still use a hair dryer between coats, just as I do with Createx paints. Another reducer that works well with craft paints is US Art Supply airbrush reducer. This is made with acrylic resins in the reducer so it won't break your paint down structurally, regardless how much you thin it. However, flat colors will become more semigloss. So I mix that reducer for flats, if I want it flat, in a separate bottle about 50/50 with water.. I thin by viscosity not by ratio.

If I'm going to shoot Tamiya lacquer, though airbrushed, I use Mr Surfacer primer. Mr Surfacer primer is similar in nature to Tamiya primer. I then wait a couple of days, or even because life goes on, a month before I get back to color coating.. That lets the finish gas out before boxing up. I feel you had uncured paint on the model, be it primer when the color was sprayed or even the color, then boxed it up un vented. I do often use a dehydrator though, about 30 minutes for Tamiya lacquers. 4 hours with enamels, and about 30 miinutes for acrylic.. Then a couple days of room air before boxing. And your primer really needs to be cured good before color coating. Or it's going to try and gas out through the color, it may shrink more as well, thus wrinkling etc. Tamiya lacquer gloss colors take very well to about 30 minutes @ 108f in the dehydrator. You can get plastic containers at Dollar Tree stores. And you can either make vent holes in the sides, or flip them over, placing over the model ( obviously no lid), slightly raised off the bench surface, so air can circulate around inside. A couple of guys over in the FSM forums, even utilized a light bulb and computer fan to create drying boxes from larger containers. The main thing though is air, so the cure rate isn't hindered.

I've gotten my 1/16 scale kits from Ebay, except the AMT T Bird, that was from HL. But I build those stock. Model A, The T Bird, Vintage classics. So far nothing over $60. The only rod that would interest me is the Big Deuce, as I built one back in 1965. Wouldn't mind that again. Prices get crazy in 1/8 scale it seems.

Not sure you want to squirt a car body with Rustoleum 2X, then stick it in a closed up box to dry for a year, either. Seems to me that might be a bit futile. Just a thought.

Was it Tamiya primer in spray cans that you used ? And how long did you wait between priming then color coating ? Yes, I've used Rustoleum 2x on models, in fact one of my chassis black enamels is their semi gloss black 2X. But I decant it, ad a slight bit more thinner and airbrush it. To spray from the can is a total bomb job, IMO. But some of the folks here have reported liking Krylon Short Cuts. There is always Testor's enamels.

Ya its a high gloss clear coat for use with fabrics, or in fabric painting. Thus I imagine has flexibility. I'll stick with what I'm using, as they are designed for hard surfaces. Or in the case of 4050, to convert the standard color line from a flex type coat to poly acrylic hard coat. Or as top coat. 4053 is top coat only. 4030 is inter coat only.

I shoot Createx, never heard of that top coat number. I'll have to look that up. But I'm using 4050 or sometimes 4053 high gloss, both are UV protective, Personally I think polished 4050 is a dead ringer for polished Nitro lacquer though. IMO, either polishes up easier than X-22. In fact 4050 if put down right, you can go right to buffing without sanding. then polish. I'm one who thins X-22 with lacquer thinner, or the Mr Leveling thinner, it's generally ready to buff in a couple of day, maybe 3 days but Createx buff easier for me still.. Is that 5604 a new product ?

Back in the day we didn't have modified kits. We kit bashed them, mostly old coupes. But a good source of tires for Modified stockers was slot car tires in the right scale. You got that lower wider profile needed. Course I have no idea what might available these days. But it worked back in the 1960's. I remember building my first cut down 36 or 40 Ford coupe, put in a small block Chevy as I recall. And those slot car tires made the build. I cut my own wider rims from the kit rims.

I'll just say that first I'd get a scrap piece, and since it seems you have the AK primer, to prime the piece with that. Let it cure up, then try the auto base color coat right to that and see what you get. It may well be fine. If you're doing candy, then I assume your first color is silver or gold. It may go right to the AK primer. In shooting candy, you just need as much base color as to get everything covered, usually mist coats are fine, as long as the metal flecks are even.

On die cast model train kits, I used the Zap a gap to install the brass pieces. That was decades ago, still holding today. In wood turning, if you know what you're doing, you can turn out small tree ornaments and finish those to a super high shine using thin CA on the lathe. And use the gap filling CA to hang wire for a bell gong in bell ornaments. In fact you can do block glue ups with CA before turning, you can glue on top domes or bottom spires on wood ornaments using CA. As I said, I don't use Ca much on plastic models. And since I'm never in any rush to build my kits, the strong glue I use is the Black bottle Testors. The weaker glue is the orange tube Testors. And Testors clear parts glue for chrome or glass. Those are my standard glues to use on any plastic kit. Again, I'm never in any rush. With the ornament turning I always was in a rush or under pressure as the season approached, and CA was perfect.

I don't use much CA glue for plastic models. But it is good if you need to glue metal parts to plastic. So is epoxy. I like Zap Ca products. And the 5 minute version of JB Weld for epoxy.

Russ, till Steve replies, I'll just say that how his builds turn out in most cases has little to do with the kit itself. But how he implements the builds. There are many kits out there in this era to build, maybe not that specific convertible or Chrysler but a lot available.

Ya, I dragged raced in early mid 70's ( not funny cars) and saw lots of bodies up. As Tim said, some were just color coated, some raw. No finish work done though. Just color in the raw glass or not. Some of the alcohol guys worked on a lower budget than sponsored fuel cars too. To me funny car died after the 70's, !! It was a magnificent time in funny car history, to me.