Dave G.

Lookin good Mike, congrats. I do a lot of base coating with craft paints and use the H or Badger 200 with good results. The key is the thinner blend and viscosity. Craft paint works fine, just be sure you prime is all. More importantly I'm really glad you got to use your new brush and are loving it !!!!

How did you thin the DecoArt. What thinner ?

But I got the name wrong Mike, it's Worn Penny. I believe it DecoArt. I also use Craft Smart Rose Gold a lot. Edit: by the way don't use alcohol in DecoArt.

I use that aluminum buffing very sparingly for two reasons: to conserve yes but it also looks better put down in a couple of thin coats ! But I use the Badger 200, fine tip trimmed way back and with a side cup on it. In this way the paint is drawn off the very bottom of the cup unlike with a siphon bottle that always leaves a puddle at the bottom. That puddle is enough to paint with, to maybe shoot a tranny or intake or tri-power carbs. I have a gravity brush too but I'm just so used to that 200 and side cup. If I shot the gravity brush I have a .2 tip for that.

I wish you luck with that Mike. All the colors I used were gone a year ago around here. I wonder if anyone at all does the buffing lacquers, like maybe in the Mr Color line of paints... I've seen a couple of reviews on the AK metal paints that I though a little interesting. On my 1911 Mercer build is some copper parts, would love a copper buffing metallic but what I have is little square bottle Testors copper enamel or craft paint. Honestly the craft paint named Copper Penny is pretty close and it dries not quite flat, might be able to partially buff that ( just came to me this second).

Now is a good time to experiment with a few brands of other metallic/metal paints. I need to do the same myself.. Finding something similar to aluminum plate buffing I bet is a challenge. The buffing being the key and what I enjoy out of the little of it I have left, it brings/brought in all those natural metal tones when dry buffed up.

Block the nozzle with your fingers and bubbles will come up in the cup or down in the bottle and bring with them paint that never seems to clear the nozzle no matter how much flushing.. Spray, back flush again. Dump out the gunk, do it again. I use hot water, then switch to alcohol and finish up with water. Open the nozzle right up when doing this. With solvent paints I do the same but with lacquer thinner. Lacquer is the easiest of all to flush as mentioned before because lacquer thinner literally melt lacquer paint.. In 1/1 I never tore the guns down, just flushed then unscrewed the cap and dropped it into the cup with a little LT in there till the next use. For decades I did the same with my Badger 200, put the cap and nozzle in the bottle with a little thinner. But for decades I never ran into these acrylics which take more cleaning imo. Certainly more flushing. Ya if you get a wonky spray pattern it is worth soaking the nozzle in LT over night, most everything will be gone in the morning. I polish my needles too with a little bees wax and 000 or 0000 steel wool or polishing compound for that matter. Smooth and shiny, less paint cling. If the needles aren't shiny metal they need polishing ( yes that's my opinion but I'm not alone on it). I pull my needles out basically with nothing on them. Just sayin.

I just flush and back flush mine, Spray some alcohol or lacquer thinner and a final flush with water. I take the tip off and pull the needle every three months or so. Takes maybe 3 minutes with stubborn Stynylrez primer and maybe two minutes with anything else. Lacquer is easiest though, as mention maybe a minute of flushing. The key is repeated flushing and back flushing till there is no sign of color. Maybe take an alcohol soaked qtip and wipe off the tip. Done deal.

You need a spray booth Mike, then that problem will be history.

I much prefer my original Badger 200 ( non NH) with fine needle and tip for lacquers like MCW, and also if doing fine work. The lacquer performs well with the very fine droplet size of the internal mix airbrush. Other than that I generally find myself using the Paasche H with #3 tip. And I'm mostly shooting acrylics these days, probably 90% acrylic at this time of my 62 years of modeling history..I find very little use for double action in shooting model cars, though I have DA as well, it's rarely used. But I've been shooting that 200 for 45 years too, so it's a no brainer for me. Honestly either the H or 200 would be a very decent starting point for painting model cars unless someone has a burning desire that just has to be met, in other words an affliction for double action. One thing I highly recommend for either airbrush is the metal side cup. Why ? Because it's a paint saver on small jobs and also allows for spraying a a little lower air pressure setting with paints that can be sensitive to higher air pressures. Sometimes being able to shoot 3-4 lb less pressure makes the difference.

I thin out some of the crafts paints for brushing, goes pretty well actually for small items at least. I agree that MM Metalizers could be brushed for smaller parts but even an aluminum transmission I would instead break out the airbrush. One thing about those paints is a couple of flushings with plain old lacquer thinner pretty much cleans up the airbrush without a tear down.

Home depot list several 12x24 furnace filters with free ship to store delivery fwiw. Several grades of them, some are 12 to a carton.

Wow, so simple ! Did you polish it ? That tank in particular is amazing looking.

Scott, what's the brass done in ? It came out great. The headlight buckets I'd probably have done in one of the blues but that car looks great !! This is what I meant in earlier post actually, that I'd probably prefer no chrome.

Thanks Mark.

Is that Deuce a current issue do you know ?

It would be novel, admirable even if they posted on the box the parts are not chromed. As to myself on a T bucket I could easily go without the chrome. Much of what may be chrome in my case would likely be painted anyway because I like that look on a T. And things like valve covers etc I'd probably spray with Molotow ( you can run Molotow ink through an airbrush to good effect). After market wheels would be aluminum, so no loss to me, in fact maybe a gain. It still would be nice to know though.

In this case it may be the OP's specific kit styrene that is susceptible to crazing . That said I have an old kit here ( 1/16 scale Model A) and am using MCW lacquer, I've done the test on the plastic by putting some paint on the underside of the rumble seat direct to the plastic and no crazing at all. And while the paint odor is strong it also doesn't smell as strong as say the old Lucite 1/1 automotive lacquer. I know MCW uses auto lacquer thinner but the paint I doubt is . The formulas are true, he can mix any color by code or by chip. So ask before you say he doesn't stock it. He just came out with an enamel line too. Edit: I guess it is PPG products MCW uses, according to the website. Anyway, so far so good for me.

Also use Tamiya clear colors over metallic craft paint base. I thin Tamiya colors ( acrylic) with either lacquer thinner or denatured alcohol fwiw.

I've just used craft paint. I've also used craft paint as a base color with clear lacquer over it. Never blistered, wrinkled etc. You don't have to do it but if you're practicing on spoons anyway, might be worth a shot. Vallejo Model Air would probably work too. But ya an acrylic layer between the primer and zero is what I mean.

Pipettes are great and shooting solvent paints like Zero you can flush them with lacquer thinner and get several re- uses from one. I've been using the same set for a year now, one for colors and one for thinners. Acrylics you can flush with a little warm water and a drop of dish soap, then flush with plain water. I know most people just toss them but I don't until I can't see through them for the staining lol. Works for me, everyone is different. You have a few bottles of Zero paints so you might just as well learn how to handle them. Others are getting good results, you can too. In dealing with hot lacquers I have put down an acrylic barrier coat between the primer and lacquer before, fwiw.

Many modern airbrushes are restricted anyway. You can crank the pressure all you want but the passages in the brush may well be designed to shoot 23 or so lb ( max flow). Some will accommodate full pressure up to 50 or so lb ( by that I mean flow the full pressure), the Paasche H is one among those. Just sayin.

When a model comes out of a Purple Power bath I do some scrubbing with a stiff tooth brush but also think nothing of using the back side of a butter knife and scrape it off. Works great for me. You can probably sand the worst parts of that body with 220 or 320 grit paper. The 400 and prime. Save the real fine papers for the final primer after. You may need to prime and sand two times, then it should look pretty decent.

You just need to practice, it will be fine, you've got a few ideas to work with now. How did the bodies turn out after stripping ?

You could put down a single coat or even two of acrylic over the primer before shooting the Zero. That should form a barrier. Vallejo Model Air should be fine. Myself having nearly 100 craft paint colors in stock would just use that but that's another matter. What I mean is I wouldn't go buy something specifically is all. As to other paints, I'm presently messing with MCW lacquer. It seems ok, colors are accurate. They sell enamel too and Mike can mix any color so don't be afraid to ask questions ( even about how hot the paints are).