Dave G.

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).

Just get the paint stripped and see how bad the plastic actually is, it's likely not/hopefully not as exaggerated as the paint. I'm thinking a little sanding then glazing putty and re-sanding should get you out of the woods. Then prime again and go from there. Go easy laying on hot lacquer lol. Everything I've read on the Zero colors is they dry flat or maybe satin, so you just need enough color to cover the body evenly. Clear coat is your gloss coat and final finish.. It's then really a base coat clear coat system which is fine but you don't need to bury the car in color coat. That said I'm not a fan of using hot lacquers on models to begin with and the plastic in this kit seems especially vulnerable. A couple companies would mix your color in enamel which is plastic friendly.

Sorry, didn't even notice the quote or rather whose it was .

Oh I do wet coats too, just generally not with hot lacquer on plastic. The new hybrid lacquers you can about pour on. Tamiya acrylic goes on nice wet too but that itself is more hybrid lacquer itself. And enamel I always did wet. And actually at that with the .25 it's still a wet coat but thin due to the fine spray with hot lacquer, can't say by any means it's a dry coat..

The medium is good too but that .25 is exceptional to me. You probably get the same paint job in the end but to me the .25 is just sweet. Another thing I do is use the fine needle with medium tip, the transition from light to heavy spray is slower. You wouldn't think so but it is.

In my case 200 but the same tip fits the 100. I use the 200 with side cup. I also use the .5 tip but my main one is the fine. My 200 is the old style with screw in tips. Listen, I'm not saying go out and buy one lol !! You should be able to get a nice finish with what you have.

Usually with lacquer any tip try is melted away as you go to paint again. But you could keep a Qtip handy and a little lacquer thinner to do a little swab out of the tip if need be. Usually just wetting it with the thinner will do it.. If you're doing mist coats though I bet this isn't even an issue. The sides of the cup shouldn't dry, especially if you use a cap on it. When acrylic dries it dries hard, I use Liquitex retarder in my thinner blend for acrylics and it pretty much stops tip dry. Also with acrylic paints you can force flash dry with a hair dryer or even just straight air from the airbrush that quickens the flash off to a minute or two. I would think the .35 would be fine but then again I use Badger and Paasche Brushes. I think probably my favorite lacquer tip is my Badger .25, beautiful atomization from that tip. I can cut it back to where I don't even see the mist but it magically collects on the surface or do some broader coverage too. I love that tip been using it for some 45 years now. But I'll cut back the Paasche #3 tip too and get good results. Practice is my biggest suggestion.

Having not shot Zero specifically but plenty of lacquer, I too shoot base coats at under 20 psi and in closer than 6 inches ( that depends on the thinner used, not sure what Zero uses).Your goal is nice thin even coats, they dry flat anyway so you don't want heavy wet coats that might remain glossy.That's not the goal, you want even but smooth coverage. If I bought some Zero paint I'd do several tests myself before shooting a body with it so I knew what to expect performance wise. I've shot some lacquers under 15 psi fwiw. So I say experiment with air pressure and distance on a test subject before re-shooting the bodies.

All I can say is it goes over chrome parts well and over acrylic color coats well.

Nix that, was thinking of a different kit so I edited out what I wrote earlier. Either way there is just one rear axle.

For Folkart I use the same thinner combo I use to cut the paint for spraying from an airbrush just more of it. It has some Iso alcohol and water, some Liquitex retarder and a trace of Dawn dish soap in it ( the thinner that is). The thinner blend is about 70% water and the paint is thinned to where it wants to flow real easy. I use the same thing in Liquitex Soft Body acrylic artist paints too. The artist paints probably stick to chrome better but I actually use either on chrome. As to the dish soap you just need a little on a mixing stick put into 3oz of thinner, it takes very little to improve flow. I say that because I think people over dose it. By no means am I saying you have to do it this way, I'm just reporting how I do it is all. I also use water clean up oils.

MCW can now also match a chip with his spectrometer camera and come up with a formula via computer programing. Give him call or email, he's a friendly guy. He is also mixing enamels now so you can ask about that too.

Hot water is safer than a hair dryer. If you get too close thus too hot with a dryer you can make the plastic brittle. The key though is to get some tension in the plastic beyond center, so if it's warped or twisted to the right put in tension to the left as it heats. When it cools and you release whatever means was holding it while heat it will hopefully come back to at least somewhat neutral. Enough that it won't fight gluing up.

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It's nice to buy with assurance even if it costs a few bucks more ! I hate junk tools.

Looks great Sam ! Heck I'd get the kit just for the Y block Ford.

Sam that rod is Exactly what I meant in my earlier post ! It came out awesome. Congrats !

You also can build a really nice low chrome rod too. Nice filler work, nice paint, Molotow spray with an airbrush relevant chrome or polished aluminum as the case may be for just a few items. A deliberately low chrome rod but nice, never was a fan of a bunch of chome anyway, except the 50's factory cars.. To that theory comes opposing kickers. Kicker #1. I'd still prefer the Monogram. Kicker #2. The Lindberg sells cheaper.