Plumcrazy Preston

David can also practice with a few of the good "virgin parts" in one of his amt truck kits since he already laid down $57 for a copy of his first kit anyway. Perhaps a pefect paint job is something of an opium pipe dream. Some of us might be able achieve a paint job we are just plain happy about. The bottom line, I seek happiness, not perfection, from building model vehicles and planes. These models are only book shelf dummies to just admire and not drive like something with a gasoline engine in it. I only care that my models look neat to myself and any casual observers like neighbors, guests, friends, family and relatives. Are YOU happy with any of your models you might see minor orange peel with a magnifier and bright light?

I have a couple of Chinese-made die-cast model Toyota cars with slight orange peel even from the factory. If I could airbrush a plastic kit as nicely as those cars look I'd be glad. I'll practice on my ruined truck parts first before pointing the Paasche H aircap toward "the real deal". If not perfect, even a novice, all else equal, should get a far superior paint job from a new Paasche (used properly) than a rattle can. In SW Oklahoma where I live, the humidity is high in hot weather. I live in an apartment so I have to spray paint outside at least under the paint booth tent I bought to shield work from the wind and dust. I'll say one thing, a little bottle of Testors enamel goes much farther than a can of spray paint. It will save money over rattle cans if nothing else.

I have some already-ruined amt truck parts I certainly can practice on before hitting the new good amt parts with the airbrush since I ordered a second Kenworth W-925 kit to bash (cannibalize) for some good parts. The already-ruined kit can be my "airbrush training model". A good mechanic will train on old junkers before putting his wrenchs, srewdrivers and hammers to expensive cars belonging to paying cutomers in the shop. I'm sure pro auto painters and body mechanics train on rusty old clunkers. Not much valuable to mess up in training.

Never mind, I just emailed Testors Corp. this following message and I now wait for an answer. I don't think plastic models should be something of rocket science. Andy X made a perfect car body paint job look so simple. Paasche H seems to be the magic painting wand of both novices and pros alike. I'm sure Testors knows much more about model painting than I do or some other folks here do. Hello: I have a few questions regarding Testors clear coat products for plastic kitted models. I plan to airbrush my plastic kit static models with Testors enamel (in 0.25 oz. bottles) mixed with an equal part of lacquer thinner according to Andy-X's "modified Donn Yost" method. I plan to use a Paasche H airbrush with 35 psi and a No. 3 needle. My models will have water slide decals applied to them. I will need a way to seal in the decals on some models with a gloss final finish and other models with a flat final finish. Which Testors clear coat products work best for this purpose in airbrushing? Does Testors Dullcote and Glosscote need to be mixed with anything to make ready for the airbrush? Should decals be misted a couple times before heavy wet clear coats are applied? Are complete airbrushing instructions printed on the bottles? Please advise. Thank you.

I have already failed miserably with rattle cans. I no longer trust them. Would you want your brand-new Porsche painted with rattle cans at the factory or with paint guns? Once I invest in an airbrush, it can be used for other things besides models as well. Rattle cans get to be expensive too and waste a lot of paint. They can be defective: low pressure. I think an airbrush is an investment that has a great payoff in the long run. I have had some success with rattle cans on wood projects and cast iron bird cages with flat colors but gloss colors often curdle up. The airbrush painter has complete control of the pressure, the fineness of atomisation, the spray pattern and the ingredients. I wish I had discovered airbrushing many years and botched rattle can paint jobs ago. I already own a compressor anyway and a paint booth tent.

Another thought: My AMT Wilson cattle trailer will have a silver/aluminum body and "Wilson" decals so I think it should be sealed with a flat top coat. Alumimum-bodied truck trailers are generally not glossy. I will need the proper matte clear for the trailer and a gloss clear for the KW tractor.

First of all, enamel base coats should cure how many days before decal application? Decals should then set how many days before the first clear top coat? I plan to use a Paaache H. My planned base paint is Testors enamel mixed with lacquer thinner which should give a smooth glossy coat to apply waterslde decals too. What gloss clear coat supplies are needed if one uses a Paasche H? I want gloss coat products for airbrush and not automotive products in large expensve containers. Are any 2K model clear coat products any good? What Paasche H needle and settings are recommended for gloss clear? Should heavy wet clear go on over the whole body, cab, hood, etc. 5 minutes after decals are hit with a mist coat? Should the decals only be hit with a mist and then the whole body followed up with a mist also? The following non-miltary models are planned for sealing decals under clear with the modified Don Yost paint as a base: 1. amt Kenworth W-925 tractor (custom livery) and amt Wilson cattle trailer 2. amt Bell 205 helicopter, 1:48 scale, custom livery 3. Atlantis Boeing 727 jet plane*, 1:96 scale, custom livery *Note: I plan to paint the plane's wings silver with no decals on the wings so I don't think they need to be gloss coated. Aluminum aircraft wings generally don't have a glass-like appearance like a custom show car body. The plane's fuselage in Testors Grape enamel will have decals and a high gloss shine is desired there. Civilain trucks, boats, motorcycles and aircraft tend to have shiny finishes like automobiles. What do people here think of thsi how-to video? Is it par for the course in sealing decals? I have one clear objective: to have a few beautiful shiny models in my living room that look very neat with decals. This hobby is proving to be somewhat expensive is I think it worth while to strive for neatness in workmanship. I have a ton of patience for this hobby but it's just a matter of hand-selecting the right equipment and acquiring the right skills to do it proper. I don't want hunderds of dollars put out only to get sloppy results. What I'm diving into here is not cheap Monogram snap-together models I had in boyhood. I am new to airbrushing and have not ordered any air brushing equipment yet. I want to do some homework and careful palnning before shelling dough out on airbrushing supplies. I want to get the proper stuff to meet my objective. I'm trying to avoid a financial boondoggle.

These Paasche jars are 1 oz and rather expensive. Testors enamel in small bottles is 0.25 oz so it seems these jars are big enough to mix equal parts of paint from a full Testors bottle and lacquer thinner. I was planning on ordering glass pipettes for measuring and mixing paint solutions. Does lacquer thinner work well for cleaning these pipettes? Should I just just get plastic dipsable pipettes to reduce cleanup mess? Is a digital postal scale handy for measuring paint components? I have one. I plan on spraying enamel following the modified Don Yost method by AndyX. I also plan to airbrush clear gloss too.

They get mixed reviews on amazon.com. Andy X says he bought a box of these back in his 2014 video and even gave the part number. 50-0053B He likes to use 2 oz. jars for his Don Yost method. I want jars for long term storage of paint/thinner solutions. I don't want jar materials to get eaten or have leaky seals on lids. Peole reviewing ona mazon.com now say they are not as good as the old Badger jars. Do the new ones even fit a Paasche H? I'm considering taking up airbrushing with this Paasche classic and need a good paint storage solution for it. While I am at it, should I buy expensive airbrush cleaner or just use paint thinner or lacquer thinner to flush the brush out? Is a Paasche H brush good for painting other things besides models like automotive trim. I used SEM rattle-can black trim paint to redo the black door posts on my 1995 Toyota Corolla and the quality of this minor paint work was less than steller. I didn't use primer and it might peel off in time. I may have to redo this in the future and a Paasche might give professional results. I figure if I am investing in airbrushing equipment, it has many other uses for home and car besides models. I was a former automobile mechanic by trade, by the way. I have the gut feeling that once I put a Paasche H in my right hand, I will never want to touch a rattle can again for anything. Rattle can paint can also be ungodly expensive. Airbrushing should save a lot of money ion wasted paint over time while providing a knock-out finish to boot.

Well, the mineral sprits did destroy the thin little steering colum for my amt Kenworth W-925. I tried the rubbing alcohol: not much help. I could not get the rest of the cab/hood parts stripped down clean anyway so I just ordered a whole new amt kit from eBay. $56 and change for that stupid thing including tax and shipping. No more rattle cans for models (or automotive trim work even) for me, period! I learned an expensive hard knock here. There are no shortcuts in this hobby. Now, I will need to get a Paasche brush and all of its trimmings. Nobody here likes the Don Yost modified method with Testors enamels? What was Plum Crazy gone sour grapes is now planned to be Testors Grape purple in the near future.

I will have to try that alcohol along with my gun-cleaning bronze bore brush on a cleaning rod section.

Actually, mineral spirits is not harming my amt plastic. Slowly but surely with an old toothbrush, the Model Master lacquer is stripping off. At least I can get it scrubbed to where the bare plastics is showing in some parts. That I used primer first may have prevented the lacquer from biting into the plastic. I could try lacquer thinner to strip off the remaining lacquer, but who knows what that might do to my plastic. I'm sold on the Don Yost method I saw on video. Old-fashioned Testors enamel in the little bottle, equal part lacquer thinner, no primer, Paasche H brush and patent-leather-shoeshine perfection. I've decided to stop farting around with lacquer paints for good. Enamel by Testors seems much more friendly to work with.

How much thinner to paint? How does one measure this? Mark the jar with a Sharpie? Do painting jars and cups have graduations for measurement? I plan to salvage what Plum Crazy I have left in a couple rattle cans by decanting and mixing for airbrushing to hopefully salvage a model I have in progress. The paint job I stated with turned out to be a disaster with blistering (air bubbles, curdling) right from the rattle cans. I will have to wet-sand my model smooth then finish the job with an airbrush. I stared with MM lacquer and I have to try to somehow finish it with the same kind of paint. I don't want to throw a $40 amt model kit in the dumpster. I started this kit way back last December and have to rescue it somehow. Some buffoon sold me highly-defective rattle-can paint. Another question: won't plain old-fashioned mineral spirits work well for cleaning airbrushes? How about just cleaning them with lacquer thinner?

Can't I just get my botched model prepped by wet sanding?

I will probably just use old-fashioned elbow grease and wet sand the devil out of my botched lacquer to salvage the model parts. Hopefully, the Paasche H will fill in and smooth everything out like a steam roller and shovelfuls of asphalt smooth out potholes.

Painting semi truck trailer bodies, frames and tractor cabs, boat hulls and model airplanes, yes. Car bodies, not so much. Ok, maybe some kind folks can share with me some of their airbrushing equipment here. Paasche H with the number 3 needle seems to be the magic cure for the rattle-can blister. What else do I need to buy to: -clean it? -maintain it? -connect it to a standard homeowner compressor? Is the needle and paint/thinner ratio the same for: -enamel? -clear coats? -lacquer? -flat/matte? -base gloss? -base semi-gloss? -base metallic? -base non-metallic? -primers? I just saw the Andy X video: wow I'm impressed. He and Don Yost seem to be the promising cure to all my rattle-can troubles. I want to be able to use lacquer, primer, enamel, gloss coat, semi and flat/matte paints all. How does one decant paint for airbrush use from rattle cans? I have some Testors enamel and Tamiya primer in rattle cans already. Actually, the expensive Tamiya primer went on nice and smooth right out of the rattle can. Should I strip the botched paint right off my AMT Kenworth W-925 cab, hood, air cleaners, battery box, visor and sleeper cab with solvent and start over with an airbrush? The models I'm working on now aren't cars but a semi truck tractor and trailer, a jet plane and a helicopter. I'd probably just order Model Masters Plum Crazy lacquer paint in bottles. I want to hit my Kenworth semi-gloss black enamel frame with an airbrush to polish it off. The Testors enamel out of the rattle-can went on fairly neat but left a slight orange peel at close inspection under bright light on the flats of my frame rails. Can our plastic models be paint stripped with ordinary mineral sprits paint thinner without eating up the plastic? I already have a DeWalt 1-gallon compressor with a Craftsmen water filter I paid $150 for 5 years ago. It goes up to 150 psi and has a pressure regulator dial. It's for staple guns and house painting. Do I need special equipment to hook up hobby airbrushes to a standard homeowner's compressor?

The third rattle can of Model Masters from Model Roundup did nothing but air bubble when used as directed inside a paint booth tent and with the can shaken well and warmed up in a jar of hot water. I had no trouble at all with the first can of Model Masters Plum Crazy I bought at Hobby Lobby last December. This color is now discontinued in rattle cans but offered for air brushes still. I now have a couple hundred dollars invested in model kits and supplies. Airbrushing is probably more economical to boot since there is much less wasted paint. I have no problem with Testors rattle cans enamels in flat or semi-gloss colors. I'm demanding a full refund from Model Roundup lest they get a credit card chargeback. I want a good complete airbrushing kit with compressor and maintenance tools. I don't want to spend more than $100. I would also like some good tutorial videos on proper model airbrushing technique before I continue painting models any more.

Model Roundup could have got their goods from a bogus source, who the Christ knows why I'm really having trouble. They had better give me my money back on that bad paint soon or I will file a dispute thru my credit card.

The Tamiya tape I have says Width 10 mm on the label. Up until now, I thought all "model masking tape" was the same. I'm new in to model building with masking tape. The defective paint might be a culprit. I now have a second can of "Model masters" from this offbeat vender that has a bulge in the bottom. I put the can in a jar of scalding hot water for 5 minutes before shaking and using. As I was spray yesterday, I thought something went pop and I noticed the bulge on the bottom of the can just now. Is scalding-hot tap water too hot for rattle- can prep?

Then I don't know. I used Model Master Auto Lacquer 2 Part System (28121, Matches Plymouth Plum Crazy Metallic) from an off-beat vendor called Model Roundup online. At least that is what is printed on the can label. One of the three cans of paint they sold me was actually defective: very weak spray pressure. I'm claiming a refund to them now by email. This Plum Crazy paint in rattle cans is out of production and it's now hard to get. I never decided to dive into airbrushing. I could even be now experiencing counterfeit or defective paint. Suffice it say, stay away from Model Roundup. Buy from a reputable source like Hobby Lobby or amazon. If they no longer make your dream color then go with another color for your project.

Have you ever used it with rattle-can, hand paint-brush or even airbrush LACQUER? It might be nobody's fault. It's just two chemical products that don't agree.

Never mind, I will just try my 3M Automotive tape next time. It never let me down on something as expensive and precious as my 1:1 scale drivable street-legal gasoline-powered car. I've left that tape on my car for several days in the hot sun and it came off clean as a whistle with absolutely no paint penetration whatsoever. I will report back here how it goes. The questionable failed tape I bought from Hobby Lobby late last year said Tamiya on it indeed unless it's a counterfeit product they sold me. Suffice it to say, I'm done with it for painting. What one should do when buying a new masking tape they don't know is put it on piece of plastic model runner and spray a swatch of paint it before actually using it on a model. I'm going to do this test with my 3M car tape tomorrow.

Model Masters lacquer rattle-can paint. 1970 Plymouth Plum Crazy Metallic. Used exactly as directed. Paint underneath had cured for over one month!! I've never had problems with 3M Automotive (green) masking tape used for my car. I just repainted the black door posts on my '95 Toyota Corolla last month. Perfect. No bleed-through, peeled off clean as a whistle. I might have to use my proven car tape for models then and my scissors to trim it down thin. You may have no experience with lacquer paints. The top coat was waited for no less than 24 hours before peeling off the questionable tape. I could clearly see on the sticky side of the tape where the purple paint soaked through. It's all a matter of chemistry: Tamiya tape and Model Masters lacquer don't agree.

I bought Tamiya Model Masking Tape. Guess what? It's no good for lacquer and it might not be good enamel either on our plastic static model kits. It's a brown paper tape like that krap at the hardware store. I ruined a few of my AMT truck parts already using it. The wet spray paint is absorbed by the Tamiya tape and it discolored the cured paint underneath and ruined my paint job. I have to do some of these parts all over again. Is there a model tape that absolutely will not ruin paint jobs? I need a tape that peels off clean and won't harm the paint its covering up. I have learned the hard way by painting automobiles that one should use plastic 3M AUTOMOTIVE tape for cars and not brown paper house masking tape. The tape has to be water-proof or I should say wet paint proof and have good properties so it won't ruin paint underneath.

I wait several days between paint coats. I don't overdo a single coat or it's run city. Glossier paints tend to be trickier to manage against running or mottling than flat paints.