70 Roadrunner

[65pacecar]

Getting back into modeling and building a 70 Roadrunner for a refresher. A few questions about supplies. What glue is preferable today I used to use the red testors or sniff proof, been using red testors on this build and it seems ok, Anything better out there?

My big question is paint, again I used to be a testors fan but their standard line of spray paint isnt impressive at all and their bottle paint is OK on some colors, others provide mediocre coverage and results. The model master line still seems pretty good and been using it some, I had luck with it before I quit building yrs ago and still seems like a good product. Is there a better paint to use? I also air brush a lot, What paint and supplies are preferred for the airbrush? Any other modern tips will be appreciated. I will post a progress shot of the rr soon. Thanks for any advice.

Edited May 1, 2015 by 65pacecar

[cschick]

I like gorrilla glue its instant, inexpensive and dries clear

[65pacecar]

I like gorrilla glue its instant, inexpensive and dries clear

Thanks I have a nearly endless supply of that stuff Ill try it out.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I use mostly "Plasti Zap" for general gluing but there's a million "super" type glues out there. I stay away from it for glass & anything glued to the exterior like mirrors or any kind of body trim. It'll mess up your paint job quick! For those applications I use Testors "clear parts cement".

As far as paint, I think you'll find that most guys use some form of automotive type lacquers. Whether it's Duplicolor or Testors in a spray can, or one of the many paints for airbrushing made for models from suppliers like "House of Kolor", "Model Car World", etc.

I like MCW paints myself, but if you use any of these lacquers, make sure you prime accordingly. They'll chew the styrene up & spit it out!

Steve

[jacoballardtattoo]

I like to use super glue for most of my building but like pointed out here watch the paint. I have never tried gorilla glue? The times I have used it on furniture or what not the kind I used foamed up and expanded during drying. (By foamed I mean dried thick and puffy) so that I wouldn't use but I'm sure there must be another kind that won't do that.

For paint if your using rattle can I have always trusted and used Krylon there area lot of color options, it lays smooth and with a good clear it shines quite nice. If you have an airbrush I like testors. (Other than standard acrylic from a tube this is all I have used though) I have hade good luck with regular acrylic paint, the kind that's used for painting on a canvas. They lay nicely when you thin it, you can get our create any color in the world, it can be washed off if you make a mistake. The down fall though is its flat and dull, you need a good primer first and a clear coat to get any shine on it.

[Yo Jutt]

I have had great luck with duplicolor in spray cans myself.

[Yo Jutt]

I'm looking forward to watching this build. I just got one of these kits in the mail. And im curious to see how you put a spin on it!!

[microwheel]

For spray cans you can use Tamiya which is a lacquer based paint and dries pretty quicky, as well as what other's have mentioned here, but if you go with automotive paints, use a good thin primer first. Most automotive paints will attack model plastic. Some here use paints like duplicolor or Krylon, you can use their primers as well. I personally air brush paint most of my models and for air brushing I like either Tamiya acrylics mixed 50/50 with denatured alcohol (which can be bought at any hardware store or walmart) and I also like the model masters line of non-acrylic enamels mixed 50/50 with hardware store lacquer thinner. Why thin it with lacquer thinner, you may ask, well it increases it's drying time to just a few days, (it can take weeks when thinned with testors enamel thinner), and even helps it to lay down alot smoother without the tons of orange peel that stardard enamels are famous for. Most of what I suggest can be bought locally if you have a hobby lobby or local hobby shop, and you don't want to have to order something like MCW's paints online and wait for days to get it in the mail.

[StevenGuthmiller]

For spray cans you can use Tamiya which is a lacquer based paint and dries pretty quicky, as well as what other's have mentioned here, but if you go with automotive paints, use a good thin primer first. Most automotive paints will attack model plastic. Some here use paints like duplicolor or Krylon, you can use their primers as well. I personally air brush paint most of my models and for air brushing I like either Tamiya acrylics mixed 50/50 with denatured alcohol (which can be bought at any hardware store or walmart) and I also like the model masters line of non-acrylic enamels mixed 50/50 with hardware store lacquer thinner. Why thin it with lacquer thinner, you may ask, well it increases it's drying time to just a few days, (it can take weeks when thinned with testors enamel thinner), and even helps it to lay down alot smoother without the tons of orange peel that stardard enamels are famous for. Most of what I suggest can be bought locally if you have a hobby lobby or local hobby shop, and you don't want to have to order something like MCW's paints online and wait for days to get it in the mail.

You can't even order MCW paints online. You have to print an order form & mail it. So yes, it generally is about a 2 week turn around time. Couple reasons why I like it..... It comes already pre-mixed for airbrush, so there's none of that messing around, They have almost any factory stock color you can imagine, & those that they don't, can be ordered as a special order. The biggest thing for me are the metallic paints. The metallic colors all have metal flakes that are "in scale" for models. Nothing ruins a build more, in my opinion, than flakes that would be the size of a dime on the real car!

Steve

[crowe-t]

What's a good primer to use when spraying MCW lacquer paint on a model body?

Edited June 21, 2015 by crowe-t

[StevenGuthmiller]

What's a good primer to used when spraying MCW lacquer paint on a model body?

I'm sure MCW would argue that theirs are the best!

I use Duplicolor primers myself, but any good automotive primer will work I'm sure.

Just make sure to go light with the first couple of coats of primer.

The Duplicolor primer is pretty hot in itself & could "craze" the plastic if you shoot it too heavy right away.

I usually hit them with a couple of lighter coats to start, & then a couple of heavier coats. That'll avoid crazing & give you good coverage.

Steve

[crowe-t]

I'm sure MCW would argue that theirs are the best!

I use Duplicolor primers myself, but any good automotive primer will work I'm sure.

Just make sure to go light with the first couple of coats of primer.

The Duplicolor primer is pretty hot in itself & could "craze" the plastic if you shoot it too heavy right away.

I usually hit them with a couple of lighter coats to start, & then a couple of heavier coats. That'll avoid crazing & give you good coverage.

Steve

Thanks Steve!

When using MCW paints, do you have to spray a 'Sealer' on before the primer or will the Duplicolor primer be enough?

Mike.

[moparfarmer]

The orange

The orange/red Testors glue or crazy glue(200 mph glue I call it) or Gorilla Super Glue..Paint I always use Duplicolor with two light coats and one heavier and Duplicolor Acrylic Enamel clear(dries and smells like Lacquer) Primer, Sandable grey/white/black or red from Plasticote or Duplicolor...I always wet sand with 2000 wet then polish with Meguiar's Cleaner or Scratch X then finish off with Meguiar's Gold Class paste.Hope that helps..The clear should go on like the base coat applications..

[impcon]

The following is just my persoanl experience fromn which hopefully some one may be able to glean a bit of knowledge or get an idea.. This works and has worked for yours truly but it is not for everyone and as with any painting procedure, proper safety precautions should always be recognized, applied and adhered to....

Years ago, and for over fifteen years, I operated a side business here at home painting 1:1 cars and trucks for people. This was before things in painting started getting to be what I still think have become overly complicated and the choices of types of paint were limited to lacquer, synthetic enamel, acrylic enamel and urethanes were just starting to become popular. Lacquer primer was what I used for years and I also used it in model cars using a good quality top of the line Devilbiss auto touch up gun.

I would mix my primer very thin and apply a few very light dust coats at first, letting them dry for an hour or so hours before the next one was applied. In all fairness, I was usually working on a project in the shop while I did this so it was just a part of my day's routine where as doing it this way for most people would be a pain. I'd mix a small amount of well thinned out primer in my touch up gun and keep it handy to be used through the day as I needed it. I preferred gray primer and once the model had four or five light dust coats and the plastic was sealed, I'd crank the air pressure up and apply another heavier coat or two.

For painting, I had ( still have ) lcountless gallons, quarts and pints of left over paints from jobs or I'd get a pint of a colour mixed and used all of the afore mentioned typed of paints with never any problems or issues. For applying the paint, I'd run the air pressure at about 60 PSI so that the little gun would atomize the paint really well and the stuff went on reasonably well as evidenced in this photo of the '70 Challenger that I was working on when our home and my entire model collection was lost to a fire. The paint is factory NAPA Ureglo urethane mixed to thwe proper Panther Pink and it has not been sanded or cleared or polished. It's exactly as it went onto the car from the gun almost over 27 years ago. The reason that it still survives is it was in my shop waiting for the paint to gas off before taking it into the house for assembly. I applied the decals after the fire but never had the heart to finish the model but if I do, I want to replace the decals with new ones. I'd forgotten that I even had this kit until I found it buried in the bottom of a box of models that were all bought after the fire, so it was a nice surprise.

I was painting everything with automotive paints and never had any issues at all as far as paints or primers attacking the styrene. I knew enough based on one bad experience in my teens, that you can not hurry or rush a project and I learnt with the lacquer that given time between coats, the plastic got along just fine with it as long as I didn't load the primer on heavy. The automotive primer sanded very nicely and no detail was lost with it flowing in and filling scripts or panel lines. I also through trial and error learnt that holding the gun the right distance from the model was VERY important and the higher pressures laid on in very light coats yielded a decent enough finish. There was a very fine line between a dry or satin finish and a glossy one but once I figured out how to hold the model and when enough paint was enough, things seemed to work just fine for me. Really, I found that there wasn;t a lot of difference between painting a real 1:1 and this little fellow. It's all about knowing when to stop aplying paint and applying it the right way. I did get an air brush toward the end of that part of my life and I liked it, but frankly, I preferred my Devilbiss EGA 502. The paint quality wasn't the quality of the cleared and polished kits that I see on here today, but we had no Internet at that time so everything was self taught or learnt from magazines. My ways were not without draw backs such as having to leave the model out in the sun ( as ong as it wasn't 100 degrees ) or inside the shop for several weeks to gas off so that there was no paint odour when I brought it into the house, but the little cars looked nice enough when they were done.

I continue to use NAPA's Martin Senour gray lacquer primer today on most projects and one quart of it will last me the rest of my life, I am sure as I thin it out much more than I would were I using it on a 1:1 paint job. I recently bought a can of Tamiya white fine primer to be used as a sealer for a red Camaro that will be painted white. I had one bad experience when I was two toning an all red GMC Astro tractor ( 1:1 ) to a red and white colour scheme where the fresh white paint turned pink. I'd not used bleed seal and had to redo the white after letting it set for a few days and applying the black sealer after which there were no issues. I guess that's why the paint company sold a product called "Stop Bleed". Now I realize that the Camaro is plastic molded in red and I am not trying to cover red paint, but I am not taking any chances.

So for guys who use lacquer primer, chances are that a local body shop will sell you some lacquer primer ( if they are still using it ) or maybe even give you some and trust me, that stuff goes a long ways and lasts forever. Even if a lacquer does harden from sitting, add some lacquer thinners and stir and it becomes fluid and perfectly

useable again. An old painter that I know sunned it up when he said - and I quote - "Lacquer paint is the the only paint product that is forever soluble in its own solvents" Hope this helps someone..

[65pacecar]

Wow. Thanks for all the excellent replies and tips.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Thanks Steve!

When using MCW paints, do you have to spray a 'Sealer' on before the primer or will the Duplicolor primer be enough?

Mike.

I just use the primer.

Steve

[Speedfreak]

Bring on the Roadrunner!

[crowe-t]

I just use the primer.

Steve

You never see any bleed through of the plastic underneath without using a sealer?

Mike.

[StevenGuthmiller]

You never see any bleed through of the plastic underneath without using a sealer?

Mike.

No, I have never seemed to have that problem.

I usually use several coats of primer & many times I'll use Testors lacquer primer for my first primer coat.

It's a much more "opaque" primer & covers better than the Duplicolor.

Then I'll use about 3 coats of duplicolor.

I gives a smoother base & creates a better barrier to the lacquer than the Testors.

Steve