Any good painting tutorial?

[leon_s]

Hello guys, 

 

I'currently building an Aoshima Mazda RX7  and I've been looking for a complete tutorial on how to paint properly. Can anyone here direct me to websites or thread that has exactly what I'm after? I'm not looking for a contest-winning result, I just need the very basic painting method (from primer to paint, to clear coat and poliSH) 

 

cheers guys

[fseva]

  On 12/30/2015 at 3:28 PM, leon_s said:

I'm currently building an Aoshima Mazda RX7  and I've been looking for a complete tutorial on how to paint properly. Can anyone here direct me to websites or thread that has exactly what I'm after? I'm not looking for a contest-winning result, I just need the very basic painting method (from primer to paint, to clear coat and poliSH) 

I don't have a link to a tutorial, but I will give you my procedure and you can decide for yourself if it is sufficient for you:

Prime: Tamiya or Testors gray or white depending on color choice - bright/light colors use white; all else use gray

Color coat: Tamiya or Testors lacquers (One-Coat and Auto System), both of which are available in rattle cans and can be sprayed direct from the can, with care, or decant and use an airbrush.

Finish: Testors One-Coat Clear Wet Look

Polish: Tamiya 3-Step Compounds - not all 3 are always necessary - for example, if your Finish coat is nice and shiny, you could just use #1 Finish, or #2 Fine. I use a Shop Towel (paper) to apply and rub out.

Hope this helps! 

[Stuntman Mike]

My procedure is pretty much the same. I currently use Tamiya spray exclusively. Primer, base color and clear coat. Careful wet sanding of every layer of the paintjob will improve your results significantly. For this step you may want to look for Micro Mesh abrasives. Great stuff. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

A quick search of youtube turned up a lot of not-really-useful stuff, but anything by Donn Yost is definitely worth watching.

As far as sanding goes, I prep my bare plastic bodies by scrubbing in hot water and a mildly abrasive cleanser like Comet, with a toothbrush.

Using sandpaper, especially if you don't understand all the various grits ("fine" really means nothing) can lead to grief. It simply will not get in small folds and crevices, and you run the risk of rounding off details if you're not extremely careful. Comet scuffs ALL these areas with no damage, and removes the mold-release lubricants as well.

I also got in the habit of final-cleaning my models (either bare plastic, or after they'd sat around for a while, drying) with 70% isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). It's good insurance against fish-eyes, as it removes just about all contaminants.

I'd also suggest you practice painting, all the various steps, on plastic soda bottles BEFORE you try to paint a model. Find bottles with molded surface details, so you get a feel of how paint and primer behave on them. When you can lay down a paint-job you're proud of on a Coke bottle, you're ready to paint a model.

Learn to shoot all your primers and paints WITH AS LITTLE ORANGE PEEL as you can. This saves a ton of wetsanding that you'll have to do to correct it later, which can also obliterate fine details.

This paint is just-as-shot. Obviously, it won't take a huge amount of work to get it really right.

This is what we mean by "orange peel". The texture of the paint surface looks like the skin of an orange. Learn how to avoid it. (It comes from shooting your paint too dry, or from too far away).

 

 

[leon_s]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Really help me as a beginner.

Unfortunately, I can only find some common tools and materials, which are not specifically for model builders. By common tools I mean like sand paper and car paint polish.

If I can summarize, steps to achieve good paint finish are as follow:

1. prep the body by sanding (can anyone suggest which grit I should use?)

2. Several layers of primer (maybe 2? wet sanding after each layer, again any suggestion on the grit?)

3. Several layer of paint (wet sanding after each layer, again any suggestion on the grit?)

4. Several layer of clear coat (wet sanding after each layer, again any suggestion on the grit?) 

5. polish using paint cutting compound

 

Do you think my steps have the potential to achieve good paint job? I'm not looking for a contest-winning paint job, but at least I can achieve display-worthy finish

 

 

cheers

[fseva]

  On 1/1/2016 at 8:00 AM, leon_s said:

1. prep the body by sanding (can anyone suggest which grit I should use?)

2. Several layers of primer (maybe 2? wet sanding after each layer, again any suggestion on the grit?)

3. Several layer of paint (wet sanding after each layer, again any suggestion on the grit?)

4. Several layer of clear coat (wet sanding after each layer, again any suggestion on the grit?) 

5. polish using paint cutting compound

6. Do you think my steps have the potential to achieve good paint job? I'm not looking for a contest-winning paint job, but at least I can achieve display-worthy finish

 

1. You're just giving the body some "tooth", so I generally don't use anything but 600.

2. 1 coat of primer is sufficient - just make sure the primer is consistently applied and opaque.

3. I do not sand between paint layers.

4. I do not sand between clear coats.

5. The product is best referred to as "compound", at least when it comes to Tamiya's polishing creams.

6. You're going to achieve an excellent finish, but you have a lot of work and time put into the project. You may find that you can scale back your expectations and still achieve a wonderful, shiny finish!

[MrObsessive]

This is just my own personal preference as I've seen some bad things happen to nice kits, but I would advise putting some kind of barrier coat on your body before you put on any paint. This is just extra insurance against the paint attacking the plastic, and while some may poo-poo the idea, I'm just saying that plastics differ between companies-------some nice and tough, some not so much. 

My choice of a barrier coat would be either Future Floor Wax (Pledge with Future Shine) or BIN Zinsser sealer. I tend toward the latter lately as Future can be rather touchy (runny) when trying to airbrush it, the BIN goes on smoothly as I just put a few coats on my '59 Impala build the other day.

My way of thinking as with all the builds I do is to treat each step or build as a kit in itself------this would include painting. Patience is a definite virtue here, and taking your time and working carefully usually yields good results.

Just a thought..........