Could you kids educate me on rattle can paint jobs?

[Fat Brian]

55 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

If that's the general consensus these days, it's wrong.

Hard styrene spoon plastic is usually much harder these days than the soft stuff being palmed off in model kits today. Styrene spoons are usually far more solvent-resistant than model plastics, and far more resistant to crazing than model plastics of recent years.

I have recent Revell models that were rendered useless (for anything other than rusty ratrods) by Duplicolor primer crazing, when the same primer shot wet on spoons produced no damage whatsoever.

And that's the reason I started harping on the spoon test being not-necessarily valid some time back.

You had said in the spoon test thread that the soft spoons weren't the best ones to use, that was the point I was trying to make.

Edited February 28, 2018 by Fat Brian

[peteski]

41 minutes ago, Fat Brian said:

You had said in the spoon test thread that the soft spoons weren't the best ones to use, that was the point I was trying to make.

Another misunderstanding. The soft spoons he mentioned are not polystyrene but polyethylene. It is a different type of plastic.  If they are marked with the recycling numbers, those will be marked #1 or #2 where polystyrene is #6. Polyethylene is not a good substrate for testing paints which will be applied to a model made from polystyrene or ABS .

[Miatatom]

1 minute ago, peteski said:

Another misunderstanding. The soft spoons he mentioned are not polystyrene but polyethylene. It is a different type of plastic.  If they are marked with the recycling numbers, those will be marked #1 or #2 where polystyrene is #6. Polyethylene is not a good substrate for testing paints which will be applied to a model made from polystyrene or ABS .

About all that I do with spoons is compare colors after shooting.

[peteski]

9 minutes ago, Miatatom said:

About all that I do with spoons is compare colors after shooting.

Paints don't adhere well to polyethylene - I would go with the "hard" polystyrene spoons.  That is what I use.

[Ace-Garageguy]

9 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

You had said in the spoon test thread that the soft spoons weren't the best ones to use, that was the point I was trying to make.

My apologies. Peter supplied the rest of the info I omitted.

8 hours ago, peteski said:

Another misunderstanding. The soft spoons he mentioned are not polystyrene but polyethylene. It is a different type of plastic.  If they are marked with the recycling numbers, those will be marked #1 or #2 where polystyrene is #6. Polyethylene is not a good substrate for testing paints which will be applied to a model made from polystyrene or ABS .

 

[tygr1]

Thanks again to all of you. I think I'm gaining on this paint thing.

 

 

[Snake45]

That doesn't look bad at all! Drive on! (After it's thoroughly dry, of course.) 

[bluenote]

Looks great!  what kind of paint is that?

[DiscoRover007]

I use spray cans for paint jobs pretty much exclusively. Feel like I’ve got the hang of it now.

I usually use Tamiya primer. I use micro mesh cloths to prep the surface and make it completely smooth. I usually go up to 4000-6000.

When laying paint I spray in several mist coats to start. Usually 4-6. Enough to cover the primer completely and establish a base inside the panel lines. Then I’ll do one medium wet coat. I let that dry and then do a color sand(Dry and or wet) with micro mesh cloths. I’ll usually use 3600-4000.

Then I’ll do one to two more wetcoats. This results in a deeper and finer finish, especially if using metallics.

If I don’t have any noticeable debris or errors in the paint I’ll then mist coat one layer of clear coat within 30 minutes to an hour of the last color coat. Just enough to seal the paint. I’ll then let it rest a day or two before adding heavier clear coats.

Edited March 1, 2018 by DiscoRover007

[High octane]

Do you use 4000 to 6000 grits on the primer? If so, that's a little too fine and I've been using 600 to 1000 grits on my primers before spraying my color coats with good results.

[DiscoRover007]

3 hours ago, High octane said:

Do you use 4000 to 6000 grits on the primer? If so, that's a little too fine and I've been using 600 to 1000 grits on my primers before spraying my color coats with good results.

I do usually just go up to 4000. I use a lot of metallic paints. That’s why I go that high because I do notice a difference in the finish.  If it’s a solid color I’ll go 2500-3600. 

The biggest difference of all is color sanding. It is especially noticeable with metallic and pearl paints. I highly recommend it before your last wet coat session. You can have a deeper and finer in scale flake look and practically eliminate any appearance of orange peel.

Heres a picture of my latest paint job with the above method. Tamiya White Primer, TS-17 Gloss Aluminum,  TS-13 Clear.

 

 

Edited March 1, 2018 by DiscoRover007

[High octane]

Lookin' good, and one way to reduce or eliminate "orange peel" when spraying lacquers is to spray closer and faster so the paint doesn't dry before reaching the body.