Hi Everyone - Im new and looking for some advice please

[oPROJECTMAYHEMo]

Hi everyone,

I'm Blake from Sheffield in England.

I have been thinking about getting into model car making for about 18 months but my wife fell pregnant and all of my free time went out the window.

I finally have some free time to myself on an evening now our daughter is getting older so I went and bought a Revell kit for the Chevelle SS. I have started by separating all of the pieces and sanding them down and have about half done so far.

My plans are to buy a airbrush and compressor to paint them and touch up the detail work with paint brushes.

Questions I have are

1. Instructions in the kit recommend to wash the unpainted parts before gluing and painting - is this really necessary? 

2. I was looking at the decal instructions and there are some that it says have to be submerged in water first - is this accurate? seems like it would effect its ability to stick to the surface.

3. Is it recommended to use a primer before painting? If yes, does this count for all parts?

4. Is it recommended to use a clear coat on the body after painting?

5. enamel or acrylic paints? which is best?

Apologies if some of these seem silly questions, i just want to make sure i am doing it right as i want to do a quality job on it.

If all goes well then I will be making these on a regular basis and can post them on the other parts of this forum.

Thank you in advance.

[PappyD340]

Welcome to the forum Blake

[crazyjim]

Welcome Blake.

1. I don't wash anything but I do wet sand most parts.

2. Yes decals need to be thoroughly soaked.

3. I prime all the body parts that will be airbrushed using automotive primer.  I use a lot of HOK paint and it's fairly hot.

4.  Urethane 2 part clear goes on all my builds.  I like the SHINY ???

5. Enamel for interior, engine, drivetrain brushed on.  HOK for bodies.

[Tom Geiger]

Welcome Blake!  You will find that most folks on this board are friendly and happy to help!  

1. Instructions in the kit recommend to wash the unpainted parts before gluing and painting - is this really necessary? 

In a perfect world you could.. note that the parts may have some oil on them from the molding process, or dust from sanding. I will blow off parts prior to priming, and wash the larger important parts like the body.  You will want to glue together assemblies that will be painted the same color prior to painting, such as engine parts to the engine and if the rear axle is two pieces. I'll glue all that together and eliminate any visible seams.

2. I was looking at the decal instructions and there are some that it says have to be submerged in water first - is this accurate? seems like it would effect its ability to stick to the surface.

Decals are water slide, that is once they are wet they will slide off the paper backing onto your model. If you haven't used kit decals before, try one that you won't use on something. Note that the decals all have glue on the back of them that is water actuated.  I suppose that if you left them in the water too long, the glue would be ruined. 

3. Is it recommended to use a primer before painting? If yes, does this count for all parts?

I prime everything! I find it necessary to spot imperfections in the parts, in my sanding and any in my prep work. I use Duplicolor automotive sandable grey primer in the spray can.  I think they sell the brand in the UK.  Like Jim, I use hotter paints, so this primer keeps the plastic protected.  

4. Is it recommended to use a clear coat on the body after painting?

You can if you wish that level of shine.  In my own work, I believe a lot of the paints I use already give a real world shine, and adding clear gets to being an unrealistic or show car level shine.

5. enamel or acrylic paints? which is best?

I mainly use Tamiya hobby paints,  and Duplicolor automotive lacquers all from the spray can.  I would recommend this, especially going all Tamiya sprays for your first project instead of investing in air brush equipment early on.  Wait for that purchase until you are sure you want to pursue modeling as a hobby.  Or you may decide that the spray cans are just fine.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Here's my 2 cents.

 

I agree with Tom for the most part.

 

1:        I wash all of my parts before painting.

          Oils from the molding process aside, you will undoubtedly have oil from you fingers, dust and other contaminates on the surface just from normal handling and prep.

2:       Yes, water slide decals do require submersion in water.

          I don't use a lot of decals, but when I do, a quick couple of dips in water and then setting them aside for a couple of minutes will usually suffice in allowing the decal to loosen from the backing paper.

3:      I prime everything as well!!

         Priming will allow for much better paint coverage and adhesion over painting directly over the plastic.

         Like Tom, I use Duplicolor sandable primers as well as a combination of Testors lacquer primer and Duplicolor "primer sealer".

         But then again, I also use a lot of hotter automotive type lacquer paints like Duplicolor, MCW and Scale Finishes.

4:      I use clear coats all of the time on bodies, as well as all sorts of other parts.

         Some clear on the body will allow for easier polishing, lessening the possibility of burning through the paint during the process.

         In my experience, clear, followed by polishing with polishing pads and liquid polishes will give you a very correct looking shine without the "candy like" appearance that very high gloss paints and clears can give you if left unpolished.

         Clear is also very advantageous for creating many different effects.

         For instance, a shot of clear gloss over a flat finish can give you a very convincing matte finish for interior or chassis parts.

5:     I too use mainly automotive type lacquers for body colors.

        It drys and cures very quickly with superior coverage, and the color pallet that is available through aftermarket air brush paint providers like Scale Finishes and MCW is virtually infinite!

       I use few acrylics, but I do use a lot of enamels.

       Mainly flat enamels for engine, chassis and interior parts, whether air brushed or brush painted.

       A good array of flat colors is all that is needed as sheens can be adjusted to whatever you desire with subsequent clear coats.

 

 

 

Welcome to the forum Blake!

It's always nice to see new blood coming aboard!

 

 

Steve 

[Bucky]

Welcome, Blake! One thing I would suggest is to NOT get in a rush to finish a project. Also, if you run into a frustration, step away from the workbench for a bit. 

Decals can be finicky, especially depending on how old the kit, or decal sheet is. Some builders will shoot a coat of clear on the decal sheet prior to cutting them out and dunking them in water. When I do my decals, I start out with lukewarm water, and place a drop or two of dishwashing liquid in the water. I've had past experience with decals immediately sticking on a model, never to be moved, again! With the tiny bit of soap in the water, you will have more time to slide it into place, or straighten one like a custom side stripe before it sets. I always prefer waterslide decals to dry transfer, or the peel-and-stick variety.

And, to me, primer is a must! 

Have fun, and post your progress!!

[1930fordpickup]

Welcome aboard Blake. There are no Silly Questions when it comes to this hobby.  

You might want to spend some time reading in the Tips and Questions and answers section also.

 A lot of people here use white glue for the windows when you get that far. 

Another thing, if this is your first model , nothing says you have to paint it. The first model and everyone after is a learning tool. 

[peteski]

Welcome Blake,

I noticed that most of the hints are for priming everything.  Well, as a counterpoint, I very rarely prime my plastic models.  But I also use paints designed for plastic models (Testors, Tamiya, etc.).  I don't think I have ever primed any non-body plastic parts, but I do wash the plastic (either with dishwashing detergent and warm water, or 95% Isopropyl Alcohol).  I only prime the body when the plastic is much darker color than the paint I'll be using. So if the body is white plastic - no primer, but if the body is dark blue or red for example, and I want to paint it white or yellow, I prime it for better pain coverage (primer I use will be white or lt. gray).

These models featured below were built by me between 20-30 years ago.

Built over 30 years ago. It is 1:12 scale.  I used all Testors and Pactra paints (spray cans, before I owned an airbrush).  Body was white - no primer needed. But the fender flares were black plastic so, I sprayed them with white primer before gluing them to the body, then sprayed everything red.  No clear coat. Wheels came with gold "plating". I sprayed them silver without removing the "plating".  If you are wondering about the photo quality, this was before digital cameras - it is a scan of a paper snapshot photo.

 

This is 1:8 scale Pocher Mercedes 540K kit.  Body was black plastic and I sprayed it with black Epoxy Enamel appliance paint from a spray can.  No clear coat. Again, built around 30 years ago, scan of a snapshot photo.

 

This is more recent kit (built about 10 years ago). 1:160 (N) scale, tiny etched brass kit.  No primer. Airbrushed the bare brass body with Scalecoat Black enamel paint. Tyres and wheels were airbrushed with Floquil enamels.

 

The 3 cars above are 1:32 scale Gunze Sangyo models. Molded in white plastic. No primer. No clear coat. Airbrushed with Testors paints decanted from spray cans.  The Cadillac's Stainless steel roof is Metalizer paint (now part of Testors line).

 

Revell "Can-Do" wrecker.  White plastic body - no primer.  Testors white paint airbrushed.  I did clear coat it (airbrush) with Testors clear, but it yellowed a bit after several years.

So, as you can see, some decent models can be built using no primer, plastic compatible hobby paints, and almost no sanding. I do sand all the visible seams, then polish the plastic using a piece of cotton cloth so it has sheen close to the unsanded plastic.

But occasionally I do use "hotter" paints and primer.

This one was built few years ago. 1:43 scale Monogram Ultimates AC 289 Cobra kit. As you can see in the photo, I airbrushed it with a nail polish.  The body was yellow plastic and nail polish is "hot", so I did use Tamiya fine white primer.  It also has a Testors Wet Look clear coat.  It is nice ans shiny, but it stays soft for a very long time (you can dent it by pressing a fingernail tip into the clear coat).

 

Model building is a lot of fun (even though I haven't been building any automotive models lately - busy with my other hobby: N scale model trains).

 

[oPROJECTMAYHEMo]

Thank you all for your comments and advice.

Just a couple more questions.

For the people that do add a clear coat to the exteriors - would you apply decals like stripes first and then apply a clear coat?

I am about to start gluing my first pieces , the engine and would like to know if there is a recommended filler to apply to the seams to then sand down to make it look like one piece.

I have the Tamiya cement and dont know if this will just stick them together or if it will fill the seams too.

Thank you in advance

[Bucky]

Nothing at all wrong with putting on decals before the clear coat. I have done that many times, as well as doing Bare Metal Foil before clear coat.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Just be certain that your clear is compatible with decals.

You need a relatively benign clear.

A hot clear like Duplicolor will destroy the decals.

Something mild like Testors will not.

 

 

Steve

[Ctmodeler]

On 12/11/2019 at 9:32 AM, crazyjim said:

Welcome Blake.

1. I don't wash anything but I do wet sand most parts.

2. Yes decals need to be thoroughly soaked.

3. I prime all the body parts that will be airbrushed using automotive primer.  I use a lot of HOK paint and it's fairly hot.

4.  Urethane 2 part clear goes on all my builds.  I like the SHINY ???

5. Enamel for interior, engine, drivetrain brushed on.  HOK for bodies.

You need to wash everything really. I do always but it is suggested

[slusher]

Welcome Blake to the Forum!!

[ewetwo]

Welcome to the forum Blake. You'll meet a lot of nice and helpful people here. 

Edited February 10, 2020 by ewetwo

[Ramfins59]

Welcome to our plastic playground Blake.  Very sound advice from Tom and Steve in response to your questions.  Take your time, and treat each part and.or subassembly as if it was a model itself.... then when you put all of those parts together you should have a very good looking model in total.

[65slotcar]

welcome to the forum Blake.    i'm  not sure if someone  mentioned this  bit of advise.   always  scrape  away  chrome  or paint  where you intend to apply  glue.  glue doesn't   adhere  well to chrome or  paint.