Painting stripes and using a different color base coat

[Peterbilt359]

Hello all my name is mike and I’m restarting my old love of building models. I have PTSD and feel this will help take the edge off. My genre will be big rigs and I have recently purchased 4 kits off of amazon. Ok my question is 2 parts. Question 1: I’m wanting to do my own stripes as the decals in the kits Really don’t do “it” for me. Do I paint the whole cab first with the color of stripes I want? Or do I paint the color I’m choosing for the truck first then mask and paint my stripes? Question 2: as far as a base coat I’m thinking about what I have which is Aztec from testors pearl white and my final coat is from testors also is sublime green and a good clear coat Do you guys think I have a good combination for this? I am really stoked and fired up about being back in the hobby again. My tools I have right now is a Paasche H airbrush kit Tamiya paint stand and parts holder turntable 11 exacto knife Tamiya masking tape and dispenser and 2 mm Tamiya masking paint for curves and assorted other masking tapes sanding sticks etc.Thanks for all replies. Mike

[Miatatom]

Hi Mike and welcome! I've always tried to paint the lighter color first, be it stripes or body color. The Tamiya tape is good stuff. Just keep it clean. Burnish it down thoroughly after you apply it. I'd practice the masking and spraying on something besides your model body if you can. I used a Paasche H when I started back into building. It's a great starter airbrush. The color combination sounds good to me. Here's the best way to find stuff on this forum. You'll be reading for a long time. ?

 

[High octane]

Mike, here's a tip for you. You have your first color done, dried and masked for your second color. As stated above and you have your tape burnished down on the edges, spray a light coat of clear along the edges first and that way IF there's any "bleed through" or seepage it will be clear. Wait 20 minutes and then spray your second color. Good luck and welcome back to the hobby.

[Peterbilt359]

2 hours ago, High octane said:

Mike, here's a tip for you. You have your first color done, dried and masked for your second color. As stated above and you have your tape burnished down on the edges, spray a light coat of clear along the edges first and that way IF there's any "bleed through" or seepage it will be clear. Wait 20 minutes and then spray your second color. Good luck and welcome back to the hobby.

Thanks guys I appreciate the feedback. I’m hoping my color combo of pearl white and sublime green comes out ok. Like Miatatom stated I think I’ll shoot the pearl first, mask and use your technique with the clear then shoot the sublime green. I do have another question. I accidentally got some amber paint on the chrome of my top cab lights. I forgot how inadequate the brush that comes with the testors kit is and I will be making a trip to my local hobby shop and pickup a better set of good detail brushes. How do I remove the unwanted paint off of the chrome? Thanks guys. Mike

Edited May 17, 2020 by Peterbilt359

[Bills72sj]

Michael,

Welcome to the forum. Paint on chrome hmmm... not sure on that one. Anything that removes dried paint will kill the chrome. Someone is going to suggest you strip it and repaint it with Alclad. Since it is such a small part I recommend a MOLOTOW chrome pen. As far as two tone, I just finished one recently. (see below) Option 1: Shoot entire cab base color. Mask with the best tape you can get. Shoot base color again to seal the edges and make any bleed under the same color as the base. Paint second color. Don't forget to seal up any opening from the inside for the second color or paint may sneak around and show up around your window frames. Option 2: Do your masking with Bare Metal foil and Parafilm. Seals much better than any tape.

 

[Bugatti Fan]

Specialist art suppliers are a good source for very narrow vinyl striping in various widths and colours. Could be used as is for stripes or for fine masking. Takes much better on a gloss surface.