Nice to meet you

[kustomrodz]

Hi there just joined the forum today looking forward to building some cool cars with all of you. Right now I am working on a 1949 mercury 1:25 scale from AMT. Im working on the chop right now will post pictures soon. Had a question for you guys, what is the best way to paint a car? (example whats the best sand paper grit to use and should I use odel paint or clear.) thanks for all the help.

[george 53]

Welcome Kustom, Glad you came by! You'll like it here, caz EVERYBODY's always willing to help you out. As far as painting goes, thats more like a personal preference thing.Some guys use model paint(like me) some of the better builders prefer real Auto paint. I'm lucky to be able to paint at all, so I go for the easy way out, but guys like Treehugger Dave use regular auto paint. You can tell the difference in the final product, but real car paint is too tricky for me. I'm not that great at paintin so model paint works best for me. As for what grit paper to use, I use a polishing kit, an it goes up to 2800 grit which is REALLY fine.One of the guys could probly tell you better, as painting is not one of my fortes.(things I do best)

[Farmer Wilding]

Hi there just joined the forum today looking forward to building some cool cars with all of you. Right now I am working on a 1949 mercury 1:25 scale from AMT. Im working on the chop right now will post pictures soon. Had a question for you guys, what is the best way to paint a car? (example whats the best sand paper grit to use and should I use odel paint or clear.) thanks for all the help.

Good to see you here. I'm a comparative newbie here - joined last year but only seriously started posting this week.

About painting - for preparation, I'll wash the body in mild detergent, rinse it well, sand off any mold lines, fill any low spots with putty (I use Tamiya), then spray it with Duplicolor or similar automotive primer. Then I'll find mold lines I've missed..... (repeat preceding procedure....) I'm not too obsessive at this point, because I don't show my models except on the internet. How much prep work I do depends on how I'm feeling. But you have to get rid of the mold lines. You'll kick yourself later if you don't!

For paint, I must explain that I'm a foreigner (Australian), so I don't have access to all the neat stuff Americans and Canadians do. I'll use Tamiya sprays, the new good Testors stuff if/when I can get it (my nearest stockist is 120 miles away), or more commonly Duplicolor car paint - that's the most cost-effective. I'll put the body on a stand made from a bent wire coat hanger, and spray it from about ten inches away, making a moderately rapid pass from left to right, starting about six inches before the body and finishing a similar amount past it. I find the trick is to build up the paint in light mist coats, and allow them to dry before applying the next coat. There's always a temptation to make another pass just to see how she'll look - that's when you get runs, bubbles, and other nasties. Patience is the key.

And I always clear-coat my models. I use Tamiya clear. It's vital when using newer automotive paints, which almost all work on a base coat/clear coat system where the base coat dries flat and the gloss comes from the clear coat. But a clear coat can improve the look of any model. Plus if/when you go to polish it, you're polishing the clear and not eroding the color coat.

Hope this helps!

Here are a few of the models I've painted this way.

Nissan 350Z painted with Tamiya Italian Red lacquer. No clear.

Mustang painted Tamiya Pearl Light Red, with clear coat.

Citroen Xsara rally car painted Duplicolor Ford Monza Red, with Humbrol white brushed onto the roof and sanded smooth, then polished.

'70 Torino painted Duplicolor Pine'n'Lime with Tamiya clearcoat, sanded to 12000 grit and polished with Turtle wax.

'53 Ford painted Duplicolor Walnut Glow and Nissan Sandstone Beige, with clear coat.

And here's an exception:

'51 Chevrolet brush-painted in two Humbrol colors, and clear coated. This is how I used to build my models before I discovered spray cans.

Brush painting is an art in itself. That's a story for another time...

[Harry P.]

You'll get about a thousand different answers to "how to paint a model"...

it's all a matter of personal preference. With the vast variety of paints available on the market, it's impossible to just claim that any one particular way is the "best" way to paint a model.

But as a very basic, general rule, I'd say stick with either acrylics or lacquers. They go on smoother and thinner than hobby enamels, they tend to be less problematic, they're not as prone to "orange peel", they dry much faster, and they can be polished out to a real nice shine without clearcoat. Of course you can always clearcoat too, if you prefer.

In my opinion, the much faster drying time alone is enough for me to prefer acrylics and lacquers over enamels.

[kustomrodz]

Thanks for all the help, right now im using primer to see the bumpy spots in my chop but i think ill use real paint with a clear coat over it. i will test it out on a part first to see how it goes. I will be posting my mercury soon on the workbench. If you guys get a chance check out my work at limeworksspeedshop.com we are a hotorod shop in whittier ca. thanks. we deal with mostly 32 fords but have alot of cars on our gallery you can check out. Thanks again.