Is prep work important?

[ismaelg]

Hello,

  You may have heard me repeatedly saying that my philosophy is that you don't go to the next step until your current step is so good that the next is almost not needed.  The biggest mistake is to think the next step will cover your mistakes. Clear will not cover a lousy paint job.  Paint will not cover for a lousy primer job and so on.  Another reason is that you will need far less material.
Here is an example:

Look at this bottle of 2.5 ounces of paint: 


That's how much paint I have used to paint not one, but 2 complete model cars.

This one back in 2007:1/24 Porsche 996 GT3

More info here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/4453-ladies-and-gentlemen-presenting-my-weekend-racing-toy/


and this one: Granted it is 1/32 but it uses almost as much paint as a 1/25


By the way, I bought that paint in 2007. It is 16 years old. The bottle picture (and the Trans Am) is from 2/13/23.

That is no accident. That is careful planning and not until I am 101% satisfied with the primer I consider applying color. 

Same thing with clearcoat, primer, bodywork etc.

Hope this helps illustrate the point.


Thanks,
Ismael

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by ismaelg

[Street Rod]

I’ll totally agree with you on this. If you cut corners it will show up in the finished product. The three most important steps to great results in anything:

 

1. Preparation

2. Preparation 

3. Preparation 

 

[Joe Nunes]

And the most important tool: patience.  ?

Joe

[StevenGuthmiller]

2.5 ounces is actually a lot of paint.

I generally don't have any difficulty painting a 1/25th scale body, (inside and out) with around 1/2 ounce, unless I'm painting chassis, interior and engine bay parts with the body color, then 3/4 of an ounce will usually suffice.

 

That's not to say that prep is not important.

It of course is.

But the paint itself, and what you're spraying it over, is usually more of a barometer of how much will be required than how the model was prepped.

A more transparent color is likely to require more coats than a very opaque one, and even then, the number of coats that will be needed to achieve the depth of color that you're looking for will determine the amount of paint that will be used.

 

I could get by with less paint as a rule, but will usually err on the side of caution and spray a coat or two more than I might actually need to be certain that the color is where I want it to be.

How much paint I use on a particular model is only limited by how much of it I have on hand.

I never concern myself with conserving paint because, A: I almost never paint 2 models the same color, and B: There's always more paint. 

 

My last 1968 Coronet project took exactly 1 oz. of paint, as the entire engine compartment, wheels and chassis over spray also used the body color.

 

 

 

 

Steve

Edited February 14, 2023 by StevenGuthmiller

[Bugatti Fan]

Prep is let's face it boring! Right from keying the surface, washing/degreasing, priming before that all important top coating and/or polishing is done. But, you just cannot get away from doing it if you want a successful paint job.

There is plenty of advice on this forum about preparation for anyone starting out and individual modellers develop their own preferences in line with their own experiences over time further down the line.

[Chariots of Fire]

I agree.  Preparation is necessary but that begins right at the beginning after opening the box.  Not just for paint but for all aspects of any build.  Try covering up a blemish or poor gluing, not removing parting lines, etc and it won't matter much how much prep goes into the rest of the project.  I try and think of each task as just as important as the next and make all of the build a fun thing to do.☺️

[bobthehobbyguy]

Yup. Prep work is the foundation for every build. Especially if you intend to enter contests or craftsmanshipship is important to you. The basics are the most Important along with making sure every piece is perfect.