How do I spray these details?

[Milo]

I’m missing a lot of spots with a spray can, is there a way I can get better coverage, especially in those detailed spots?

[Bainford]

This is one of the places where an airbrush really shines. Spraying vents, gills, scoops, and details with good coverage of everything, but without overloading with paint, is a no-brainer with an airbrush. To accomplish this with a spray bomb requires developing some careful techniques, but will still always be a compromise. 

[Len Woodruff]

Are you are spraying the parts while still on the sprue? If so you will probably need to remove them from the sprue and mount them to something like an alligator clip or a piece of wire so you can move them around to get full coverage.

I use rattle cans alot for detail parts using the above methods.

[Beans]

If you are talking about the body of your car, are you using something to hold it that you can turn and manipulate while you paint?  I ended up taking a piece of pvc pipe about 15 inches long and cutting two lengths of metal coat hanger than I bent in half and stuck down the pipe fare enough to stay.

I use the four ends to support the body while I hold and turn the holder as I spray.

For airbrushing I drilled a hole in a piece of 2x4 that the holder stands in and use that as a stand.

[bobss396]

I find that deeper details may be conducive to using an airbrush... yeah I know. I have 3 or 4 of them that are used only for shooting nail polish...

[Milo]

2 hours ago, Len Woodruff said:

Are you are spraying the parts while still on the sprue? If so you will probably need to remove them from the sprue and mount them to something like an alligator clip or a piece of wire so you can move them around to get full coverage.

I use rattle cans alot for detail parts using the above methods.

 

Edited January 5 by Milo

[Milo]

1 hour ago, Beans said:

If you are talking about the body of your car, are you using something to hold it that you can turn and manipulate while you paint?  I ended up taking a piece of pvc pipe about 15 inches long and cutting two lengths of metal coat hanger than I bent in half and stuck down the pipe fare enough to stay.

I use the four ends to support the body while I hold and turn the holder as I spray.

For airbrushing I drilled a hole in a piece of 2x4 that the holder stands in and use that as a stand.

I use an old spray can with some double sided tape 

[TarheelRick]

From those pictures it appears as if the paint may be a bit too thin. Of course there is nothing you can do about that with a spray can except maybe buy another can and see if that makes any difference. As the others have said the best results are achieved with an airbrush.

[JollySipper]

You may need to prime your parts first, Milo man..... You'll get better coverage that way.  

[Skip]

17 minutes ago, TarheelRick said:

From those pictures it appears as if the paint may be a bit too thin. Of course there is nothing you can do about that with a spray can except maybe buy another can and see if that makes any difference. As the others have said the best results are achieved with an airbrush.

That is exactly my thought, you could work on the environmental factors affecting this paint. Like - Making certain that the recommended spraying temperature is within what is recommended on the can. Warming the paint in the can before it is sprayed. Laying down a decent primer coat before the color coat is applied. Exercise as much patience as you absolutely have in you to lay down thin, smooth coats of paint.

[Muncie]

I agree with these. Definitely too thin.  May also need to shake the can a bit longer to get the paint and thinner well mixed. Basic rule is give it a minute after the agitator ball starts making noise.  Seems like a long time, but that is usually what it takes.  Spraying too close may also cause the same effect.

 

[Len Woodruff]

It needs to have primer. 

[Vintage AMT]

And white primer at that..

[Milo]

1 hour ago, JollySipper said:

You may need to prime your parts first, Milo man..... You'll get better coverage that way.  

That is my primer layer.

[Milo]

28 minutes ago, Vintage AMT said:

And white primer at that..

 

32 minutes ago, Len Woodruff said:

It needs to have primer. 

 

1 hour ago, Skip said:

That is exactly my thought, you could work on the environmental factors affecting this paint. Like - Making certain that the recommended spraying temperature is within what is recommended on the can. Warming the paint in the can before it is sprayed. Laying down a decent primer coat before the color coat is applied. Exercise as much patience as you absolutely have in you to lay down thin, smooth coats of paint.

This is my primer coat. 😭

[JollySipper]

What I might would do then, is to 'sand' what's on the parts with Comet and a tooth brush until it all looks dull, then give it another coat or two of primer..... The scrubbing will give what is on there some 'tooth', so your next coats won't pull away from the edges so bad......

[Skip]

32 minutes ago, Milo said:

 

 

This is my primer coat. 😭

OK, then I think I may know what the issue is. How long did you shake the can before you began spraying the primer? Now that you said this was your primer, it sort of makes sense, it looks like you got more solvent than you did pigment.

Primer and many flats are really bad about the solvent and pigment separating in the can, (the longer they sit on the store shelf the more separated they get). They will stay right where they are unless you aggressively shake them into suspension! Sometimes you have to vigorously shake the can until you even start to hear the agitator marble break loose and rattling around inside the can. Keep in mind that as soon as you hear the marble rattle it's just broken loose from all the wet pigment in the can. So, you're going to have to keep shaking the can just about until you think your arm is going to fall off, then switch arms!  A good screen before you buy the paint is to shake it up to see how long it takes to hear the marble rattle around, if it takes 10 - 20 seconds, it's a pretty fresh can, buy it! 

I normally vigorously shake a primer rattle can for somewhere around 3 - 4 minutes after I first hear the marble rattling around in the can. From about that point, the 3 - 4-minute agitation starts. Shaking the can that long is going to do a couple of things for you, 1. Ensure the Pigment is fully mixed into the solvent.  2. Continued agitation continues building internal pressure inside the can, you'll get more spray time out of it that way.  3. Make sure that the paint/prime is warmed with Hot tap water, this helps with the spray flow and accelerates the flash time; this alone is going to help with that thin appearance.  Once you have a system that works for you stick with it until you have a process dialed in so you can repeat it over and over.

Edited January 5 by Skip
Fixing Autocorrected Stuff

[Vintage AMT]

What primer are you using?  I had some Rust-O white that did the same thing, no amount of shaken fixed it..

Edited January 5 by Vintage AMT

[av405]

It should be a rule that when people start posts like this, they provide information on what type of paints, primers, etc were used and the painting conditions/location. Pictures to start off wouldn't hurt.

[Exotics_Builder]

Rather than piecemeal feed the details, why not start again and describe where you are at and what the base color of the model is?  It is beginning to seem that you have a dark color plastic (perhaps blue) that you applied a white primer to?  Or?

[Milo]

3 hours ago, Vintage AMT said:

What primer are you using?  I had some Rust-O white that did the same thing, no amount of shaken fixed it..

Tamiya fine surface primer. I would never use rustoleum

[Can-Con]

8 minutes ago, Milo said:

Tamiya fine surface primer. I would never use rustoleum

Your OK Milo. That stuff does that to me too.

You just need to spray on a couple light mist coats and then a wetter coat. 

In spite of what some say, no paint covers in one coat unless it's over the exact same color.

Just mist on another coat or two of your primer and spray your color coats, again, a couple mist coats first, letting them dry for a while between coats and then do your wet coats.

[peteski]

Yes, you need to build up some thickens to that primer coat by using few mist coats, then spray heavier coat.  It might be a bit difficult to do that in those deep recesses because the spray can nozzle sprays rather wide pattern.  This is where an airbrush comes in handy when you can control the paint flow and the air pressure.

[SfanGoch]

If you would consider using an airbrush, being that it's more economical and allows for better and more precise coverage than a spray can, I'd recommend Badger Stynylrez acrylic primers. The white primer is excellent. Opaque coverage achieved in two light coats and it dries smooth and rock hard.

Edited January 5 by SfanGoch

[Milo]

I would use an airbrush in an instant if only I had fundings for a compressor.