Is prep work important?

[ismaelg]

Hello,

Here is an example on how important prep work is. The biggest mistake you can make is doing a lousy job on a particular step hoping for the next one to compensate and cover it.

In this particular case, I did some minor body mods to convert the headlights from a 2000 to a 2003. I did not even look at the color jar until the primer was perfect. So I sanded and primed.... and sanded and primed... and then, sanded and primed some more until it was as smooth as possible.

The results? FOUR color coats to the body, spoilers and chassis with only this much paint used, no color sanding needed and ready for clear.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,

[MrObsessive]

I hear ya Izzy! It's one of the reasons I'm spending sooooo much time on the bodywork with the Turbine Car.

While it would probably look decent to the average viewer right out of the box, I'm looking at durability as the doors will be opened and closed a bunch of times. Not to mention some fit troubles that will be sure to bite me at the last moment.

Last thing I need is for the door or fender to fall off in the middle of a demonstation! :oops:

What we're trying to do is reduce the cumulative effect of bad prep work.

The extra work is a PITA at times..........but well, well worth it in the end!

[Mr. Can Am Garage]

The older (read that as more experienced) I get, the more time I spend on prepping a body.

[Zoom Zoom]

How true. We all learn at some point that paint will not cover mistakes or unfinished bodywork/sanding. Nice work on the 996!

[cruz]

I'd rather use my airbrush to shoot primers than the color coats themselves, that's how important the base and foundation are for a good final paint job. :wink:

[bobss396]

Prep work is very important as many paints today are quite thin don't hide flaws like the old enamels would.

I always use a lacquer grade primer, but always use Duplicolor on the final passes as it goes on flat and thin, if you need to do more sanding/filling it will show up.

Bob

[Modelmartin]

The more prep you do on every aspect of the model the better it will all turn out and the final assembly will go real fast and easy. I am building a mild custom 59 El Camino gasser and spent months prepping the body before I even layed on the first coat of primer. Of course, a reissue off of a 40 year old AMT tool presents a different task than a Tamiya molding. When I flattened out the ripples on the body I lost some of the door lines. Over the years the flow of plastic wore down the door lines in the mold which project into the mold cavity. To restore(!?)the door lines the mold guy grinds and blends the material away on each side of the line thereby raising the sides out on the molding. I spent hours with flat files and sanding sticks to fix this one up. OY!

[Harold]

Prep work is probably the most important step. There's no point doing all that work and having things like mold seams and sanding scratches all over the place.

[LDO]

No. Prep work is not important. Just lay on more color.

What? Somebody had to say it. Just kidding, of course.