Is prep work important? Part 2

[ismaelg]

Hello,

Here is another example of how important prep work is: The color I'm using for this car is not as opaque as the blue I used in the GT3. It is more translucent. This means it will take more paint to properly cover the surface evenly.

Before even thinking of color coats, I rescribed the panel lines. Look at the panel lines (doors, door handle, weatherstrip, roof, hatch, hood, bumpers etc) This body already has 6 coats of color, and will get some more, before clear. I have many things to worry about, but loosing the panel lines to paint buildup is not one of them right now.

Thanks,

[Zoom Zoom]

Yellow is the most difficult color to deal with IMHO, so prep work is most important when painting yellow. I had so much trouble w/panel line washes in white/yellow cars that I started using a .005 black pigment liner pen (disposable technical pen) on the panel lines between color coats, but scribing the panel lines deeper is another solution, whether or not the panel lines are detailed any further. I'm surprised how weak some of the engraving is on the Cayman.

Ismael, have you noticed the odd placement of the corner lamps on the Cayman? For some reason they've offset the lamps which should line up w/panel lines, but they don't. The taillights are also dangerously close to not lining up w/the panel lines. From experience, it's important to fit all headlight/taillight lenses to any Fujimi body before painting and before final assembly, often they require a good amount of tweaking to fit properly :roll:

[BIGTRUCK]

Just painted a Supra chrome yellow...might just be me, but this is twice now on two seperate kits I had to remove the paint and opt for another color....it lays down nice but any place like door handles and scoops that have slight base grooves is where I have problems..

[jbwelda]

i used to have problems with yellow but two things have seemingly cured that:

a) i spray a base of gold over primer but under the yellow. seems to make it look a lot more opaque with less paint

and

tamiya yellow rocks.

[Olle F]

i used to have problems with yellow but two things have seemingly cured that:

a) i spray a base of gold over primer but under the yellow. seems to make it look a lot more opaque with less paint

and

tamiya yellow rocks.

I had the same problem with Testors yellow enamel, it wouldn't cover, it pulled away from the panel lines and just misbehaved in general. My solution was to spray the body with flat yellow (kinda like tinted primer), which seems to cover much better. Then I gave it a single coat of gloss yellow to get a nice finish. Didn't take more than two thin coats of dull and one coat of gloss, so the paint build-up was minimal.

[Modelmartin]

And the coolest part of doing all that prep work is that you save at least that much time down the road because you aren't correcting a bunch of problems that occurred because of poor prep and everything just goes smoother anyway. Funny thing is I have never had any problems with yellows but then I airbrush everything!

[ismaelg]

Ismael, have you noticed the odd placement of the corner lamps on the Cayman? For some reason they've offset the lamps which should line up w/panel lines, but they don't. The taillights are also dangerously close to not lining up w/the panel lines. From experience, it's important to fit all headlight/taillight lenses to any Fujimi body before painting and before final assembly, often they require a good amount of tweaking to fit properly :roll:

Yes Bob, I noticed the odd corner lamps. Even in the box art they show lined up with the panel line. I want this to be a "quick" OOB build so I didn't bother correcting them. Initial test fit of the tail lights seems to be OK but I'll double check.....

Thanks,

[SpreadAxle]

I only painted 2 models yellow in my time. I used Testors bright yellow both times. I like that shade. One was a Revell HOT ROD magazine series '69 Yenko Camaro, and the other was Monogram's 1/25 scale Kenworth areodyne. On the truck cab and sleeper, I noticed that the yellow pulled away from a lot of the small details. Trucks have lots of rivets in their construction, and these were molded to the truck's body. I never could get it solved, and I ended up stripping it and painting it as an Allied Van lines tractor since it's molded in orange anyway. As for the camaro, it took to the Yellow a little better, but I know I've had nicer paintjobs than that one. It ended up having some of the issues the rest of you mentioned. Thanks for sharing the tips. I hope I can solve that rivet poblem now. White does it to me too, where the paint pulls away from the rivet head.

[m3m]

i thought i was the only one to have problems with yellow, no matter how i did it, it never looked good. when u guys say"pulled away" do u mean it did not cover the lines and cracks etc. or what? i will have to try your tricks thanks jeryd

[bobss396]

Primer is essential under yellow paint, I know some people don't use primer on their bodies. I find that a flat white primer works well, a tint added to it would help I'm sure and will have to try that.

I also agree with airbrushing which gives you more control and you can put the paint where you want it. Personally, when I airbrush anything, I go around and hit all the edges, panel seams, hinges, recesses, etc with the first pass.

Bob