foxbat426 Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 i'm fairly new to modeling and have only can sprayed enamel paints on my few builds that i have done - i have since purchased an airbrush and was wondering what is the best type of paint to use for the nicest glossiest finish. i realise there are advantages to acrylics such as no smell and freindlier to work with, but all of that aside what is the preferred type of paint for models cars. also does anyone use rustoleum or "non" hobbiest types of oil based enamels like the ones found in wal-mart or ace hardware on their cars?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lownslow Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Urethane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 You can get a nice glossy finish using just about any type of paint. There is no one "best" paint to use, it's all a matter of personal preference. You'll see that as the answers here start to pile up... everyone will tell you a different story as to which paint is the best to use, and of course they'll all tell you that the paint they use is the best! But if you apply the paint correctly, any type of paint will give you a nice glossy finish (except semigloss or flat paint, obviously!). And you can always add a gloss clear coat or use a polishing kit or automotive polishing compounds to get a really nice gloss. And as far as using "non-hobby" paints... absolutely! In fact I prefer them (DupliColor). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Urethane This stuff will wreck your lungs and kill you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lownslow Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 This stuff will wreck your lungs and kill you i have the right respirators and ventilation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I've been using acrylics and then experimenting with Future Clear . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my66s55 Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I use mostly acrylics and Future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmikevee Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 (edited) Hey John, I am not quite new at this painting, but I am no pro, I think I am becoming a dangerous amateur, and that's ok . Here is what I have learned so far..... I have been trying acrylics and future as well, but what I am finding out is the acrylics need a good primer to "bond" with, I have been trying duplicolor with very good results. Future clear is in a class all by itself, I have airbrushed and paint brushed, always good results. Future will dry very shiny, and levels out (meaning high and low spots blend together, especially if brush painted) nicely. Acrylics are very cool, I struggled with thinning them until some good person on the forum (sorry, forgot whom) told me to thin them with the blue windshield washer fluid, what a great tip! They dry kind of fast, if you try them and your airbrush tip clogs, use a q-tip with a little lacquer thinner on it to unclog quickly. I always use lacquer thinner to clean my airbrush, no matter what type of paint I am using. The acrylics dry fast, are pretty durable, polish nicely and have a lot of cool colors to try. I have only used Testors acrylics at this point, but everyone that mentions Tamiya acrylics have very good things to say about them as well. Future goes on acrylics nicely and looks good when it dries. Enamels....take a long time to dry, sometimes weeks, but when they do, very durable and thick, polish well and look great. I used them a lot when younger, but now making the move to acrylics and my favorite by a slim margin...lacquer. Enamel can have anything sprayed over it but lacquer, the lacquer is just too "hot" of a paint and will "craze" the finish in enamel. Crazing is when chemicals, in regard to painting, interact in a negative way and affect the finish of the paint. Lacquer....dries very fast, a thin paint that will not obscure detail like a thicker enamel might if not properly thinned and sprayed, and you can paint anything over lacquer, future, acrylics, enamel, Testors, Walmart, just start with thin mist coats and it will not be a problem. Lacquer looks great with future on it, polishes very nicely as well. So lacquer will accept anything over it. Acrylics....don't spray anything over acrylics but other acrylics and future, evrything else is too "hot" for this paint, and it will craze. Urethane has been mentioned, I have no experience with urethanes, but everything I have read leads me to believe two things..... 1. They will mess up your lungs and body, so proper protection is an absolute must. 2. Closest to a real automotive finish, remember the shiniest look is not always the best look if you are trying to make your models authentic . Urethanes are on my bucket list, but not just yet....... Spoons......great experiment tool....plastic, cheap as it gets, and you can try different things, including types of paints and polishes without risking a model you really like. I have sprayed a lot of spoons in the last year or so, what a great learning tool. Also, use paper to show the width and depth of your airbrush patterns, make little lines, big fat lines, try different settings, distances, and hand-speed just to see what happens. Now, this is coming from a guy that was asking the questions you are just about a year ago, and these are a combination of trial and error....but based on the good folks here on the forums, they helped me, now I am just paying it forward. Get a few jars of paint, learn how to thin and just have fun, make mistakes all day long because that is how you will learn, spray the paper and the spoons, before you know it, you will have something that makes you say "aaahhhh!!!". One more thing, no matter what you read or think, protect you lungs, those little paper masks don't do anything, get a good respirator at either a home improvement store or call around to an automotive paint store, you must protect your lungs. Hope I helped a little bit, enjoy this great place and this great hobby. Mike Edited November 3, 2011 by bigmikevee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Johnston Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 (edited) The General rule (from my perspective) is that enamel will dry glossy, and most lacquers dry flat and need a clear coat. I have seen guys spray glossy enamel paint jobs that make me drool...with no clear. They take a long time sometimes to dry... I have much better experience with lacquers. They dry fast and I always have to clear. Then I polish the clear. Lately my clear of choice is decanted Testors Wet Look clear. I used to use Urethane clear and the stuff is awesome. However, its nasty stuff. i do use a respirator for all painting, but I get almost the same results with Wet look (thinned just a little more), and I spray is ta a rally low psi. So there are a lot less fumes and it goes on smooth. The Urethane is thick so you really have to use a 25+ psi and it gets sort of foggy in the garage...even with both doors open, So I stopped...I only use the Urethane clear on Black now. Don Yost has a really good video that I hear is worth the money to buy. Edited November 3, 2011 by Jeff Johnston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruz Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Learn to use the Micro Mesh polishing system and you will gloss up flat paint if done right!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MachinistMark Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Urethane as far as most shine for least effort urethane is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Notarangelo Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I've been using acrylics and then experimenting with Future Clear . . . i aGREE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKcustoms Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I use Dupont automotive base coat for color and 2 part urethane clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MachinistMark Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I use Dupont automotive base coat for color and 2 part urethane clear. ditto. So easy it feels like cheating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperStockAndy Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I use Tamiya and Model Master lacquers. I usually use a clear coat, but with some effort it can be really shiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkman Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I have a problem for as long as I am into model cars. Real cars have a different gloss depending on the time they were made. It started with nitro cellulose paint, onto artificial resin paints from the 40s to the 60s, which isn't really that glossy, to acrylic enamels from the 60s to the 80s, and then to the acrylic basecoat/clearcoat which is still with us today. All of these have a distinctive gloss and shine to them (or the lack thereof). This is very difficult to replicate en miniature and to this day a matter of coincidence whether I achieve the 'look' I'm after or not. And many of the models I see nowadays are simply too glossy for my taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie8575 Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 From an application/appearance perspective, I have generally had the fewest problems with lacquers, especially when airbrushed. I'll use enamels, too. It depends on what color I want, what I have on hand and what my budget happens to look like at that point. Sometimes, I have to adjust my color choices to reflect my cash flow. Charlie Larkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 (edited) From my point of view, if a model shines like glass it will be a beautiful model but it won't be accurate to replicating a 1:1 car unless you're going for a showcar look. As mentioned above by Christian, there are different kinds of finishes for different eras of cars. In my estimation, the best shiny builds with gee-whiz finishes have been by Hawk312, who goes for showcar finishes. On the other hand, I think Cruz does it perfectly without going overboard. (I do not intend to imply by omission that anyone else lacks talent.) Edited November 3, 2011 by sjordan2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Joseph Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I built a lot of NASCAR models back in the early 90's and I got decent results from the hobby enamels that were prevalent at the time. I used a micro-mesh polishing kit and rubbed out the finish to what I felt was a nice shine. Since then I have been doing military and sci-fi almost exclusively where getting a perfect shiny finish isn't really necessary. Now that I am getting back into cars a little, I want to get better with the glossy finishes to replicate the look of factory paint from the 60's to today. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel, so I've been researching the paint topics on this forum for a while to learn as much as possible! I have several NASCAR bodies to use for testing when I get some time. I'm going to try some different products and see what system works best for me. I have a strong feeling I'll get my best results from basecoat/clearcoat with lacquer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edward smith Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I don't know, I look at it this way, at this scale (1/25) even the nozzle size of an airbrush is out of scale which means than even orange peel at this same scale will be out of scale when compared to the 1/1 car. I believe that the magic to a good looking paintjob at this scale is definitely the mastering of a polishing kit no matter what paint or clear you use. I agree with Skip, some modelers will really put a spit shine on a model that will amaze anyone but at least the ones I know personally always use a polishing kit, there is no other way around this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meaneyme Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I don't know, I look at it this way, at this scale (1/25) even the nozzle size of an airbrush is out of scale which means than even orange peel at this same scale will be out of scale when compared to the 1/1 car. I believe that the magic to a good looking paintjob at this scale is definitely the mastering of a polishing kit no matter what paint or clear you use. I agree with Skip, some modelers will really put a spit shine on a model that will amaze anyone but at least the ones I know personally always use a polishing kit, there is no other way around this. Agree 100% with you my friend, I know of some people that use the cheapest paint and clear out there and they can make any kind of paint look good but it takes a polishing system to do that. I also have a friend that dumps a lot of enamel clear on his paints to the point where he does really good avoiding the dreaded orange peel but there is so much paint on the model that even the panel lines dissapear, you don't want that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edward smith Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Agree 100% with you my friend, I know of some people that use the cheapest paint and clear out there and they can make any kind of paint look good but it takes a polishing system to do that. I also have a friend that dumps a lot of enamel clear on his paints to the point where he does really good avoiding the dreaded orange peel but there is so much paint on the model that even the panel lines dissapear, you don't want that. :lol: Oh yes, don't even get me started on the panel lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I also have a friend that dumps a lot of enamel clear on his paints to the point where he does really good avoiding the dreaded orange peel but there is so much paint on the model that even the panel lines dissapear, you don't want that. Ah yes... the famous "dipped in syrup" look... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotto Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Ah yes... the famous "dipped in syrup" look... This reminds me of a little story I want to tell. I am sort of starting a little club where I live with a few guys that are interested in starting one so I decided to invite my good friend Cruz here in the forum for a little airbrushing, painting and polishing seminar I scheduled in my house. One of the guys who were interested in joining but (to make a story short) decided not to show up anymore, is rambling on with me and saying, "I don't need to go through all that work, my paint jobs are just fine" A month goes by and he decides to bring in his ongoing project and guess what? The dreaded "dipped in syrup" look. :lol: One word guys, POLISHING KIT! Okay, two words but you get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meaneyme Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 This reminds me of a little story I want to tell. I am sort of starting a little club where I live with a few guys that are interested in starting one so I decided to invite my good friend Cruz here in the forum for a little airbrushing, painting and polishing seminar I scheduled in my house. One of the guys who were interested in joining but (to make a story short) decided not to show up anymore, is rambling on with me and saying, "I don't need to go through all that work, my paint jobs are just fine" A month goes by and he decides to bring in his ongoing project and guess what? The dreaded "dipped in syrup" look. :lol: One word guys, POLISHING KIT! Okay, two words but you get the idea. :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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