Paint and primers

[m408]

Model shop paint cans are way over priced, at lease in my mind. I keep seeing people refer to "wally world" paints. I assume they are refering to Walmart. Are other sources, like OSH, auto parts stores, etc. workable? Do they have to be plastic specific? I know not mix enamals and laquers, but how about brands? Krylon and ??? etc.

[bobss396]

I try to avoid mixing brands myself. It takes some experimentation on scrap parts if I have doubts, but well worth the the effort.

I find that most people get themselves into trouble painting when they don't wait for one coat to dry, then they clear coat over it and terrible things happen. I'll use Krylon paints once in a while, not sure about any of the 'Mart paints. Duplicolor and Plastikote touch up paints are a good deal and go on nicely. They have the best spraying cans in my opinion.

Bob

[Guest Davkin]

I beleive you can get away with using just about any paint over Plastikote automotive primer, same thing with Duplicolor but I prefer Plastikote. Most of the time you can spray any paint over a laquer. Most of the automotive touchup paints such as Duplicolor and Plastikote are laquers. The cheap paints most seem to be talking about at Walmart are the Color Place and Krylon. Those are enamels, so you have to be sure you aren't going to be using a second color or clear over them that is a laquer. In any case, when trying new paint test it out first, especially when using it in conjunction with a different brand or type. I like to use plastic spoons for testing since they are usually made out ot styrene as well. I've found that hobby paints are usually a lot more finnicky about mixing and matching brands and types than the cheap hardware and auto touchup paints. I tend to stick to laquer for most of my painting and have used everything from custom mixed Dupont, to Plastikote to Pactra R/C paint to Tamiya TS sprays with rarely a problem. In fact I've mixed Plastikote automotive touch up paint with Tamiya TS spray or Pactra R/C paint to get the exact color I wanted. When you get into the enamels and acrylics however they are often not as tolerant.

David

[crispy]

I've been using Plasti-Kote or Tamiya primers exclusively, but then again I usually use lacquer paint as well.

I do have some Cobra Colors primers that I use on occasion. Again, lacquer based.

Chris

[bobss396]

I had too many weird things happen with Krylon primers. I have a heavy hand with my paints and Krylon primers don't respond well to such abuse. I'll use some of their colors on race car chassis as it will take a beating for handling when test fitting parts. Their Ultra Flat Black is pretty good stuff.

Bob