How to Remove "Ghost Trim"

[Ramfins59]

I've had good luck preventing "ghosting" of mold lines and sanded off emblems by brushing some liquid cement like Tamiya's liquid glue, or Tenax, over the sanded areas. Let the glue completely dry and then resand with a very fine grade of sandpaper. Then clean the body and spray with a good primer-sealer, then paint as usual.

[BirdWatcher]

I seem to have an affinity to stubborn mold lines as well. I tried using a fine point sharpie on both sides of the mold line so i can preserve the body panel and if i sand carefully, the sharpie serves as a guide. When i think I'm close, I'll go over where the mold line used to be with the sharpie again and sand one more time. It helps me identify high and low spots kind of like using guide coat on a smaller scale.

[bad0210]

What coarse grits do the best without taking too much off the bodies shapes.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Just the standard Testors sanding film pack, or equivalent, works fine if you ask me. They have grits ranging from, coarse (150) to ultra fine (600). I usually start with medium (280) or 150 depending on how bad the mold lines are. Steve

[bad0210]

Thanks! These mold lines on the new mustang snap kit are a pain.

[Eric N.]

Richard beat me to it! Sand like normal, then brush some "plastic weld" over the area. The mold lines might come back-maybe not. Then sand again.

Works for me.

Eric

[bobthehobbyguy]

I agree I have seen the liquid glue recommendation before. Has worked for me.

[Erik Smith]

I agree I have seen the liquid glue recommendation before. Has worked for me.

Yup. Keep sanding and applying glue until it ghosts no more. Some take one or two, some more.

[Sledsel]

What is the best way to avoid ghosting? I just looked at a painted kit that needs to be finished and I see where I filled 2 holes and where the hood cut out should be. 

Little disgusted since it is foiled and ready for assembly

 

Edited September 22, 2015 by Sledsel

[Casey]

Type "ghosting" into the advance search function box, then select "topics" and you'll get many hits.

[Sledsel]

Type "ghosting" into the advance search function box, then select "topics" and you'll get many hits.

Cool... I'll give it a shot. Don't have much luck with the search box usually

[StevenGuthmiller]

Lots of primer.

 

Steve

[Foxer]

Cool... I'll give it a shot. Don't have much luck with the search box usually

Better to paste " site:modelcarsmag.com ghosting " into Google ..

[Cato]

Airbrush Future on completed body work then primer. Future is an excellent barrier.

[crazyjim]

I've tried Future, Tenax, and primer/sealer over areas where I've removed door handles and other items.  Future and a final coat of Duplicolor primer/sealer seems to work the best for me.  By the way, I only shoot HOK paints.

[av405]

After you're done with body work, apply some plastic cement and then re-sand the area. This should eliminate the memory.

[MGL]

Cool... I'll give it a shot. Don't have much luck with the search box usually

Ever since they redid the site the search function has worked fine for me.

[Sledsel]

Well, I sanded the primer down to the plastic on my 68 Shelby hood. The hole outline is my "ghost" I had filled the bottom with super glue before I even started. I may use some plastic cement on the top then re-sand

[Cato]

Well, I sanded the primer down to the plastic on my 68 Shelby hood. The hole outline is my "ghost" I had filled the bottom with super glue before I even started. I may use some plastic cement on the top then re-sand

Cement will only texture the surface which you don't want. When you sand that, you're making your piece even thinner.

Just shoot Future on the bare plastic. Only one step and you have nothing to lose. Then prime.

[Sledsel]

Cement will only texture the surface which you don't want. When you sand that, you're making your piece even thinner.

Just shoot Future on the bare plastic. Only one step and you have nothing to lose. Then prime.

I'll give it a shot..... THX

[Sledsel]

This what I want?

[Cato]

Yep. That will last you 100 years.

[Sledsel]

Thanks, was just reading the post in the next forum about it.

 

[Skip]

Funny thing is that when I first started using rattle can lacquer based automotive primer on models this was never an issue.  I highly suspect that the underlying issue is the styrene / plastic being used in the models we are getting now.  If you read some of the articles Hank Borger and others penned for Car Mod l and Model Car Science where they were using lacquer paints and primers there is literally no mention of "ghosting" "crazing" of the plastic.  Totally frustrating when using the same techniques used for years and having poor results from them, the purple pond is your friend in this case!

Apply the primer in thin coats and allow it to fully cure until the next thin coat, (dehydrator works well for this).  Build thin coats up until you have enough to level he surface off then sand with 800 -'1000 grit.  If the color coat has any lacquer in it at all then you will need to slowly build your color coat up until there is sufficient color coat to polish out.  Same goes for clear coat, mist the coats on until you have a decent amount of clear built up, then if you need to you can probably get away with a heavier coat.    It wouldn't hurt while you are at it to apply a thin coat of future or acrylic spray between plastic and primer.

The issue is that the lacquer in the primer is staying volatile because all the solvents are not fully evaporated off, once the surface flashes off then the solvents are trapped.  The ghosting we see is probably the result of the solvents trying to find a way out, can't get through all the paint so it tries to go through the plastic swelling the plastic and we see ghosting.  If you try to lay down a heavy coat of primer, unless you get really lucky on top of the ghosting you will see crazing of the plastic.  Ive always heard this condition called "Lacquer Burn" which is a good term for it because it can cause the plastic itself to become brittle.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Skip
autocorrect

[StevenGuthmiller]

Funny thing is that when I first started using rattle can lacquer based automotive primer on models this was never an issue.  I highly suspect that the underlying issue is the styrene / plastic being used in the models we are getting now.  If you read some of the articles Hank Borger and others penned for Car Mod l and Model Car Science where they were using lacquer paints and primers there is literally no mention of "ghosting" "crazing" of the plastic.  Totally frustrating when using the same techniques used for years and having poor results from them, the purple pond is your friend in this case!

Apply the primer in thin coats and allow it to fully cure until the next thin coat, (dehydrator works well for this).  Build thin coats up until you have enough to level he surface off then sand with 800 -'1000 grit.  If the color coat has any lacquer in it at all then you will need to slowly build your color coat up until there is sufficient color coat to polish out.  Same goes for clear coat, mist the coats on until you have a decent amount of clear built up, then if you need to you can probably get away with a heavier coat.    It wouldn't hurt while you are at it to apply a thin coat of future or acrylic spray between plastic and primer.

The issue is that the lacquer in the primer is staying volatile because all the solvents are not fully evaporated off, once the surface flashes off then the solvents are trapped.  The ghosting we see is probably the result of the solvents trying to find a way out, can't get through all the paint so it tries to go through the plastic swelling the plastic and we see ghosting.  If you try to lay down a heavy coat of primer, unless you get really lucky on top of the ghosting you will see crazing of the plastic.  Ive always heard this condition called "Lacquer Burn" which is a good term for it because it can cause the plastic itself to become brittle.

Bingo!

There's really no mystery here.

You just have to make sure the plastic is "sealed" before shooting any hot paint over it.

Even Duplicolor primer will craze styrene if you spray it on too heavy.

Several thin coats of primer, followed by a couple of thin color coats & then a couple heavier ones will seal it up tighter than a drum. I usually shoot my clear coats fairly heavy because after 4-5 coats of primer & 4 coats of color, the clear will generally not penetrate it to the plastic

No magic elixirs are necessary.

 

Steve