Painting on top of clear?

[Raguvian]

Sorry for more threads, but I was just wondering what the order of painting is.

I need to paint the taillights and side markers on my Tamiya Eunos Roadster (Miata) and have already painted the car blue. I haven't cleared it yet. Should I paint the markers first and then clear, or do it the other way around? Does it really matter?

Thanks!

[Harry P.]

Doesn't really matter.

[jbwelda]

well yeah it does matter, as it explained in an article recently in I think Scale Auto magazine. if you paint them after you clear, any slop can be polished out without disturbing the color coat. but if you paint them directly on the paint and you smear a little that needs cleaning up, you are likely to destroy the color coat doing so and have to strip and repaint. also if you touch them up with a sharpie, and spray clear, the sharpie will run and ruin everything. after clear, no problem touching up with sharpie (or for that matter using a red one to color the lenses).

I would personally recommend painting them after the clear, first paint them chrome and then some transparent orange or red or whatever they are supposed to be. after that dries, a drop of Future on the marker will seal them and give them a good gloss.

jb

[Harry P.]

You are way overthinking it. And overcomplicating it. Model building is supposed to be fun, not an advanced college course.

Paint the marker lights with acrylic. Mess up and wash it off, and try again. Either before or after clear. Makes no difference.

[Raguvian]

Thanks guys, I just wanted to see if the paint would even stick to the clear. I guess I'll just clear it first and then paint the details to finish all the painting in one step.

BTW what exactly is Future?

[jbwelda]

Future is plastic floor wax, its actually called something else these days "with Future shine". search around here a little and you will see threads about it. fantastic stuff.

Harry, not in my experience, thanks anyway.

jb

[Ace-Garageguy]

Thanks guys, I just wanted to see if the paint would even stick to the clear. I guess I'll just clear it first and then paint the details to finish all the painting in one step.

BTW what exactly is Future?

"Clear" (other than floor wax) is just paint with no colored pigment in it, so adhesion isn't really an issue. Paint will stick to other properly-prepared paint.

If you do the lights with acrylic, I would suggest you do them after clearing (if you use paint clear), as like Harry said, using acrylic, you can just wash a mistake off the car and do-over.

[Raguvian]

"Clear" (other than floor wax) is just paint with no colored pigment in it, so adhesion isn't really an issue. Paint will stick to other properly-prepared paint.

If you do the lights with acrylic, I would suggest you do them after clearing (if you use paint clear), as like Harry said, using acrylic, you can just wash a mistake off the car and do-over.

Got it, thanks! After some research into the floor wax, I think I'm going to go that route since it seems to be more forgiving. I'll just paint the lights and details now and then seal it with the Future later on.

At $7/can, the Tamiya clear is kind of expensive since it'll only last 2-3 cars. The floor wax seems to looks as good or better than the actual paint clear and I wouldn't have to sand and polish it either.

[jbwelda]

>I wouldn't have to sand and polish it either

YMMV

jb

[Raguvian]

I have another paint related question, and rather than constantly spamming the forum with new threads, I thought I'd post it in this thread.

While painting, I noticed a bad looking spot:

After the paint cures (I was going to give it a week), can I sand it with 2000 grit then 5000 grit sandpaper, before applying the Future? I wouldn't mind a few errors in the paint (which I'm sure there is) but this one is pretty noticeable so I wanted to fix it somehow.

Thanks again!

[DynoMight]

I have another paint related question, and rather than constantly spamming the forum with new threads, I thought I'd post it in this thread.

While painting, I noticed a bad looking spot:

After the paint cures (I was going to give it a week), can I sand it with 2000 grit then 5000 grit sandpaper, before applying the Future? I wouldn't mind a few errors in the paint (which I'm sure there is) but this one is pretty noticeable so I wanted to fix it somehow.

Thanks again!

You could try to sand the imperfection out of the paint, and then tape that area off and spray right back over it, and the should work.

Tip: You can polish Future with a used Laundry Sheet, you know, the ones you put in the dryer.

[Ace-Garageguy]

The floor wax seems to looks as good or better than the actual paint clear...

Beauty is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder.

I've seen Future look very good, especially some of Harry's examples, but to my eye, it's just no match for properly done paint-clear, sanded and polished.

But my opinion is that most of the time, I've seen it applied over grainy or orange-peeled paint in an attempt the get a no-effort finish, and that's what it usually looks like...to me. Your opinion may vary.

You could try to sand the imperfection out of the paint, and then tape that area off and spray right back over it, and the should work.

Tip: You can polish Future with a used Laundry Sheet, you know, the ones you put in the dryer.

Well, if you've shot enamel and you break through the paint while sanding, and then shoot more enamel, you will almost certainly get lifting and wrinkling around the sanded edge...even if the paint has cured well into it's recoat-window. Ask me how I know this.

[Raguvian]

Well, if you've shot enamel and you break through the paint while sanding, and then shoot more enamel, you will almost certainly get lifting and wrinkling around the sanded edge...even if the paint has cured well into it's recoat-window. Ask me how I know this.

I think that's what happened to me. There were some bits where the white underneath was showing through so I taped the body off and sprayed it and I think it lifted and wrinkled like that.

I guess I'll just leave it be and chalk it up as a learning mistake. It is my first kit, after all.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sorry to hear that, but it's happened to us all. It happened to me on an engine just the other day, so I stripped it and started over. That's always an option.

[Raguvian]

Sorry to hear that, but it's happened to us all. It happened to me on an engine just the other day, so I stripped it and started over. That's always an option.

I'm almost out of that paint unfortunately (and Tamiya paint is expensive), and I still have the hardtop to spray.

Would 2000 or 5000 grit sandpaper help at all or would that hurt it more? I might as well leave it as a reminder to not sand down the lacquer again. It's not like I don't have more kits to build! I have 7 on the way to me right now.

[Krazy Rick]

Check your messages

[ZTony8]

If your affected area is small you can possibly sand and polish it out without too much drama.If you sand through to primer or bare plastic you can re-spray a larger area(but be careful where you mask-Tamiya paint tends to soften tape adhesive and you may end up with a bigger mess than you had at first.If you sand through on a very small area it's possible to just brush apply some Tamiya lacquer and it will blend in very well(I have first hand knowledge of this having had to do it more than once) and leave virtually no trace of where you did the repair.