Stuggie Wuggie.......

[pt109]

Thanks for the comments guys......

I re-sprayed the basecoat and it looks fine now, still not sure what caused the cracking/peeling....maybe it wasn't fully dried yet? All the wheels look fine....got good coverage on them.

Some areas looked much better before I re-sprayed so not sure....scratching my head.

Thanks for the comments, Paul

[SMJmodeler]

pt109: A few thoughts on your paint problem:

#1: Did you check the tip of the airbrush needle? If it has any sort of barb it'll spray the paint in small speckles... which is what I'm seeing in the photos.  A gentle sanding on high grit sandpaper will fix it.  Be sure to twist the needle as you lightly drag it across the paper.

#2: A thorough (dis-assembly) cleaning of the airbrush may be due.  You could have a air clog somewhere.

#3: I use Tamiya acrylic paint all the time and mix it with 91% rubbing alcohol and have never needed to go the bigger $$$ Tamiya thinner route so I highly doubt that's it.  Your paint might need to be thinned even more and crank up that psi to 40.

Hope that helps.

[desertrat]

paint looks to dry, i always use Halfords own screen wash as a thinner,works for me,, glad you,ve got it sorted, 

[adt70hk]

Jan 6, 2016 12:46:48 GMT -5 desertrat said:

paint looks to dry, i always use Halfords own screen wash as a thinner,works for me,, glad you,ve got it sorted, 

Now I've heard it all!

[desertrat]

no , really, its spot on, and even smells nice!!!

[pt109]

Jan 6, 2016 9:54:19 GMT -5 SMJmodeler said:

pt109: A few thoughts on your paint problem:

#1: Did you check the tip of the airbrush needle? If it has any sort of barb it'll spray the paint in small speckles... which is what I'm seeing in the photos.  A gentle sanding on high grit sandpaper will fix it.  Be sure to twist the needle as you lightly drag it across the paper.

#2: A thorough (dis-assembly) cleaning of the airbrush may be due.  You could have a air clog somewhere.

#3: I use Tamiya acrylic paint all the time and mix it with 91% rubbing alcohol and have never needed to go the bigger $$$ Tamiya thinner route so I highly doubt that's it.  Your paint might need to be thinned even more and crank up that psi to 40.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the input SMJ......

1  The needle looks fine actually, I haven't had any issue with the air brush before. Probably operator error....

2  I haven't used the air brush that much so I doubt that's an issue.

3  40 psi sounds high but yea I probably go higher maybe 30 psi?

Painting another coat didn't resolve the problem as I thought so maybe I'll hit it with another coat tomorrow after a thorough drying.

I'll paint the bottom hull so it doesn't show if it doesn't work out.

Thanks for the comments...Paul

[vindicareassassin]

Looks to me like the paint is to thick and splattering rather than spraying.

I use nothing but Tamiya paints for my base coats myself and I use Isopropyl alcohol 95% with 5% water and flow aid mix to thin it.

Also how much you add is important, I mix all my paint to be sprayed to the consistency of skimmed milk, I have to really as I'm using a Badger 100 LGF that would clog instantly if I didn't, but even when I was using a medium needle brush I still used to mix to the same consistency.

I'll add that I'm not sure super thinned paint, where you use water or screen wash as the thinner, would work quite so well as if you use an alcohol based thinner.


ATB

Sean

[SMJmodeler]

pt109:  40 psi is high but I thin the paint to about 50%-50%...or sometimes even thinner.  Try some different ratios and psi's and see if you "solve it". Good idea to spray under the hull!

Another little trick for future reference:  I "lubricate" the airbrush by spraying a small amount of straight 91% rubbing alcohol before and after EVERY paint session.  

[pt109]

Now I'm wondering if the problem isn't just the fact that I never used primer....
Panzer Gray from Tamiya as my primer....oh well tomorrow I should know more.

No biggie as it's all a learning curve any way.

Paul

[vindicareassassin]

Should of said, I always use Tamiya paints, through my AB, as a primer and undercoat, again, thinned as before, using a couple of mist coats to build up colour, then just touch in missed areas by brush when its all dry.

Should of also mentioned last time that I spray at around 15 to 20 psi, 25psi as an absolute maximum, and thats on my clear coat acrylics that are water based so I don't thin them as heavily.

If I spray using a higher psi than that, being a braille scale modeler, I'd blow the model clean off my turn table!!?


Sean

[afvfan]

Just my $.02, but to me, it looks like the paint is drying before it gets to the model. You might try thinning it a bit more and spraying at a lower pressure.

[pt109]

Jan 8, 2016 4:00:20 GMT -5 afvfan said:

Just my $.02, but to me, it looks like the paint is drying before it gets to the model. You might try thinning it a bit more and spraying at a lower pressure.

Good point AFV....it's been kinda cold here lately although I've been spraying at ambient temp.

BTW, anyone know what Tamiya Base is used for? Is it primer?

It dries to a white color but out of the bottle it doesn't look much like paint....?

[pt109]

Jan 7, 2016 9:34:54 GMT -5 SMJmodeler said:

pt109:  40 psi is high but I thin the paint to about 50%-50%...or sometimes even thinner.  Try some different ratios and psi's and see if you "solve it". Good idea to spray under the hull!

Another little trick for future reference:  I "lubricate" the airbrush by spraying a small amount of straight 91% rubbing alcohol before and after EVERY paint session.

I thought you said 91% thinner? 
I do spray alcohol through the air brush after spraying....thanks.


I find about 70 % thinner usually is quite good.

Paul




 

[afvfan]

Jan 8, 2016 20:30:59 GMT -5 pt109 said:

BTW, anyone know what Tamiya Base is used for? Is it primer?

It dries to a white color but out of the bottle it doesn't look much like paint....?

If it's the same as "regular" paint, like for a house, base is just a carrier. You mix your tints into it to make custom colors. It is not a primer.

[SMJmodeler]

pt109: I use the term 91% isopropyl rubbing alcohol and thinner interchangeably.  

I've used the inexpensive rubbing alcohol for a long time and have been pleased with the results.  I use it as a thinner for the paint, a cleaner AND a pre/post spray airbrush lubricant. Sorry for the confusion.

70% rubbing alcohol works in-a-pinch but I prefer the 91%.

[pt109]

Thanks for the responses guys.

I sprayed another base coat last night, but it still looks the same. Sprayed at 30 psi, not sure anymore what the issue is as some parts of the kit are fine? I'm done, now on to camo stripes....I will see how it all looks with the weathering.

Stay tuned...same bat time, same bat channel

Paul

[desertrat]

Jan 29, 2016 22:25:46 GMT -5 @groucho said:

I recently finished a STUG as my "come back" to the world of scale modelling. I can't explain it, I just love the little suckers!

Great work! Keep it up!

first time i've heard stugs called that lol... got to agree with you though,

[pt109]

Hopefully I'll have an update on the camo soon, been too cold here to paint most days....but, it will be done.

Been working on some figgies and other stuff as well.

Stay tuned guys and thanks for any and all interest....

Paul

[jsteinman]

That happens when the paint dries in the air before it hits the surface. You may need to add a retarder, or Tamiya's thinner which contains a retarder. Regular alcohol does not have a retarder and may actually be causing this problem.  In the summer when humidity is higher, this usually won't happen, but as it gets colder outside humidity drops and the straight alcohol is evaporating faster then the paint can move.  I also agree, 40 psi it sky high.  I usually shoot at a max of 15 and close work at 5.  The problem can also occur if you hold the airbrush too far off the work surface.  Lowering the PSI will allow you to move closer.

[pt109]

Thanks for your input John, that's about what I figured....but I'm still not sure why sometimes it doesn't happen, and the gray coat went on ok.

I've used alcohol in the past with same set up and never experienced this problem....I still think it might have been a little colder than before as I've had no problem in summer conditions.

Paul

[pt109]

Hello Fellow Modellers!

Been awhile since my last update, but here it is....first coat of camo, and I had to remove the side skirts since they got damaged removing the masking tape...boo hoo.

You can see the marks from where they were but I'll clean those up before final weathering.

Enjoy the pics....












Hope everyone has a great holiday....I got friday off so maybe I can post some images of other stuff I'm working on as well.

As usual, thanks for any and all support/interest, Paul

[wbill76]

Nice to see this one resurface!

[Leon]

Nice start on the camo Paul!

[deafpanzer]

Beautiful camo work... well done!

[desertrat]

looking good so far, nice to see you back.

[pt109]

Small update:














A few photos of the final camo, a couple pics were darker but look ok?  On to detail painting, touch-ups.

Thanks for watching!

Paul

[Leon]

Camo looks great Paul!

[pt109]

Much appreciated Leon...another on going project, the cousin of Stuggie Wuggie, Stuggie Wuggie IV.







Still a long way to go on this one though, just thought you might like a couple of pics to look at heheh.

thanks for watching,   Paul out!

[Leon]

That is looking good Paul! Love that PE zimm.

[flmlm]

Camo looks great!

Regards
Mike