Painting car bodies

[armornutii]

  Hey y'all, armornutii treading into unfamiliar waters.
    As some have seen I have a 1/12th Tamiya F-1 car. The body is molded very well and in super smooth, at first glance, black, which is the color of the car.
    My question is should I lightly scuff sand then repaint? Simply paint over? Or just run with it by clear coating after decals?
      I'm going to hooefully bookmark this for future reference however answers are much appreciated.

[406 Silverado]

armornutii NO scuffing. Wash the body with light soap and COLD water. Cold water gets rid of the suds/ bubbles quicker. Dry WELL (I let mine sit for a day in an enclosed dust free "booth" and blow all dust off. Primer coat (I use Tamiya rattle can gray primer if I'm going for a color like blue, red or black), then wet sand out any imperfections like dust or the like with 4000 grit and then working my way through 6000,8000 and then on to 12000 grits, wash the body and let dry WELL and then color coat. Repeat process for the clear coat. If there are decals I apply those and then clear coat once everything is dry. What clear are you using Perry?

[armornutii]

   I probably will be using Ammo by Mig Gloss out of my airbrush. I don't think I have a rattle can of good ol fashion Testors Gloss Coat.

[keavdog]

its an interesting question. Tamiya plastic is amazing. I clearcoated this porsch as like you described it was perfect.



Thinking about doing it on this McLaren.

[406 Silverado]

Jun 4, 2023 17:30:12 GMT -5 armornutii said:

   I probably will be using Ammo by Mig Gloss out of my airbrush. I don't think I have a rattle can of good ol fashion Testors Gloss Coat.

Good ol' fashioned Testors Gloss Coat is crap anyways IMO. If you want a really good gloss coat...go for the Testors Wet Look Clear decanted and shot through a Badger 350 AB. Now THAT stuff....is da bomb!!!

How could I have forgotten?? You can go over the plastic with clear as John stated. Just make sure it's smooooooooooooooooooooooooth! I did this with my Challenger T/A and it turned out amazingly well.

Testors Wet Look Clear....decanted and shot through the AB.

[armornutii]

  Awesome info guys THANK YOU! Cars are an enigma to me...totally love them and have some specialty kits in my stash yet muffing up the finish holds me back.
     Guess when the time comes, refer to my book marked thread and forge ahead. Any info added will be greatly appreciated, thinking of it as an electronic liberary.

[406 Silverado]

Jun 5, 2023 10:26:30 GMT -5 armornutii said:

  Awesome info guys THANK YOU! Cars are an enigma to me...totally love them and have some specialty kits in my stash yet muffing up the finish holds me back.
     Guess when the time comes, refer to my book marked thread and forge ahead. Any info added will be greatly appreciated, thinking of it as an electronic liberary.

When you get to it let me know and I'll share my method with you. Looking forward to seeing you build an automotive subject Perry.

[tcoat]

I just recently started attempting shiny cars and have experimented with a few paints.
The secret of gloss seems to be to simply not have it dry too quickly and to be very, VERY clean.

Wet coat of simple Tamiya acrylic thinned with Tamiya lacquer thinner airbrushed at low pressure. Clear coated with brushed on Future. Picture does not show how smooth and shiny it really is.



Tamiya lacquer airbrushed. Three coats. Taniya gloss clear lacquer airbrushed.



Tamiya gloss black lacquer, airbrushed, no clear coat.


Tamiya rattle can, clear coated with airbrushed lacquer.



So... my final plans are:
Metallic finishes will be rattle cans with airbrushed lacquer
Old school stock paint will be Tamiya acrylics with no clear or lacquer depending upon desired shine
Modern or "fancy"  finishes will be airbrushed Tamiya lacquers with clear coat. 

I guess what I mean is that there will not be one method I use for everything but it will be more subject related. 

[deafpanzer]

Great painting results I can see here

[406 Silverado]

Jun 5, 2023 17:06:02 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Great painting results I can see here

Ya know you're gonna end up building an auto.....right?

[deafpanzer]

Oh yes, heavily weather and rusted just like one of those post apocalypse vehicles! LOL

[406 Silverado]

Jun 5, 2023 20:37:27 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Oh yes, heavily weather and rusted just like one of those post apocalypse vehicles! LOL

I'll be glued to the set for that one Andy.

[tcoat]

Jun 5, 2023 20:37:27 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Oh yes, heavily weather and rusted just like one of those post apocalypse vehicles! LOL

Or the stuff I am doing for my "Real Cars I Used to Own" Series.
Not all vehicles are super shiny pro street.

[deafpanzer]

Now you are talking... I like them!