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Matt's tips for painting cars


cmatthewbacon

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Hi Matt 

 

ive been building on and off for some time  mostly due to product availability I do not have the zero plants available and used what I can get. Can you give me some tips using Tamiya paint what would be the best for painting the body our local store stocks enamel acrylic and a very limited on the spray cans from Tamiya. Please help  

 

Great tutorial by the way 

 

Thanks 

 

Neill 

 

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Thanks, Neill! I’ve never tried using regular Tamiya Acrylics (the ones in a glass pot) for bodies. If you can’t get the range of TS-xx sprays and primer locally, I’d try the closest auto store. First, Halfords white or grey (or brick red) PLASTIC primer, lightly wet sanded smooth with 1200 grit wet and dry. Follow with light “spatter” coats of regular car touch up paint (don’t try to do wet coats) until solidly and evenly coloured. Let dry and cure in the airing cupboard a few days, then polish with Meguiars “Scratch-X”(also to be found in Halfords, with wax and shampoo). As with all methods, best to try on a junk model or better yet plastic spoons before applying to your latest WIP...

 

All the best,

M.

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  • 3 months later...

Excellent tutorial and it's helped me a lot!

 

I do have one question though. How do you remove 2K Gloss? Say I wanted to strip back to the plastic again, what's the best way of doing it?

 

Thanks...

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Thanks @Jasonb13. 99% Isopropyl Alcohol will take off the 2K. A soak overnight is enough if it’s freshly sprayed, otherwise, leave it for a few days or a week. It comes off in big sheets in my experience... though I’ve only done it a couple of times, both when red colour from the plastic bled through the primer and basecoat and discoloured the clear...

best,

M.

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Me again @cmatthewbacon

 

So unfortunately I've had to go down the IPA route, and I've just put the part in to soak. It's a clear plastic part, no paint/deals or anything like that, so all I'm removing is the gloss. I'm gonna leave it for a couple of days, but once I take it out, what's the best way to clean it up? Will it just need a rub with a cloth and the Gloss will come off, or will it need something harder than that?

 

Thanks!

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@Jasonb13 It should just peel off, or fall off in sheets. For that kind of thing, I usually cut off a matchstick at an angle or shape a lolly stick/craft stick/tongue depressor into a sort of wooden “chisel”. The sharp edge does its job, but the wood’s soft enough not to mark the plastic.

best,

M.

PS: generally I wouldn’t use clear over transparencies...

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Cool, thanks @cmatthewbacon, the toothpick is a good idea! And you're right, I did some testing with transparencies and the 2K fogged them up, but not if I put a 'normal' gloss on first to protect the transparency, then it works perfectly. Thanks for getting back to me, I'll leave the part in the IPA for a couple of days and see where I am then...

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7 minutes ago, sroubos said:

For the Tamiya route, when do you apply the decals and how do you seal them in? 

 

Always apply your decals onto the painted surface. I allow a minimum of 2-3 days for the decals to dry before hitting them with clear. Of course, you don't have to seal decals with clear coat. You can apply them onto the paint and leave it at that. Many race cars don't have the sponsor logo's clear coated over. The one and only reason I clear coat decals on a model is purely to protect them.

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43 minutes ago, sroubos said:

I’m sorry perhaps I missed this, but what type of clear coat do you apply for the Tamiya method?

@sroubos for solid colours I don’t, just polish them with the Novus. For metallics, I’ll finish with a few light coats of TS—13 just to make sure the polishing doesn’t disturb the metal flake and make it uneven.

best,

M.

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