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Appliance a white, Airliner modelling


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Flirted with airlines before to no success, having another go, really want to get the knack to spraying gloss white from a rattle can. Any advice is welcome, my test subject will be a revell 787 which I shall be attempting British airways livery, so will also be spraying the blue. 

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I find it helps to warm up the can, and therefore the paint too, under a hot tap just before spraying. And I can concur, light coats, in short bursts of spray. I often put on too many heavy coats and give myself all sorts of problems to deal with! Patience is the key. Oh and micromesh!

Cheers,

Ian

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My advice, for what it's worth, is don't.  Appliance white is superb but personally I just can't get along with rattle cans which aren't designed for modelling. I know the problem is mine and I admire anyone who can get good results straight from the can. However rattle cans only have two settings - on and off - and I like more control than that. After a few bad experiences I always play it safe and decant Halfords paint into my airbrush.

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18 minutes ago, Skodadriver said:

My advice, for what it's worth, is don't.  Appliance white is superb but personally I just can't get along with rattle cans which aren't designed for modelling.  I know the problem is mine and I admire anyone who can get good results straight from the can.  However rattle cans only have two settings - on and off - and I like more control than that. After a few bad experiences I always play it safe and decant Halfords paint into my airbrush.

Fair enough, though my airbrush has only one setting and that’s totally off, maybe I’ll. but a Humbrol or Tamiya rattle can instead if they will be better 

Edited by PhantomBigStu
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On 6/26/2018 at 9:10 PM, PhantomBigStu said:

Fair enough, though my airbrush has only one setting and that’s totally off, maybe I’ll. but a Humbrol or Tamiya rattle can instead if they will be better 

As I said Stu, I totally accept that the problem is mine and others get superb results with Appliance White sprayed directly. It can be done, just not by me! If you're determined to stick with cans I suggest you either dig out an old scrap model or knock up a cheap kit and practise, practise and practise some more before you go near your 787. I recommend Micromesh polishing cloths for finishing off, starting with 3600 if there's any roughness or "orange peel" and working up through 6000 and 8000 to a final polish with 12000. Micromesh isn't cheap but it works brilliantly with Appliance White and I don't know of anything better for final finishing. Just make sure you buy regular Micromesh and not the MX type which is for metal and wood rather than paint as I found out the hard way!

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53 minutes ago, Skodadriver said:

As I said Stu, I totally accept that the problem is mine and others get superb results with Appliance White sprayed directly.  It can be done, just not by me!  If you're determined to stick with cans I suggest you either dig out an old scrap model or knock up a cheap kit and practise, practise and practise some more before you go near your 787. I recommend Micromesh polishing cloths for finishing off,  starting with 3600 if there's any roughness or "orange peel" and working up through 6000 and 8000 to a final polish with 12000.  Micromesh isn't cheap but it works brilliantly with Appliance White and I don't know of anything better for final finishing.  Just make sure you buy regular Micromesh and not the MX type which is for metal and wood rather than paint as I found out the hard way!

Never used them aside from 12000 I have for canopies, the finest grade I have is 1200, I shall investigate them 

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I always use Halfords Appliance White, not too good with an airbrush and hate the clean up! If using spray cans remember to start spraying ahead of the model then sweep across it because cans often spatter at first  and do several light coats as others have said. Very tempting to blast it in one go but it'll run.

 

Paul Harrison

 

Edited by GreenDragon
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I have used Appliance White a lot - with great results.

 

After construction/sanding I give the model a wash in warm soapy water, and when it is dry, I use Halfords White Plastic Primer as a base coat and to get a consistent white, dense coverage.

 

Following a light sanding down and clean, I apply a couple of mist coats of AW - for a gloss, smooth, decal-ready top coat.

 

BTW - Games Workshop 'Purity Seal' (since re-named) provides a satin final finish and seals in the decals.

 

Ken

 

PS - I have had a couple of problems with bad batches of White Primer (splutter and 'orange peel') - so test spray before hand - and warm the can.

 

PPS - The trick is to apply mist coats to build up the density with the White Primer - it saves on the final Appliance White coats.

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It's the mist coats that give the orange peel texture as the paint goes on too dry. You can start out with mist/light coats at first to build up the colour, but you must apply a couple of wet finish coats in order for the paint to flow together and not leave an orange peel finish. That's wet by the way, not heavy, there is a difference between the two. Use white primer and sand really smooth before painting as well.

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No, orange peel is caused by too heavy a coating, allowing the carrier to get trapped and react with the underlaying primer or 1st coats.

Putting it on too dry gives a rough, almost gritty, coat

 

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1 hour ago, Black Knight said:

No, orange peel is caused by too heavy a coating, allowing the carrier to get trapped and react with the underlaying primer or 1st coats.

Putting it on too dry gives a rough, almost gritty, coat

 

Got to disagree with you I'm afraid. What you describe is 'solvent pop' Orange peel is caused when the paint is applied too dry and not wet enough and the paint doesn't flow out and melt together into one continuous layer. It dries before that happens. That's why Mr Color do a levelling thinner which basically contains a retarder to slow down the drying time. Other causes can be pressure related, wrong thinning, poor spraying technique, or applying excessive, heavy coats of paint. If you apply nothing but mist coats you will end up with a rough, dry and gloss less finish. You must apply wet finish coats to get a proper gloss finish. Again I stress, wet, not heavy. I used to work in the auto paint trade for nearly 10 years, so I have good knowledge of most paint applications. 

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Orange peel is caused by excess spray pressure at the surface. You need to get the distance between the can/gun nozzle and the subject right. It takes practice, but as Steve says, the final pass has to be 'wet', unless you overcoat it with Klear. I've been using auto paint rattle cans for almost 50 years now, so I can get it 'almost'* right first time.

 

 

*Some cans are faulty, and I curse them.

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I'm a seasoned rattle can user. GAW is brilliant stuff and as above with Steve Noble I put on wet coats and never get orange peel or runs but it has taken practice over the years. As already said it's got to be warn though, I keep my GAW &a primer in the airing cupboard. You can really get some flawless results but be patient you have to let it dry thoroughly, not a problem in these current temps.

 

Steve.

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3 hours ago, PhantomBigStu said:

suddenly feeling very intimidated 

You'll be fine!

And if it all goes wrong or you're not happy with the finish I can recommend this stuff

https://www.diy.com/departments/home-strip-paint-stripper-500ml/254572_BQ.prd

It's brilliant, and I've had to use it quite a few times!

Cheers,

Ian

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I used Tamiya's white primer in the rattle can until recently. It covers better than a gloss white, so you don't have to lay down as many coats. It dries with an semigloss finish and can be polished, if desired. It's pretty idiot-proof, so even I can get consistent results. I've since switched to Mr Base White, so I can airbrush (I hate decanting from a rattle cans!). It covers just as well as the Tamiya and it sprays beautifully when thinned with Mr Leveling Thinner. If I need full-on gloss, I'll spray on a coat of Klear or Microscale clear gloss. Both are self-leveling, so you rarely get orange peel.

 

Ben

 

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9 minutes ago, Ben Brown said:

....(I hate decanting from a rattle cans!). ....

Ben

 

 

It's not my favourite task either but I'd far rather decant the paint and later clean out the airbrush than deal with the consequences of a botched can spray!

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46 minutes ago, Turbofan said:

You'll be fine!

And if it all goes wrong or you're not happy with the finish I can recommend this stuff

https://www.diy.com/departments/home-strip-paint-stripper-500ml/254572_BQ.prd

It's brilliant, and I've had to use it quite a few times!

Cheers,

Ian

It work on appliance white? Nothing I’ve tried to date does. But I’ve least now opened the box....

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On 6/29/2018 at 2:45 PM, PhantomBigStu said:
On 6/29/2018 at 1:59 PM, Turbofan said:

You'll be fine!

And if it all goes wrong or you're not happy with the finish I can recommend this stuff

https://www.diy.com/departments/home-strip-paint-stripper-500ml/254572_BQ.prd

It's brilliant, and I've had to use it quite a few times!

Cheers,

Ian

It work on appliance white?

Yes! I've just tried it on a bit of sprue sprayed with Appliance White and it came off in seconds.

It really is brilliant stuff!

Cheers,

Ian

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On 7/4/2018 at 6:35 PM, Turbofan said:

Yes! I've just tried it on a bit of sprue sprayed with Appliance White and it came off in seconds.

It really is brilliant stuff!

Cheers,

Ian

Good to hear, as for my attempts so far going well, two coats of white primer lightly applied, a coat of gloss white which as then sanded, and applied another coat successfully tonight as well sanding spraying the engines blue. More sanding no doubt needed 

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If I may take this slightly off topic for a moment, a quick question for any Kiwi or Australian modellers, do Repco's or Suprcheap's spray can ranges do a similar product to appliance white? I'm getting a few airliners I want to build.

Steve.

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