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Zero Paints woes


Sebastien

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Hi,

 

I've discovered the Zero Paint range.

I love the paint (goes smoothly through the airbrush, they got all the RAL colors...), but every time I've tried masking on a Zero Paint coat, I've found quite sizable surfaces of paint going with the tape.

I even tried applying tape on ZP primer, and on ZP primer sprayed on another band primer. Doesn't work.

Any idea of what I'm doing wrong?

 

TIA,

 

Sebastien

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Hi, Sebastien. 

 

I'm going to ask the obvious question here.... How long did you wait between the two coats? Some paints can take several days to become really "cured", even if they feel dry to the touch after several hours. I've read horror stories about old enamels which were still sticky-to-the-touch several months after they were used. 

 

The use of paint-thinners will obviously have an influence on the situation, as well.

 

Hope this helps. 

 

Chris. 

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Zero is basically automotive paint. It'll stick to plastic like crazy if it goes down right. All I can think of is contaminated surface (happened to me recently with a Tamiya kit, Mr. Surfacer was peeling from everything, solved the problem by using IPA to degrease the parts) or incorrect technique (the paint is nearly dry when it hits the surface so it doesn't bond to it). 

 

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Thanks.

So wet coat it is, and wait quite a long time before trying anything exotic.

If I've forgotten something, just honk!

 

Cheers,

 

S.

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Just as a matter of interest, I've used Zero paint and it works well.

But their primer I had a few years back was awful!

It just wouldn't stick to anything! I did tests on different plastics (Cleaned, rough surfaced etc etc) all with the same results.

I managed to paint a whole Mike Hailwood Rep with it before I noticed. Took the kit out ready for a gloss coat and literally all the paint just flaked off the whole kit.

I had to strip it right back (only took about ten minutes!) and then used good old Alclad and that worked a treat. Even with the original ZP Ducati red used.

I gave the primer to my brother to try. Same results.

Maybe they had a bad batch??

Rick.

 

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Careful with the definition of wet when it comes to Zero. This is a very diluted paint, I would dare to say it's 80% thinner and 20% paint, and it's lacquer thinner. It will definitely make a mess of styrene if you go really wet. Try it out on some scrap parts first to get a sense of how much is too much. 

If indeed the primer is an issue just bin it and go with something else. Since you're using Zero stuff I'm guessing smell isn't an issue so I would suggest the Mr. Surfacer range. 

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I'm a huge fan of their matt white paint for undercarriage and uc bays/doors. Covers really well, doesn't pool. Can't say I've ever masked over it, so can't speak on that score. I use enamels so I'm used to waiting before masking though. It does seem to dry quicker than enamels and is quite robust to handling I've found.

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If it's peeling off as you say there's only a few possible reasons. Either the surface of the plastic has not been correctly prepared. You need to lightly sand the surface of the plastic to key it. This will help the primer stick properly, you should always use a primer under Zero paints. You must use a decent primer. I use Tamiya aerosol or Mr Surfacer aerosol mostly. I occasionally use Halfords plastic primer. All three of these stick really well to the plastic and take the Zero paunts without issue. Zero primer I've tried, but I can't get it to stick. It peels off as has been described earlier. 

Once your primer is on and dry, light sanding will prepare it for the Zero paints. You need to apply light coats, never wet!! They will burn the primer and eat the plastic if applied too wet. Build up the colour, allow to dry for a minimum of 20-30 mins and then you can clear coat straight away. You don't need days of drying. Mask after clear coat. You can mask over the base/colour coat, but in the case of a two tone colour scheme I apply a light clear coat first before I mask just to seal the base coat.

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Steve,

 

Thank you very much.

Don't know what I'll do with my Zero primer bottles (when I'm wrong, I'm usually very wrong), but now I know how to use Zero paints. I think.

I'll keep you all posted on my progress with these (and then I'll do a German Phantom).

 

Cheers,

 

S.

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15 minutes ago, Sebastien said:

Steve,

 

Thank you very much.

Don't know what I'll do with my Zero primer bottles (when I'm wrong, I'm usually very wrong), but now I know how to use Zero paints. I think.

I'll keep you all posted on my progress with these (and then I'll do a German Phantom).

 

Cheers,

 

S.

No problem. They're easy to use once you master the application. If you need any more help don't hesitate to post here and I'll do my best to give you advice where I can.

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First experiment : Zero Paint Gunship grey on :

- bare plastic : failure

- ZP primer primed plastic : failure

- Mr Surfacer 1500 primed surface : yay!

Next step : multi-tone camouflage (Norm 81-like)...

 

Thanks to yall!

 

S.

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2 minutes ago, Sebastien said:

First experiment : Zero Paint Gunship grey on :

- bare plastic : failure

- ZP primer primed plastic : failure

- Mr Surfacer 1500 primed surface : yay!

Next step : multi-tone camouflage (Norm 81-like)...

 

Thanks to yall!

 

S.

I suspect the Gunship grey will stick well to the Mr Surfacer.

Bin the ZP Primer!

I did...

 

Rick.

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