Silly question to prevent silly mistake

[Biker]

All, firstly I apologise if this is in the wrong place but I spent ages in the tips place and got nowhere.

 

I am going to start building an X-Craft S/M, this is the first kit I have attempted in a few years and it is ostensibly matt black, now the quandry I have is, when I built using matt black enamel in the past, during handling it always ended up satin, which was fine in certain circumstances but the texture change only happened where it was handled so it became patchy.

 

Is there a way of preventing this? Please bear in mind you are talking to a relative novice.

 

Also I am going to attempt a camouflaged superstructure to try and replicate the X-Craft in Op Gambit, so which types of paint are incompatible? as I was thinking about using a car spray rattle can for the hull colour.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

27 minutes ago, Biker said:

when I built using matt black enamel in the past, during handling it always ended up satin, which was fine in certain circumstances but the texture change only happened where it was handled so it became patchy.

 

Is there a way of preventing this? Please bear in mind you are talking to a relative novice.

 

Firstly there are no silly questions, only inquisitive idiots (I jest!)

 

That's grease from your hands getting into the micro-texture of a matt finish. Black will show it unforgivingly. My advice would be to mount the model soon after painting and don't handle it. If you must, consider gloves.

 

27 minutes ago, Biker said:

Also I am going to attempt a camouflaged superstructure to try and replicate the X-Craft in Op Gambit, so which types of paint are incompatible? as I was thinking about using a car spray rattle can for the hull colour.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

The answer here is fairly long winded by the safest answer is to stick to the same type of paints. You don't need to, but the key thing is that whatever is already on is fully cured before you apply something different on top. Be very VERY careful using aerosols on top of anything else as the propellant solvents in aerosols are very aggressive and can attack many kinds of paint. Enamel on top of acrylic or vice versa is absolutely fine provided, as just stated, that the paint already on the model is fully cured first. For both types, that takes longer than when they're touch-dry.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Biker, I've only ever done two very small 1/700 subs, usually I do surface ships, some waterlined but most full hull. While building the ships I screw them to a block of wood or MDF, screws coming up from underneath into the hull. This gives me something to hold on to so I don't have to handle the model itself. Once completed I attach full-hull models to a smaller piece of MDF as a display base. This display base I paint black, which makes it quite discrete in my display cabinet, but I acknowledge black may not be the best in your case with the X-craft (I assume you mean the type that attacked the Tirpitz?) I HTH. Regards, Jeff.

[Bugle07]

One tip I'd give when doing a search is  Google it with Britmodeller before whatever it is your looking for, X Craft in this case.

 

You'll find all the relevant topics there quicker than searching on this site.

 

Some very good builds there, covering a lot of the questions about the paint schemes used.

 

Geoff 

 

 

[Biker]

Thanks for those replies chaps, most helpful, so I think I'll use an auto rattle can satin black, leave it for a couple of days then use acrylics for the camo scheme,

As there are only 3 other colours in use I might even run a trial with both types of paint.

 

Can anyone recommend acrylic over enamel or vice versa?