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Realistic white for race car.


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Hello fellow modelers,

 

I know this topic have been discussed in several topics, but I think it might make sense to create totally own thread for this.  i have my own agenda of course in this, because I will have soon three projects coming to paint phase and I want avoid toy like look in these builds. So my Lancia S4 will be soon in paint phase and I hope get it painted well. For my own eyes white paint is often too clear and shiny compared what you see in real life. 

I hope we can collect here our experiences how we have managed to do this.  I hope also that we can share experience different paint types enamels, acrylics, primers etc. For me in past preferred paint was enamel, but I have noticed that lately I have learn to use acrylics. I have generally easy access to Humbrol (I know current issues), MrHobby , Valejo and Tamiya paints and I prefer airbrush in most of time, just small details in other methods.

 

So I started my own trials in Italeri Quattro kit, not too expensive and difficult to get if everything goes wrong.  In first phase I used Tamiya grey primer and then I used Xtracolor white FS17875 very thin layers. Why I used this paint this is totally accident. It just was available. This combination is good for underneath of car and created semi mat look. This combination won't work for main body. I will add photo in this thread tomorrow.

 

I think @Windy37, @galaxyg, @keefr22, @CrazyCrank and @Bengalensis have good ideas to share. 

 

Maybe also good idea to share is  how to create period look painting. 20's, 50's, etc. Then of course we don't talk only white...

 

Happy modelling and waiting your comments!

Vesa

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If you want a a variety of whites, go to your local motor accessory shop and buy spray cans of real white paint for various makes eg, if you're doing a Mercedes, buy a Mercedes white, for Ford, a Ford white

I once did a BMW car for someone. He wanted it in BMW Navy Blue. No model paint could match that so I bought a spray can of that colour in Halfords, one of our main car accessory dealers

Just about all these car paints are acrylic with mild carriers so are pretty safe to use on plastic models

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15 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

If you want a a variety of whites, go to your local motor accessory shop and buy spray cans of real white paint for various makes eg, if you're doing a Mercedes, buy a Mercedes white, for Ford, a Ford white

I once did a BMW car for someone. He wanted it in BMW Navy Blue. No model paint could match that so I bought a spray can of that colour in Halfords, one of our main car accessory dealers

Just about all these car paints are acrylic with mild carriers so are pretty safe to use on plastic models

I did the same once. 

If you can find a auto shop that can mix paints, just give them the FIAT paint code, and let the guy mix the correct paint.

 

It is true. white is not just white :)

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I don't follow the 'scale effect'

If I want a Blue Ford, I buy the Ford Blue paint, if I want white I'll choose an appropriate white 

I use a neutral grey primer, a car paint grey primer

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At one point we had my white Suzuki Swift, my son's white Citroen C1 and my wife's white Honda CRV on the drive and they may as well have been red, green and blue. We swapped my wife's white CRV for a white Landrover and next to it the Honda looked yellow! 

Edited by Pigpen
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If you ask me, scale effect is a lie :)

In 1/350 scale, maybe but in large scale, like 1/24 or 1/12 there is no such thing. To the camera yes (but then you just get more light) but to the eye, no.

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Here are a couple of different types of white paint.

 

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This is Tamiya Racing TS7 white, which was decanted and sprayed through an airbrush.  The model is a 1:32 Citroen.

 

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The same model, but in different light it looks more creamy.

 

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This is a 1:24 Honda RA272 that's painted in TS7 sprayed straight from the can.

 

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Finally, this 1:32 Porsche was painted in Tamiya X2 white by airbrush and then clear coated with automotive lacquer after the decals were applied.  I was a bit disappointed by this white on the bare body but it looked really good once the decals went on.

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My real car is a VW Golf in Candy White and looks VERY  white ( when clean ! ) . So I bought a rattle can of Halfords Candy White to spray my models with . However,  when applied it is more a yellow white than my pure white road car is ! This is over grey primer . So now I have gone back to using Tamiya TS26 pure white rattle can and that does the job for me .  

 Gary.  

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One thing I think, for 'earlier' paints before manufacturers used basecoat & 2K, then modellers shouldn't use 2K clearcoat - it's miles too shiny for period paint. As mentioned already car paints are a good choice for 'correct' colours. And if you put enough paint on they can actually be wet sanded and polished out to give a nice finish without clear. If you airbrush, car touch up paints can also be bought in 30 & 60ml bottles off ebay & similar. Some of these also come as gloss and could possibly be polished out without needing clearcoat, but I've not tried those yet. And of course there's Gravity Spain, Zero, Splash and Streetblisters that do manufacturer colour matched paints, but they all need clearcoat.

 

As to whites, off topic, I once read that Boeing lists 49 different 'shades' of white that are specified by its airline customers! My missus currently has a Focus in 'Frozen White' which is by far the whitest white I've seen on a full size car.

 

One thing I wouldn't use on a model is 'appliance white' - which I think just makes a model look like a washing machine....!! 🤣

 

Keith

 

Edit - re primer I use Mr finishing surfacer - for a white topcoat I have a bottle of white that I've mixed a very small amount of black in to give a very light grey, as I've never been much good spraying white over a white primer - I just can't see where I've sprayed the finish coat over the primer, and a very light grey makes it easier for the white to cover in less coats. For red I use the old Ferrari trick of using pink primer. Yellow I use white, anything else I use grey surfacer.

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For my whites I've nearly always used Tamiya Pure White TS-26 if it's a race car with decals, or Tamiya TS-45 Pearl white if it's a road car. My one exception here is TS-7 Racing white, which is a "top of the milk" kind of colour and does not cover well. I would use Car Paint rattle cans if I needed a wider range, can't beat the real thing!   As for "too shiny", I've found that a couple of light-medium coats of Mr Hobby Top Coat gloss - and then left further unpolished,  are enough to seal the decals down without putting an unrealistic showroom shine on a race car.

 

 

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A bit off topic but as I have been watching British Grand Prix coverage there has been good close ups from cars in their garages . I've noticed for a while but the current trend seems to be for F1 cars to be finished in a near matt paint scheme . Red Bull  , Ferrari  and Mclaren are the main suspects . They must use a non shine polish to maintain the bodywork  , as matt paint must create some air resistance !

Gary

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I use Halfords white, either Ford Frozen white, which as noted above is very white when clean😂, or appliance white.  Either would be over Halfords white primer though I too struggle seeing white paint over white primer on white plastic!

Though this has been on competition cars so the plethora of decals probably affects the perceived colour as much as the whiteness of the paint…

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10 hours ago, Windy37 said:

hey must use a non shine polish to maintain the bodywork 

 

I've heard it's to reduce weight - ie lose the weight of the clearcoat. Alternatively years ago I read that NASCAR crew chiefs would polish the car to an inch of its life, indeed to reduce drag.

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13 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

 

I've heard it's to reduce weight - ie lose the weight of the clearcoat. Alternatively years ago I read that NASCAR crew chiefs would polish the car to an inch of its life, indeed to reduce drag.

Also years ago, BMW's racing motorcycles were turned out in beautifully polished paint to cut wind resistance, while Moto Guzzi just gave its machines a light dusting of green primer to save weight.

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12 hours ago, Windy37 said:

A bit off topic but as I have been watching British Grand Prix coverage there has been good close ups from cars in their garages . I've noticed for a while but the current trend seems to be for F1 cars to be finished in a near matt paint scheme . Red Bull  , Ferrari  and Mclaren are the main suspects . They must use a non shine polish to maintain the bodywork  , as matt paint must create some air resistance !

Gary

 

Odd as this may sound, but having noticed the matt paint appearing on a number of cars I leapt to the opposite conclusion - namely is the matt paint used to reduce air resistance. It's basically the same principle as the dimples on a golf ball allowing the ball to fly further - the slightly rougher surface of the matt paint (or dimpled surface of the golf ball) traps a thin layer of air on the surface of the car reducing friction with the air passing over. Just an idea, but with other manufacturers copying Red Bull it does seem like a reasonable theory. At the opposite end of the scale, a very heavily polished surface will also have less friction than a poorly finished gloss surface as there is less friction between the air and the surface; in the middle with an irregularly finished surface (such as one scratched or covered in gaffer tape), there isn't scope for the thin layer of air to trap on the car surface and therefore friction rises again. You can test this by running your fingers over a matt car, a scruffy car and a freshly waxed car - see which one your fingers slide over easiest and it's a similar principle with air flow.

 

As for whites, I've variously used Vauxhall Glacier White, Nissan Arctic White and Appliance White, all from Halfords. And, although white is notoriously bad to match, there is a much greater colour difference caused by the colour of the light falling on the models than there is from the paint itself.

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I must admit lately that I've been using tamiya lacquer paints and Mr color self levelling thinners and I've ended up with nice glossy coats with no need for a clearcoat after. I use LP2 for gloss brilliant white and LP39 racing white for the older cars which had the slight creamy tinge to them like the Honda 272

Ian 

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