Anyone for model painting 101?

Hobby Town USA has a lot of good paints, made by Testors, in pretty much every color

 

Take the paint off with paint stripper.If you use model paints you may not have to
take the paint off.Just sand it down with fine sand paper.A prime coat is also good.
Use spray cans if you can get them for your first projects.Car paint can also be used on metal models if you remove the paint.You can also try building a plastic kit .You wont have to strip the paint off.Plastic does not like car paint to much.Tamiya also makes spray paints.Most better hobby shops carry them.

Tom Tanner/SD

 

Stripping it of paint: Theres some stuff called Aircraft remover. Its very strong, and you can use it over and over, but never use on plastics or it will melt right in your hand. Warning it strips paint very fast and you need to wear protective gloves and glasses with this stuff in a well ventilated room. (1:18 and smaller)

Airbrush or Spray can: I would always use an airbrush before a can of spray paint. I got mine at harbor Freight a few years ago, and it was pretty cheap.

Paint: Kyosho paints are my favorite but some of the testors paint works really well.
A quick spray of black paint is good enough if you want to primer it, but its gonna depend on what colors you use.

Those are a few things I do, but some may have better ideas.

 

http://www.thebestemployee.com/forum/showthread.php?t=100500

http://italianhorses.net/Tutorials/tutorials.htm

 

Strip the paint to bare metal as noted above. Then lay down several, 3 - 4, coats of primer. I use Tamiya's acrylic laquers & find them to be super. Do not mix paints - not even brands. Enamels & laquers do not mix. Once you've got good coverage of primer, then you can wet sand with 2000 paper. It's better to lay down several thin coats than one heavy coat of paint. Take your time - don't rush. For lighter colors, use white primer. For darker colors you can use a light gray primer. The color coats are also done lightly. After the color is solid, then you can wet sand. More coats, more wet sanding...take your time & build it up gradually. You want the finish to be smooth & without blemishes. I use a polishing system that has cloths with grades 2400 - 12,000 for final sanding/polishing of the color coats. It will look like glass when you're done & that's what you want on a model. The quality of a paint job on a model car is probably better than on a real car because the size is so reduced - the slightest error becomes a major flaw. Most importantly - have fun. Don't get frustrated. I just stripped the primer off of the hood & doors of a Lusso that I'm working on because the first color coats looked awful. I started all over again. Oh well...that's part of the game.

 

Bump
The Italien Horse Tutorial is excellent.
I'm still pretty horrible at painting, but at least one side typically looks good now.

 

I believe this "paint 101" subject has been discussed here numerous times. Some things that I learned the hard way.
1.Tamiya paints are NOT the best thing for diecast models.
2. You don't have to necessarily strip to bare metal
3. Yes you can mix paints and brands. Clear uretane coat can go over pretty much anything.
4. With enamels and lacquers you can be ok as long as the enamel is applied over the lacquer and not the other way around.
5. When sanding primer using 2000 grit wet sanding is an overkill that will take 3 times longer for no apparent reason and with no
difference in the end result.
6. You don't need a lot of money or special equipment for quality results if you put passion in it.
A lot of advise given on this thread applies in certain cases, like 1:43, but is irrelevant in 1:18. People can give you hundereds of techniques and "rules" but it takes practice. After few tries you will find out that you either have it or you don't.

 

I agree with a lot of what lucky says, but for a Burago I would strip that paint off because the factory paint is so bad.

For a really easy time simply go to the nearest auto paint or accessory shop and have them mix an aerosol tin of whatever Ferrari colour you want using the Ferrari paint code. While there buy an aerosol of either grey or white undercoat, and if it is a metallic finish you will need a clear lacquer aerosol as well. Modern aerosol are acrylic paint in nearly all cases, so if you want to take the plastic look off the interior or chassis and engine etc you can add a can of matt or satin black, silver etc. These will be OK over bare or undercoated plastic.

Make up some wooden blocks or make wire coat hangers into handles for body and doors etc (double sided trim tape is ideal for sticking components to wooden blocks)and go at it as if you were painting a real car. Undercoat and look for imperfections, but don't go mad, you are better off rubbing down a top coat as this will show up problems much better. First two topcoats should just give the solid base colour. After a days drying somewhere warm rub down with 1200 grit wet'n'dry for a smooth surface and careful not to rub away at edges. Then you will need five or six topcoats for solid colour (maybe three for metallic), all applied 'wet', which is when the paint self levels or pools but doesn't run. Numerous passes with the aerosol will get you to that stage, but that is only one coat, you'll need to do it another five or so times, on each component. Allow a 20 minute drying time between each full coat. The paint will dry down an awful lot, and at first you will question putting so many coats on. After a few days drying you can clear coat a metallic with three or four wet coats, or for a solid colour cut back any orange peel with 1500 grit and polish starting with T Cut or another cutting compound, then finish with a regular car polish on a very soft cloth. Then put the model back togther!

I wouldn't use specific model paints for any model, and an airbrush is totally unnecessary.