painting tips hard bodies.

[shenlonco]

Guy's got any pointers on painting tamiya hard bodies/

I mainly been painting lexan and only a few hard bodies only I would like to see what you guy's are doing with the hard bodies.

THANKS

[gazwilts]

Guy's got any pointers on painting tamiya hard bodies/

I mainly been painting lexan and only a few hard bodies only I would like to see what you guy's are doing with the hard bodies.

THANKS

use tamiya paints! generally the paint lays down thinner keeping the detail of the shell.

[TongueTied]

I don't use Tamiya paints as I don't like their rattle cans and the bottles spray through the airbrush okay but not great.

I'll run through how I would go about it. This may be teaching you to suck eggs and if so, I do apologise.

If you can find it, get yourself some plastic sheet made from the same material as the hardbody. You can usually find these at a your LHS or at a model train shop. Decide on the types of paints and the treatments you are going to use and use the sheets of plastic as test pieces. Build up the paint on the test piece just as you would the car. It may not tell you if your plastic will react with the paint (ie slightly different plastic may react differently) but it will give you a very good idea if you are going to have a problem (use a primer such as Tamiya Fine Primer and you should be fine). It will however, let you know if you are going to run into issues with reaction between the different primer/paints/clear coat used. It will even show you the actual colour you will end up with which might change your mind on your colour scheme.

First, fill in the imperfections with modelling putty such as the Tamiya 2 part putty. Rough up the surface with 600 or 800 grit paper. Then prime it. The Tamiya primer is very good. Start with a VERY light coat first and then thicker coats. Never spray a heavy coat as that may start to drip or run on you and then you will have to sand it all the way back to the plastic. I typically then spray a base coat of colour over the whole thing but some people would start masking at this point. Once you have that first coat, lightly wet sand with 800 or 1200 grit paper. Clean it all up and then start to mask. There are all sorts of pros and cons to the different types of mask material and I believe there is even a thread arguing this issue. Personally, I use them all! A good painters masking tape will give you nice straight or continuous lines. Tamiya make a good painter's masking tape. Frisket it great for transferring designs and covering large areas. Liquid Mask is good for curves and difficult corners. If you use Liquid Mask, put at least 4 coats on so it is reasonably thick. Don't let it blob on, even brush strokes work best. If you have a complicated design, you might want to visit your local Graphic Design House and get them to cut out the pattern in vinyl. Vinyl makes a great mask material and when cut with a vinyl plotter, you will end up with a great template mask for your design. Use new #11 xacto blades in your knife and use lots of them. They are cheap and a dull blade will cause you all sorts of problems that will take lots of time to fix. Depending on the paint you are using, some will have a transparent paint; not Clear Coat. If your paint does have a transparent paint, it is a good idea to spray a coat on particularly over the edge of the mask material you have put down. This will seal the edge of the mask and ensure there is absolutely no bleed through. If they don't have a transparent paint, spray a coat of the same colour as you are painting over; that will have the same sealing effect. Since you are just trying to seal the edge of the mask, it can be a light coat and doesn't need to cover the entire area. Now, you are ready for more colour. Spray light coats and be patient, letting the paint flash off fully or dry between coats. If you can handle the wait, leave it a few hours in between coats. Due to work and 2 small kids, I will often only get one coat on a day (at best). When you have finished your colours, carefully and slowly remove your mask material. Now, take your 2000 grit wet sand paper and carefully and lightly rub down the body. Make sure you don't sand too hard or you will thin out or sand through your paint work. What you are trying to do here is get ride of any dust that stuck to the surface or small imperfections along the mask lines. Next, it is time for clear coat. People often think this isn't necessary but it really is. This seals the paint and gives a nice hard protective layer over top. Clear also gives you that really high shine and deep colour effect you see on full size cars. Make sure you have tested your clear coat and paint combination on the test sheets. Some Clear Coats are really brittle and some will cloud unless sprayed correctly. Some will just plain react and completely ruin your paint work that took you days to create. For example, I just love the result you can get from Schmincke Clear but it reacts with most paints (even their own paints!) so it is therefore next to useless. For me, the ones that work best are the cheap and cheerful ones you can get from your local automotive store. Start with a VERY light dusting of clear. Build up a few coats of clear and there you go, your done.

Hope that is of some use.

Cheers,

[shenlonco]

Thanks for the pointers guy's.

Do you guy's spray clear coat over the stickers you put on thick enough so they don't have edges or do you just put the stickers on last?

I know with slot car bodies i cleared over the stickers.... but on a rc i am afraid the paint will get so thick it will just flake off?

THANKS

[HunterZero]

Golden rule of painting - Paint hides nothing. The more time you spend preparing, filling, sanding and priming the body, the better the end result will look. Priming is a good way to find small imperfections in the bodywork. Use this stage to correct issues, and spray more primer.

I find Tamiya's TS rattle cans are quite good, but they do spray down paint quite fast, and quite a bit can be wasted as overspray. It does take a bit of practise getting the spraying method down. Decanting the paint for use with an airbrush works really well.

When spraying directly from the rattle can, it helps to warm up the can and paint by putting it in some very warm water first. Swirl the paint around to help it warm up. Make sure you dry the can off before you spray, you don't want water dripping on your work.

As said above, lay down a couple of dusting coats first, don't try to cover the whole area with paint in one go. Build up the paint in a few light coats. The final coat should be a wet coat, where you spray until the paint just glosses up, then STOP.

The hardest paints to spray are white and clear. The Tamiya pure white and clear seem to be quite thin paints, it's very easy to get sags and runs.

Polishing several thin layers of clear coat is the best way to get a perfect looking finish.

When painting yellow or red, note that these paints are quite translucent, and the colour of the primer underneath influences the final shade.

When painting more than one colour, let the previous colour cure for at least a week before you even think of going near it with masking tape, preferably more. The masking tape will damage lacquer that is touch dry but not properly cured. The same goes for putty, make sure it's fully cured before painting it with lacquer, as it may react.

The weather makes a big difference too. Avoid painting when it's very cold, or too hot and dry.

The vinyl stickers are quite thick. You can spray clear over them, but you will usually end up with a step at the edge of the decal. I put the decals over the clear.

- James

[super gripper]

Just follow this ...............

http://www.rcracer.com/general-articles-13...stic-bodyshells

[TongueTied]

I mentioned earlier in this thread how Schminke make a really great clearcoat but it reacts with almost everything. Well, I have been using cheap as chips Krylon clear mostly and had a few test pieces lying around. I wanted to do a test of a decal paper and clear. I didn't have much left in the can so rather than go out and get another can, I thought I'd just try the Schminke again. So, I had a test piece that was cleared with Krylon and I put 2 layers of Schminke Clear over it. I put down the decals and then shot some Schminke Clear layers over it. Rubbed it down and shot a few more. So far, no reactions and that amazing Schminke clear is coming through. The colour depth, the clarity, is fantastic. I was half expecting to be disappointed by their clear again but it is great. So, I can recommend using Schminke clear as your final clear layer over a cheap clear. Obviously, test first but if you don't get reactions, this will allow you to use a great clear coat as a final layer on your project. Highly recommended.

[bromvw]

I'am not sure what country your from but i've used Halfords ( UK aftermarket partsts store ) spray cans on Hard bodys with no problems at all . Thinking about it a lot of real size car parts these days are made from ABS or similar so it makes sence .

[bromvw]

>

[shenlonco]

Thanks guys.

I used tamya and there clear coat and it came out beautifully.

[TongueTied]

I'am not sure what country your from but i've used Halfords ( UK aftermarket partsts store ) spray cans on Hard bodys with no problems at all . Thinking about it a lot of real size car parts these days are made from ABS or similar so it makes sence .

Where I'm from and where I am are 2 very different questions. I'm from Canada but am living in Malaysia by way of the UK and soon off to Australia. Where I am there is no Halfords or at least there is but they aren't the same as the UK. I have found that most automotive clears work really well and the Krylon is an example of bog standard clear and it works just as well as any other automotive clear I have tried, actually better than most. However, they really are nowhere near as good as the Schminke clear which is why I mention it. If you see something done with the Schminke, you will understand. Schminke makes fine art paints, oils, acrylics for artists so when they make a high gloss clear, it is going to jump! And boy does it ever! However, I found it to be a bit picky about what is under it so when I discovered that a base clear using the Krylon was enough to allow the Schminke to be applied on top, I got on with clear coating with the Schminke and I am really glad I did. I'll post some pictures soon, before the packers descend and pack away the Scorcher shell I've been working on.

[mr crispy]

I'am not sure what country your from but i've used Halfords ( UK aftermarket partsts store ) spray cans on Hard bodys with no problems at all . Thinking about it a lot of real size car parts these days are made from ABS or similar so it makes sence .

+1 to this.

Ive used Halfords and other automotive spray cans for years on my hard bodies with good results. They dry very hard and protect better than any spray paints aimed at modellers and they usually work out cheaper than model spray cans.

Main suggestion I'd add is for light colours its well worth priming the body with a white primer or matt spray and let it fully dry before adding colour.