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bromvw

Lame Flake

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Noob question but can I use Tamiya polycarb paints on a hardbody ? I want to do a candy and metal flake paint job on a beach buggy project i'am working on . If I use Halfords hard plastic primer as the base coat can I then use Tamiya polycarb paints without any problems ????? ideally I want to use candy green and lame flake . Help please Guys . PS I have to use Rattle cans as I don't have a airbrush

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You can use it but the finish is totally different. It's always a flat so you'll need to do a gloss coat. Then it's a rough finish as well and sanding out is required. Some paints tend to not react too well to the polycarbonate ones so some testing would be a good idea as well. I've managed to pull it off a couple times but I've also made a real mess or two trying. Good luck

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You can use it but the finish is totally different. It's always a flat so you'll need to do a gloss coat. Then it's a rough finish as well and sanding out is required. Some paints tend to not react too well to the polycarbonate ones so some testing would be a good idea as well. I've managed to pull it off a couple times but I've also made a real mess or two trying. Good luck

So apply the candy green , over coat with the lame and then clear coat Dave ?

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"Candy" paint is where you spray on a base colour (usually much darker than the finish colour or even black), then overcoat that with a colour tinted clear until the desired brightness is reached. Then the flake is applied to the top of that in crystal clear coats. Then on top of that you need enough coats of clear to cover all those bumps the flake made.

Trying to do this with cans will be nigh on impossible. Possibly to do it with Tamiya colour, flat black (TS-6) or Maroon (TS-11), then over that clear red (TS-74), then the flake on that, then many coats of clear (TS-13). (EDIT... Oops didn't see the candy green, most people go red. It's TS-6 black or TS-2 for dark green, then I don't see the X-25 in a spray. Tamiya's 'Candy Lime Green' TS-52 doesn't look very 'candy' to me at all when you compare it to traditional candy applications).

I have done a similar paint finish on my 1:1 car. Started with the factory colour as the base colour (an icky grey/green), then over that I used gold pearl (made the green more goldish), then over that I put holographic metal flakes, then over that about 30 coats of clear to get it flat again. 30 coats is actually 10 sprays (3 dusting coats for each spray), and sanding between each spray. This was all using 2K (2-pack) which will dry quickly overnight with high build qualities (without a booth) and can be sanded the next day.

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When I've sprayed polycarb paints on hard plastic I've mostly gotten the results mentioned... not as smooth as normal but fine for what I wanted. Best result I got was with testers red on an Evo VII body, had to paint the spoiler and air scoop the same as the body so I just used the PC paint and it was absolutely fine, too the point you couldn't tell and didn't need any sanding.

With flake and glitter effects sanding between coats may give you problems. Best advice is to try out a test piece on scrap lexan first.

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With this going onto a hard body you'll need something similar to test it on, sheet styrene might be a good idea. Put on a white black and grey primer stripe then try your color combos on top to see what looks right. Primers up and down and colors left to right should give you an idea, kinda checkerboard with various tones to see. Some good auto paint stores will set you up with a custom rattle can or perhaps touch up auto sprays too. If you can find the right color in a single can it'll be worth it.

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