Painting lunchie black edition

[Boothy]

Hello guys,

I am about to start my Lunchie and am slightly confused by how to paint the shell, Obviously it comes pre coloured but its not a nice finish so will need painting.

The question is do you just paint straight onto the shell or does it require some sort of primer? I just don't see the point of it being pre coloured if you need to prime it anyway...

The only advantage I can see to the pre coloured shell is hiding marks and chips but that would not work as well if it were primed.

Also do peeps recommend Tamiya paint as I can see a few things online about using automotive paint from Halfords.

Cheers

Andy

[Shodog]

You definitely want to prime it. are you going to paint it black? Most of the time when a body comes in a color, some people apply the stickers and call it a day.

[NWarty]

And make sure you give it a good bath in warm water, soap and scrub it. It'll get rid of the mold release agents that can cause the paint to do bad things

[CoolJetta3]

Yes I agree to prime it. I did with mine and then just went over it with some rattle can black paint from a hardware store I think Rustoleum for wood/plastic/metal. A bunch of light coats until it was laid even

[Boothy]

Cheers guys, so looking like its best to prime and paint then. So would you stick to tamiya paints?as the tins are only small will I need two black tins?

[shenlonco]

What I did with my blitzer beetle molded in black I simply used Tamiya clear and clear coated the body and it came out perfect no need to paint the shell black... it darkens up when cleared.

[TongueTied]

Are you planning to use Tamiya Paints? If so, I'd really recommend you stick with Tamiya Primer (use the grey one. I think it is 87042). You can use pretty much any primer but the Tamiya one is a very good fine primer. I tend to use an airbrush when painting car shells but still use the Tamiya primers regardless. They are quite a quality primer. Although it is possible to use different paints on top of each other, it is best to stick with the same brand so if you are going to use one of the Tamiya Blacks (TS-14 85014, TS-29 85029, TS-6 85006, or TS-40 85040) then use Tamiya Surface Primer 87042. If you plan to use Halfords black, then I would suggest using one of the Halfords primers. Similarly, use the same brand of clear coat.

Yes, the Tamiya rattle cans are pretty small and are therefore, pretty pricy per ml when compared to many automotive paints. However, you've just spent over £100 on the car, why scrimp a few p on the paint when that is what everyone is going to see.

[berman]

If you are just going to sit it on the shelf and either never drive it or drive it nicely and never put it in a position where you can mark the paint when you drive it then yes sand the mold lines out, fill in the sunken divots where the opposing screw holds are and any other imperfections it might have, then primer, sand, basecoat, multiple thin coats, sand, another thin coat, multiple clear coat's, wet sand, cut, polish, wax etc

Otherwise if you are going to beat it like a red-headed stepchild, let your friends or kids drive it then just paint it with TS14 or the halfords equivalent, or clear it as another member said or just polish the black plastic and call it a day. No point having primer show through if you are going to give it a hard life