Hard body paint question

[lentner3]

Just a quick question. Is it necessary to use a primer on hard bodies if you have lightly sanded the body. Or should you do both?

i am painting my first body and this time I have done both but unsure if it was necessary. I have use a generic plastic primer and plan to rub it down once dry before adding my colour. It is only a Madbull shell so using this as a learning shell.

[gravetxt-1]

You have done the right thing only thing I will say if you are using primer you do not need to sand the body before applying. What is essential though once applying primer you will need to smooth the primer by sanding it down nice and smooth.

Remember prep is everything with spraying the top coat you spray on will reflect what is underneath smooth surface is essential

[racer1]

I don't typically use primer on bodies unless i'm doing a  restore where I have had to sand down an old body and there might be some old paint remaining here and there. 

That being said I do recommend that you lightly scuff each and every body you paint and more important you sand down the bodies to make them straight and smooth. The MadBull body is pretty straight right out of the box but needed a little help here and there.  Both of mine had a large lump in the roof from molding.  The sides that lead back to the wing were pretty straight but the top of the rear wing itself had tons of waves in it. A few minutes spent with a some 220 on a flat sanding block took the waves out then followed that up with finer grits until smooth.  I typically go up to 600 grit. 

If you ever build a Grasshopper or a Sand Scorcher you can consider these steps mandatory as those bodies are horrible out of the molds. Maybe it's my back ground in real automotive by wavy panels make me crazy...

After that it's a good wask with Dawn dish soap then let air dry.  Wipe with Rubbing Alcohol and paint. 

 

 

[Shodog]

Definitely use primer.  Otherwise the paint pulls away from the edges of the body lines.

 

[max69vk]

An alternative to primer is a clear plastic adhesion promoter, I tend to use this if I'm painting the body the same colour as the plastic itself i.e. If painting a wild willy shell green. The only reason for this being that if the paint does happen to get chipped it doesn't notice as badly as when there is primer shining through from underneath. 

Now if I'm doing a shelf queen, it's specifically plastic primer, then filler primer, then regular primer before the paint goes on. Each coat gets nipped back with 2000 grit wet and dry sandpaper to get rid of any imperfections.

90% of any good paint job actually lays in the prep work underneath the pint itself.

[racer1]

One other quick tip for painting hard bodies.   Turn the body upside down and be sure to paint the inside as well. Nothing worse than peering into a window and seeing white plastic after you just completed your nice paint job. 

 

[lentner3]

Ok so here it is the first hard body painting failure. But I’ve learnt a few lessons. Patience ring the main one. Also don’t try and use 10 year old paint from the garage and get some good low adhesion masking tape. M expecting a better result on the next one but learnt a lot. On the plus side I like the colours on this.

 

[lentner3]

Still wet from first coat of clear

[Shodog]

Patience is key.

Use a new can of quality paint.  Shake the can vigorously to mix the paint and Warm it in warm water before spraying soitgoes on smoothly. 

Let the colors dry completely before taping for a new color.  Depending on the weather sometimes it’s for days and sometimes for years

Buy quality tape but still make a fresh cut on the edge of the tape which divides colors. 

Seal edge tape down with a very light spray of clear.

take your time as rushing a paint job will show you took shortcuts