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vanderdraay5

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Hi all im new to the hobby and was wondering what paint you all use ive read  somewhere on here that some use water based colours ,i want to paint another body for my sandviper but dont want to go with the yellow ,what brand of paints does everyone use ,also what bodies could i put on my sv  any help would be appreciated

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Tamiya ps paints for polycarbonate body shells.

Halfords or auto spray paints for rigid abs or styrene plastic bodies.

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Tamiya TS for hard bodies, Tamiya PS for Lexan. Spazstix for special colors or airbrush on Lexan, and I also use Model Masters lacquer on hard bodies. I've airbrushed Valejo and Tamiya acrylics on hard bodies, too, and sealed with clear lacquer.

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For those who are completely new, "lexan" is the clear body.  They are flexible. They take a lot of punishment.  But because they are flexible, other paint just flake off.  You must use lexan paint.  Which is the "PS" paint Superluminal and Big Jon was talking about.  (Lexan was GE's product name for Polycarbonate, so lexan=polycarbonate)

Since Sand Viper comes with a clear lexan body, you must use lexan paint.  Duratrax, Badger, Spaz Stix, make Lexan paint, but each company makes non-lexan paint too, so you must make sure that you are ordering the lexan version.  Tamiya PS has several dozen colors, so you can choose from there too.  If I like one color, I always google that paint number.  So I can see painted cars with that color.  You can have a better sense of the color that way.  Sometimes this simple chart is way off from the real paint.   

Oj9Q90p.jpg

Sand Viper's chassis name is DT02.  You can use other DT02 bodies, like Desert Gator, Fighter Buggy, Super Fighter, Sand Rover, Holiday buggy, etc.  Sand Rover and Holiday Buggy are hard bodies.  

For hard bodies (which is regular plastic that's not flexible), you can use pretty much anything, auto paint like Superluminal was saying, enamel, lacquer, acrylic, even lexan spray, or nail polish if you want to.  "TS" paint is most often used, because Tamiya's instruction manual gives color numbers like TS7, TS12, etc. It's easier to get the box art color scheme.  But you don't have to stick with Tamiya spray.  

 

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Not sure above is 100% true.

2019_0302SST2570001.JPG.c046b12a4c94704cf8da008190d1c6a5.JPG2019_0302SST2570002.JPG.d78cb198d9300b5a1ed69fe11a624362.JPG2019_0302SST2570003.JPG.7886c63f5d2b359705daae3ad9388f5b.JPG

 

If you look at the above you will see three offcuts painted in PS, TS and Halfords auto paint. 2 coats of colour and 1 coat of Halfords Satin Black. Sorry about picture quality. In terms of coverage and depth of colour the Halfords paint is way out in front and the choice of colours is huge. All of the samples have been twisted and hit with blunt instruments with no apparent difference!!

The myth about painting lexan started in the day when the most commonly available craft paints were poster paint or Humbrol enamels.Cellulose auto paints were available but dissolved lexan so not so good. Enamel flaked and poster paint washed off. With the introduction of Acrylic paints I personally believe that they are just as good for lexan. I am going to put this to the test on my next model. I am doing a Stadium Thunder in Red Bull colours so will be using acrylics rather than PS. I will still be painting the inside of the shell. Cant start the build officially until my Birthday in a few weeks.:angry: I am not a chemist so dont know about chemical differences but based on some 40 years of painting models to a reasonable standard I believe I am right. As I said above I intend to put my money where my mouth is with my next build and use a combination of TS and Halfords auto. Watch this space2017_1013MyModels0011.thumb.JPG.d4024195c6c21f0b06ac43b1457f8a32.JPG

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thanks everyone for all your helpful advice ,i think il try all at some point lol ,can you buy hard bodies for the dt02 chassis that would need fabrication that havent already been said by juggular as i like the sand scorcher body or are the dimensions to extreme

 

 

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6 hours ago, Busdriver said:

With the introduction of Acrylic paints I personally believe that they are just as good for lexan. I am going to put this to the test on my next model.

I would be interested. 

We've all seen Tamiya TS paint flaking off on impact (like below--TS on lexan is a definite no. Although, this is a rather spectacular example).  https://forums.traxxas.com/showthread.php?9054652-Why-do-you-need-lexan-polycarbonate-specific-spray-paint-for-RC-car-bodies

But Acrylic is more flexible.  It is also less durable, which made me assume that it won't stick around long enough.  I have a toy BB rifle stock painted with acrylics. It's all worn out where I touched it.  But RC cars don't have to worry about sweaty palms... 

I can respect a man who wants to test out the established things.  Way back in the 20th century, my teacher told me a story: she and her mom always cut the turkey in half before cooking on Thanksgiving.  She asked why, her mom said that's how it's done.  So she did it the way she was taught too, for decades.  When she finally visited her grandma's old place, she discovered that the oven was so small, the turkey had to be cut in half.  

yPdDnIi.jpg

4 hours ago, vanderdraay5 said:

can you buy hard bodies for the dt02 chassis that would need fabrication

Kit breakers sell hard bodies on ebay.  But they don't come by often, and they tend to be expensive.  When it was readily available, it was cheaper to buy Sand Rover.  

H2 and M6 are used for mounting Sand Rover body.  I'm guessing these were provided with Sand Viper too, just not used.  So if you kept these extra parts, you can use them for Sand Rover body.  

y3dNrkx.jpg

 

 

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Agree with @Shodog.

And his turkey analogy works - as long as you’re careful an old bird can take fresh feathers.

The hard part of paint is rarely choice of code (unless you get P vs T mixed up) - and even then you can get over it with lacquering between coats if you’re careful.

The real talent lies in prep, masking, repeat ... which is why I’m rubbish 🙄

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8 hours ago, Juggular said:

She asked why, her mom said that's how it's done.

"If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong"

Charles F. Kettering, aka "the man from the future", one of the most important automotive engineers of the 20th century. 

I know nothing about painting lexan, but I've always wondered why it is supposedly so different. I will be watching this space. 

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An Airbrusher I know uses acrylic airbrush paints for all his works, but always backs them with PS1. He says it seals and protects the acrylics

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I may have to revise my opinions. Having gone back to the samples the Tamiya acrylics ie the Blue and yellow both now crack when bent. The Orange which is the auto paint is still perfect. Maybe the Tamiya acrylics had not fully cured when I abused them?? They were 48 hours old when I did it. The orange still is as flexible as it was? I will keep testing until such time as I start painting the Stadium Thunder then make a decision. Is it possible that being an auto colour it has an element of flexibility built into its chemistry?

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Airbrushing may be the secret. The depth of paint laid down by an airbrush is so much thinner than rattle cans??? so less prone to cracking

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The 1:1 automobile world is full of "learned" myths about what to do or not to do with your (classic) car, rules that everybody seems to know and to adhere to - that have zero technical justification, other than that at a certain, long gone point in history, they made sense due to temporary circumstance that have since completely ceased to exist. 

Brake fluids, for example. The much-feared "new" DOT4 spec fluid has  been around almost exactly as long as DOT3 - since 1968. BOTH are mostly incompatible with any other type of brake fluid,

Well, most non-US automakers went straight to DOT4 when they finally converted (in some cases 20 years after the introduction of the DOT fluids). People started to use the "new" DOT4 on older cars with disastrous results, and the myth was born. Somehow, the 3 and 4 designations led people to believe that DOT3 is "older" - and therefore compatible with older cars, which it isn't. 

Today, even classic car parts manufacturers will recommended DOT3 and caution you against using their brake system parts with DOT4, despite the fact that the two DOTs are virtually 100% compatible and virtually eqally old, and ignoring the fact that due to simple technological advances, nearly all materials in any brake system these days are DOT safe. 

50 years after the DOTs were introduced, the controvesy rages on, blatantly ignorant of the basic technical realities, and despite the fact that the question itself became obsolete around 25 years ago... 

 

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Halford's paint isn't all that different to Tamiya TS paint. Both are laquer based, dry quickly and set fairly hard.

The main difference is that Halfords paint comes out of the nozzle about 6 times faster than Tamiya paint, which can be both good and bad.

It's cheaper by volume, and quicker to apply. It will work really well on bodies like the Fighting Buggy where there isn't that much detail. It will work rather less

well on highly detailed bodies like the Lancia 037 for 2 reasons. The thickness will round off the sharp edges on grilles, vents, door handles, and actually end up hiding

detail. Due to the volume of spray there will be that much more that dries before it hits the surface and so  it will need wet sanding between coats,

which is easy enough on flat panels, but almost impossible on some fine details.

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Fuijo I don't really understand your post, I agree about the nozzle size and amount of propellant but I don't see how that affects detail or why you would want to rub down the inside of a shell once painted on a lexan shell which is what I am proposing> I have used rattle cans of many types over the years especially Halfords on 1/24th scale models with hard bodies painted on the outside and have never had an issue with blurring detail, unless I completely **** it up. Normally too much Vodka added!!!!! The last picture below in fact is 1/12 scale and is painted with TS colour so even in this smaller scale there is no lack of detail. None of these bodies were sanded after painting. They have been given a coat of Satin Acrylic varnish (Humbrol)

 

2019_0304paintAcrylic0001.JPG.55d810d9dd074281da48e93f72d9cd54.JPG2019_0304paintAcrylic0002.JPG.834bc150c9af0420c07fb1ff7a2b7dd3.JPG2019_0304paintAcrylic0003.JPG.c71db2cc009f294054df6528674bccab.JPG2019_0304paintAcrylic0004.JPG.cfb3d150fecce897f02ad605c3c7724b.JPG2019_0304paintAcrylic0005.JPG.8fda49eb0069f3b8eb94a47e0808d61e.JPG2019_0304paintAcrylic0006.JPG.e1254ba788f295f298e37d209d0109ab.JPG2019_0304paintAcrylic0007.JPG.e1dac8cc36e765820ebe051df85c5849.JPG2019_0304paintAcrylic0008.JPG.d2820fbcbeceb93051f8bff24ff1357b.JPG

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43 minutes ago, Busdriver said:

but I don't see how that affects detail or why you would want to rub down the inside of a shell once painted on a lexan shell which is what I am proposing

I wasn't talking about lexan paint. That would be Tamiya PS, not TS. Other posters were mentioning both types.

For hard bodies, usually polystyrene, the thinner the paint is applied, the better. Surface tension makes liquids pool, which helps to give a smooth finish when applying a wet coat.

Unfortunately, liquids wont pool round corners. So the more paint you apply, the more difference in thickness there will be between the paint on the edges, and the paint away from the edges.

This means that as more paint is applied, the corners and edges will round off and begin to  lose their definition. Taken to extremes with a clear coat, your polystyrene body

will eventually start to look more like lexan. Somewhat defeating the object of the greater detail of the hard plastic body, and giving the appearance of a rather unrealistic thickness of clearcoat.

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thanks everyone for your help i bought some tamiya paint ps and it does say for polycarbonate i did check lol the wife picked as im cr4p at colourcoding and shes picked an iridescent pink/gold number ps47 and a metallic orange ps 61 sprayed the car but was expecting more from the iridescent colour now when i look at the body in different lighting it does change ,il be buying a few bodies and trying different methods of applying ,has anyone got any tips on spraying the iridescent stuff ie do i need to back it with a black spray to get a better finish ,im trying to upload a photo off my phone but im no techy.

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This may be the look you are after:

 

 

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11 hours ago, Busdriver said:

 

2019_0304paintAcrylic0008.JPG.d2820fbcbeceb93051f8bff24ff1357b.JPG

Busdriver, how are you enjoying the Caterham kit? I have one in the attic that I will crack open once I start my 1:1 se7en clone, you don't have any cycle fenders or jps parts by chance do you?

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Its an amazing kit. I'm having a rest from it for a little as my fingers need a rest. Lots of small parts!!!!!!!! Sorry no spares. I really wanted a cycle fender one but got this at the latest Re  release

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Sorry to drag this one up again but in this thread I said that the next polycarbonate body that I build i would pain the outsides and use no PS paint. Well true to my word here are two. They are not painted wit Tamiya TS paints as I found that they did indeed peel easily but instead I used Halfords auto grey primer and paint, British racing green on Dynaheadish and Mustard yellow on Dynamog. I must admit that due to the nature of these vehicles the bodywork will not be submitted to  large amounts of impacts or flexing but so far its worked ok. Might try it on a Stadium Blizer shell I,m stripping to see how it lasts on something a bit more active:D

IMG_1317.JPG.987f059592b349ac91050c3f8cbab666.JPG

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