Painting fine details on polycarbonate

[c64orinoco 667]

I've got a lovely little Mito body for my M07 chassis. It matches my real car too - also a Mito (LOVE IT) 

I would prefer to paint some of the details rather than stickers, but the masking for a lot of it would be a bit of a nightmare.

I'm reasonably good at painting those details by hand (in the picture the black and silver trims)  but I'm at a loss as to what paint to use. Tamiya used to have a range of brush-on polycarbonate paints, but these days everything is spray or airbrush.

Can airbrush paints be used brush-on? Do they crack if the body flexes?

My LHS has the Tamiya PS range, which I'm going to use for the overall red (come on, it's an Alfa) and their airbrush range is something called 'Spazstix' (classy).

Does anyone have any advice about what paints to use for this?

[WillyChang 1814]

Too right, T's PC5 in the bottle is the best still by far. It is correct consistency (goes on creamy smooth, doesn't drip, dries fast) and best of all its opaque enough to be a "one shot" job. I use it to handpaint window frames from behind.

Chrome Silver is more metallic than proper mirror chrome though, not compared to Spaztix or Alclad2 etc. That stuff needs airbrush... although patient handbrushing 100s of coats can work. Best Chrome metallic silver came in T's Paint Marker.

 

For something you can buy easily today, I'd handbrush onto outside of lexan with T's X bottle Acrylic paint. It'll stick onto lexan pretty ok, reasonably opaque (might need 2-3 coats), will tolerate mild handling. Easy to clean off booboos with metho. 

X18 Semi Gloss Black and XF85 Rubber Black are my staples, XF1 Flat Black is handy too. Might have to custom mix all 3 to get the black you want.

 

Modern day paint markers usually limited to Pentel gold & silver, unless you can get Gundam hobby markers. Also checkout Bare Metal Foil chrome as an alternative to painting.

[c64orinoco 667]

Will any of those options stand up to driving? Ok maybe I won’t be racing it (I’ll get an M07R and a Swift body for that, it’s only another chassis) but on the other hand it will get some driving. Will painting the outside withstand that? 
Presumably I’d have to lightly sand the Lexan to give the non-pc paints something to grip to. 

[WillyChang 1814]

yeah, it'll tolerate handling ok... if it wears off, just repaint!  

Nothing will survive roadrash.

Nah don't need to scuff the lexan, that's too much work. Just degrease it properly if you've ever touched it; it'll stick fine. I often use X/XF paints for driver figures.

 

The other paint you might want to investigate is nail varnish - after all they're very highly-pigmented/opaque, self-levelling, fast drying & comes in little bottles.  Trouble is we've got little control over colour (what you buy today probably won't be same if you need more tomorrow) and generally they come in bright colours more than dull.

Ok ok so I go to the Goth supply store... Matte Black is quite easy to find, Gloss black not as easy...  not without silly sparkles or glitter etc, ugh!  Plus I'm only looking at the $2 end of the market... I ain't paying $35+ for OPI brand.

 

[t3garett 268]

For chrome trim get a "molotow" liquid chrome pen and pen it on . The 1mm tip is recommended here. For black to brush on you cab use any opaque airbrush black and paint it. It will flex, won t crack and if a good brand it will only take one coat to be black enough.