Repainting on top pf Halfords rattle cans

[FerrisBFW]

I have a Sandscorcher shell that has been painted with Halfords rattle cans.  I would like to use Tamiya colours.  How do I best prepare the shell?

It not a bad paintjob, its not what I want.

Can I spray on top after a rub down, or do I need to remove the old paint, if so what with?

Any advice will be appreciated

Mark

[catman79]

hi mark, 

best advice i could give you is to use wet and dry sand paper, as you will be painting over whats left of another colour i would use a basecoat primer, then once dry apply your new colour. 

i would avoid harsh sand paper and also paint stripper as this can damage the plastic. 

[FerrisBFW]

so the two paints will not react?  

[catman79]

ive always re primed over paint if there is any left, never had an issue. may be the case if you paint directly over existing paint, but ive not tried that as have heard some horror stories of paint reacting 

[KEV THE REV]

I believe Halfords paint is acrylic so you should be ok with it . I would suggest a trial spray with primer and then top coats  , and as always spray in light coats . Once your happy that there is no reaction , you can then get to the wet coat which is the final coat and a slightly heavier consistant coat   . If you want to fine wet sand inbetween coats thats fine but then wash it and dry thoroughly . You don't always need to wet sand between coats unless there is some specs or dust or the like , or if you've sprayed over your own overspray dust . I always spray shells and parts on a turntable where possible