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Tamiya 1/100 Space Shuttle


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Yeah I'm worried about some of the texture I'm seeing building up with the flat white. What grit sandpaper would you recommend?

I started with 800 or 1000 and in some spots went up to 2000 grit ... and this was wet sanding. Constantly going over the surface with my fingers, feeling for rough spots. It won't take long either, I'd say no more than 30 minutes, probably more like 10 minutes.

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DAY 14-18: 2.5 hours

(37 hours total)

Build cost to date: $299.44

Thanks for all of the input on sandpapers for paint sanding. I went out and bought some nice Tamiya sandpaper, then decided I kinda liked the subtle texture from the two coats of flat white and chose not to sand it. I think the texture may help to simulate the thermal blankets of the non-tiled areas. But this is as far as I'm going to go with the build-up. From here on out I will be covering the flat white with gloss white since it goes on smoother. I can always hit it with dullcoat when it's finished to get the flat look.

So, over the last few days, I proceeded to spray the gloss white, allowing at least 24 hours between coats. I now have 6 coats of paint on this orbiter: one coat of metallic silver, two coats of flat white, and three gloss white.

Here she is with the first coat of flat white:

DSC03606.jpg

And here she is with the latest coat of gloss white:

DSC03626.jpg

You would think after five coats of white, this spot on the side of the orbiter would not be so visible.

DSC03625.jpg

Am I doing something wrong here? The other stripped areas are almost completely invisible by now. Do I need to be more diligent about spraying this one area? I try to keep coats even and not spray one spot. How many coats is too many?

Speaking of too many coats, check out the buildup on the vertical stabilizer:

DSC03633.jpg

What's causing this? Am I spraying too much paint? I may have to do some light sanding here. It's difficult to get an even spray on this part since it's such an odd shape with surfaces facing five different directions.

Any tips or input appreciated as always!

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DAY 14-18: 2.5 hours

(37 hours total)

Build cost to date: $299.44

You would think after five coats of white, this spot on the side of the orbiter would not be so visible.

Am I doing something wrong here? The other stripped areas are almost completely invisible by now. Do I need to be more diligent about spraying this one area? I try to keep coats even and not spray one spot. How many coats is too many?

What's causing this? Am I spraying too much paint? I may have to do some light sanding here. It's difficult to get an even spray on this part since it's such an odd shape with surfaces facing five different directions.

Any tips or input appreciated as always!

$299.44?? My goodness ... does this include tools and other items that'll be used forever?

For that 'bare' spot, just apply another coat of paint, on that specific area, till it's covered. And from a spray can, the edges are so feathered that you shouldn't hafta worry about even coats overall, at this stage ... just cover that patch up. ( I'm gonna assume you're not just holding down the rattle can nozzle and moving back and forth ... ) Will your homemade decals cover the fuselage sides up as well?

And the orange-peel on the vertical stabilizer suggests that some sanding shoulda been done, and that you may be spraying a little too close and/or that maybe the previous coats weren't completely dry and/or that maybe you have enuff paint on it. I would suggest sanding the orange peel off and then give it another coat of paint.

And you'll know when you have too much paint on it, when you can't see any details any longer.

Hope this all helps.

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Well, Testors spray cans are not the easiest to get good results with. As was mentioned, Tamiya lacquers are better. it would be nice if Testors would step up and give us better spray paint. That takes R and D money though.

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Whenever you apply white paint over a surface that has light and dark colored paint as primer it is almost impossible to rid the finish of the shadow effect caused by the differing color's underneath the white paint. When you apply white paint as a topcoat the primer underneath must be all one color otherwise this will happen. I have been painting automobile models for over 35 years and when I first started this used to always haunt me.

If you continue to try and paint it out, you will only obscure detail due to the thicker paint build up as you have done previously.

Edited by stevenichols
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$299.44?? My goodness ... does this include tools and other items that'll be used forever?

For that 'bare' spot, just apply another coat of paint, on that specific area, till it's covered. And from a spray can, the edges are so feathered that you shouldn't hafta worry about even coats overall, at this stage ... just cover that patch up. ( I'm gonna assume you're not just holding down the rattle can nozzle and moving back and forth ... ) Will your homemade decals cover the fuselage sides up as well?

And the orange-peel on the vertical stabilizer suggests that some sanding shoulda been done, and that you may be spraying a little too close and/or that maybe the previous coats weren't completely dry and/or that maybe you have enuff paint on it. I would suggest sanding the orange peel off and then give it another coat of paint.

And you'll know when you have too much paint on it, when you can't see any details any longer.

Hope this all helps.

Yes, that cost does include some items that can be used forever. However, its also the disposable stuff like paints and sandpapers.

Would I apply the paint to that one spot, holding the can still, or move it back and forth over the spot? Up to this point I have been using Zombie's advice of keeping the can moving and applying thin coats.

I do have a homemade decal to cover up the sides, but it is to be a clear decal with some texture on it to simulate the TPS. So the bald spot from the paint area in question would likely show through.

Well, Testors spray cans are not the easiest to get good results with. As was mentioned, Tamiya lacquers are better. it would be nice if Testors would step up and give us better spray paint. That takes R and D money though.

I almost picked up a can of the Tamiya the other day but didn't. My Testors can is running low, so maybe for the final coat(s) I'll give the Tamiya can a try. Do you think it will do a better job of covering the bald spots?

THANK YOU all for chiming in on this.

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DAY 19: 1.5 hours

(38.5 hours total)

Build cost to date: $299.44

While waiting for all of these paint coats to cure, I've been working on decals. A lot of trial-and-error is going in to test-fitting printouts of the decals onto the surfaces of the model.

Here is my payload bay door decal:

DSC03636.jpg

Looks like I'll have to adjust the graphic some to get it to line up better with the joints of the doors.

Here's the generic side panel decal:

DSC03639.jpg

Fits pretty close to perfect, only a few minor adjustments to make. The "United States" and "NASA" decals will be applied over top of this decal. I left it blank so the decal can be used to build either an early or later orbiter. I'll probably lighten this decal up a bit since it looks a bit too weathered for the early '90s shuttle I'm trying to recreate.

DSC03641.jpg

And here's the OMS pod decal. Looks nice in this picture, but there's a few adjustments to the shape and size to be made in order to fit right. This is a tricky area to make decals for!

DSC03644.jpg

Since the decals you see above are so photo-realistic, I decided to use the ISS photograph to make a decal for the belly tiles. I started by laying the model on a scanner and put the scan in Photoshop and overlayed the photograph. It was quite a bit of work to get the photograph to match up with the shape and details of the kit. First of all, the landing gear is about a half inch too far forward than the real shuttle. The wings are also longer on the kit than in real life. Nothing at all seemed to line up as it should so all the details had to be adjusted. And as you can see in the pic, my decal printed out a bit undersized for some reason. I'm hoping with a slight enlargement it will fit perfectly.

Now on to the latest coat of paint. I gave the sides a thick coat, focusing on just the sides, avoiding the tops of the wings and doors and voila! I think this may be the final coat of white!

DSC03645.jpg

I also sanded the orange peel off of the vertical stabilizer using the sandpaper that K2Pete suggested and gave it one last spray and this happened:

DSC03647.jpg

The orange peel is even worse this time than the first time! I could have lived with it the first time, but now it's so bad I gotta get rid of it. I don't know what I did wrong. Maybe too thick of a coat? Do I just let it cure, sand it off again, and try to give it a thinner coat next time? What can I do to keep this from happening again?

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The decals look pretty good! But to be on the safe side, you should print 'em out on clear decal film too, as tests. ( IIRC you're gonna print out the final decals on Clear? ) The test prints you're making on white paper are great for getting the scale right on, but the weathering aspect will look different on clear film when applied to the model.

The OMS pod decals are gonna be a head ache too ... as the compound curves will probably give the decals a few wrinkles ... but your artwork looks lovely!

The belly decal looks super too! And it always amazes me how the size is perfect on the Mac, but when printed out, it's the wrong size ... amazing!

The tail ... all I can recommend, is strip it all off and start again. I've used Easy-Off oven spray and Brake Fluid and I've heard about Royal Purple (?) The orange peeling is interesting and shouldn't have happened. ( I wonder if it's the paint?? ) I have to wonder if it's the way you're spraying the paint on. And just as an aside, I use Krylon paint, for plastic. You get twice as much paint for the same price as Tamiya or Testors and the paint goes on very nicely ... using very light coats.

One more thing ... I hope you're not getting browned off with all these little annoyances, paint etc. The stuff you're learning about paint compatibility, and paint brands, decal scaling, sanding and all these wonderful trial and error things that make us all wanna throw the frakkin' things against the wall ... will come in very handy when you build your next models.

Honest! :thumbsup:

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The decals look pretty good! But to be on the safe side, you should print 'em out on clear decal film too, as tests. ( IIRC you're gonna print out the final decals on Clear? ) The test prints you're making on white paper are great for getting the scale right on, but the weathering aspect will look different on clear film when applied to the model.

The OMS pod decals are gonna be a head ache too ... as the compound curves will probably give the decals a few wrinkles ... but your artwork looks lovely!

The belly decal looks super too! And it always amazes me how the size is perfect on the Mac, but when printed out, it's the wrong size ... amazing!

The tail ... all I can recommend, is strip it all off and start again. I've used Easy-Off oven spray and Brake Fluid and I've heard about Royal Purple (?) The orange peeling is interesting and shouldn't have happened. ( I wonder if it's the paint?? ) I have to wonder if it's the way you're spraying the paint on. And just as an aside, I use Krylon paint, for plastic. You get twice as much paint for the same price as Tamiya or Testors and the paint goes on very nicely ... using very light coats.

One more thing ... I hope you're not getting browned off with all these little annoyances, paint etc. The stuff you're learning about paint compatibility, and paint brands, decal scaling, sanding and all these wonderful trial and error things that make us all wanna throw the frakkin' things against the wall ... will come in very handy when you build your next models.

Honest! :thumbsup:

Yes I plan on using clear decals for the white painted areas, and white decal paper for the black painted areas of the model. Right now I'm still in the testing and scaling phase of the decal project, and I expect it will be awhile before I reach the ready stage where the decals will be good enough to start applying. I'm hoping all the extra work will produce an amazing result (and maybe cover up some of the little imperfections from the build along the way!).

I think I will strip the paint off the vertical stabilizer and start over. Is Easy Off and brake fluid better than the can of paint stripper from the hardware store? What about just soaking it in a bucket of paint thinner?

I think I'm gonna have to stick with the Testors so that it will match the rest of the orbiter. Which means I'll probably have to spray metallic silver as the base coat again :bandhead2:

I will admit the painting process has been the most worrysome and frustrating part of the build. I will feel so much better when the painting is done and it's just me and the decals doing our thang.

Hi Hotdog,

never let go! :bandhead2:

And for the OMS pod decals you should use enough good decal softener several times in order to avoid wrinkles. :coolio:

:wave:

I have a bottle of Solvaset I plan on using, is this what you mean?

Nice decals. I am still working on the layout for mine and I like you belly tile approach. I too would try some on both clear and white decal paper. I tried a clear test for the non-black areas and was not too impressed with the saturation on the decal film.

Take care,

Troy

I will try both and you will see on here how it goes.

Thank you all for your input!

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I think I will strip the paint off the vertical stabilizer and start over. Is Easy Off and brake fluid better than the can of paint stripper from the hardware store? What about just soaking it in a bucket of paint thinner?

... uh-h-h-h ... you really don't wanna soak the styrene in Paint Thinners or the Paint Stripper from the store. Be-e-e-e cause, the plastic will melt too!

Believe it or don't Easy Off and / or Brake Fluid doesn't harm the plastic at all. Search thru the Tips and Tricks forum for methods / techniques / products for stripping paint.

The few times I've stripped paint, I used both Brake Fluid and Easy Off and left 'em for at least 8 hours and then had to re-apply the stuff, but it got it all off!

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Hey Hotdog, I know you've spent alot of time getting the white paint to cooperate and all, but a small suggestion would be to also try to print those blanket decals on white paper and see if that would work better. Maybe just try a small section of the white tiles when you print the bottom tiles just to test it out. I feel like that would probably work much better with your textures than clear. Just my opinion.

Bill

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For taking off that paint use Testors/Floquil ELO, easy liftoff. It will work in minutes with no need to wait hours. Just make sure you use dish soap to wash it all off prior to repainting. Paints designed specifically for models have finer ground pigments too rather than using Krylon paint as recommended.

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Hotdog, The decals look great so far. :thumbsup: As said above, try and experiment with printing the white tiles on both white and clear decal paper to see what works best for you.

I'm glad to see the painting is coming along. Strip that paint off the tail and do it over. Since it isn't attached it'll be easier to get that paint stripped off.

As Pete said you'll find this a good learning experience and most likely won't have the same issues on future projects.

Mike.

Edited by crowe-t
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...

I have a bottle of Solvaset I plan on using, is this what you mean?

I don't know Solvaset, but it is a decal softener too. Because you don't know how it works with your your homemade decals, you should test before application how the decals react to Solvaset. :rolleyes:

:wave:

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Thanks guys! I will try both white and clear and see what happens. I'll also get some ELO for the paint stripping next time I'm at Hobby Lobby. I remember seeing it there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hotdog, you're doing a good job, but you are also causing yourself alot of greif. You need an airbrush, spray bombs suck, especially Testors. If you have to use them soak them in warm water first. At Harbor freight you can get a great airbrush and a compressor for $75 that will last you along time if not forever. Tamiya and Gunze aqueous colors are also the way to go for white, which is generally always a pain. One bottle of Tamiya paint thinned with 90% isopropyl (Walmart $1.00 per bottle) would paint the entire thing. The best part is that if you mess up, you just wipe down the plastic with the isopropyl and you can paint again immediately, no smelly chemicals required. Just some insight from a guy thats been doing this along time! Keep up the goosd work!

Brian

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I've been using Testors Acryl myself with an airbrush. Testors Acryl White also covers very well in just a few coats and is a very sturdy paint when it fully cures, almost like lacquer.

What Brian 1 is saying makes sense about using an airbrush, however an airbrush may not be for everyone due to the initial cost of the airbrush and compressor. Using an airbrush does open up many possibilities such as the ability to custom mix colors, paint fine lines...

Edited by crowe-t
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I've been using Testors Acryl myself with an airbrush. Testors Acryl White also covers very well in just a few coats and is a very sturdy paint when it fully cures, almost like lacquer.

What Brian 1 is saying makes sense about using an airbrush, however an airbrush may not be for everyone due to the initial cost of the airbrush and compressor. Using an airbrush does open up many possibilities such as the ability to custom mix colors, paint fine lines...

Hey Mike, How are you doing? I based my airbrush comments on hotdogs listed expenditures for this project, which is really shaping up nicely.

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Hey Mike, How are you doing? I based my airbrush comments on hotdogs listed expenditures for this project, which is really shaping up nicely.

Hey Brian, I'm doing well, just trying to finish up my 1/144 Revell STS 133 stack build. It's good to see you posting here.

I have to admit I found the idea of using an airbrush a bit intimidating before I took the plunge and bought one. I'm sure that's a consideration. Like most of us the initial expense of the tools and supplies is usually a few hundred dollars. At that point another few dollars for an airbrush and compressor is an investment.

Mike.

Edited by crowe-t
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Thanks Brian for your input. This is my first build in nearly a decade so I'm kind of easing back into it. Perhaps I will get an airbrush for a near future build, especially with all the trouble I've had with the rattle cans this time around. Pretty much what Mike said is right, with the initial expenses of tools and supplies I held off on diving into the airbrush for now.

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DAY 20: 3.5 hours

(42 hours total)

Build cost to date: $299.44

Quick update: I reprinted the belly tiles (this time at 100% size) and it fit much more like it was supposed to. I accidently printed the previously posted test print with "fit to page" turned on. Oops.

DSC03650.jpg

DSC03652.jpg

It fits perfectly around the landing gear bays, but the further you go towards the leading edges of the wings, the more it is off. Just a bit of stretching should fix this. Trial-and-error, back-and-forth is the slow process of decal making!

Back to painting...I decided to go ahead and start masking off the black HRSI areas...I know technically I'm supposed to spray the darker white areas first, but I'm going to break the rules a bit and change the order.

DSC03653.jpg

DSC03655.jpg

It took me about an hour and 45 minutes to do all of the masking you see here. The Tamiya tape seems really great so far! I didn't put any clear coat or any other chemical down before I started masking, so it's just straight tape-on-enamel. I didn't cover the tape with any solvents either. I'll cover the rest of the areas not to be painted with strips of newspaper. I hope this will be sufficient enough for a nice, clean masking.

My plan is to soak the Testors flat black rattle cans in hot water the same way I've been doing, but this time do quick mist coats and let set for about 10 minutes before doing the next mist coat. I'll keep doing this until I get the coverage needed. I hope this method will help me avoid excess buildup like I've experienced in the past. I'm still worried about orange peel though.

Speaking of which, I still haven't stripped the vertical stabilizer yet. I could not find any Testors ELO despite going to three different hobby shops in town. I guess I'll hit the Autozone on the way home tomorrow and pick up some brake fluid and go that route.

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