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Car painting for lazy people?


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Gloss paints are evil - they don't go on evenly, they dry slowly, and they're sticky as heck meaning they tend to pick up particles by the hundredweight. I have yet to manage to paint a decent car using gloss paints, and I'm about fed up with the whole thing. So, I'm thinking about attacking the problem from a different direction...

Is it possible to get a decently car-like finish if I start out with a completely flat base coat (flat black or red) to get a perfectly even color, and then use Future to make it nice and glossy afterwards?

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It's possible but an awful lot of steps for things to go wrong. Use Tamiya rattle can lacquers. Excellent gloss right out of the can or you can decant and spray through your airbrush. I refuse to use anything else :)/>(usually)

Mike T

Edited by modelguy2
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Realistically automotive paint is flat and the shine all comes from the gloss coat. Future is fine and is what I use but it has it's limits as far as how shiny you'll be able to get something. You can get automotive 2k clears that give exceptional results but I've never tried them.

Tamiya spray cans are awesome I agree. They dry rock hard very quickly and give a superb shine. I use them straight from the can even. But if the color you're looking for isn't available then yes you can go the flat paint/future route.

003c8eea.jpg

This was painte with Zero Paints which go on flat and then cleared with future. So it is possible.

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Nice Nissan!

What I'm trying to paint is a 2009 Corvette ZR1, and while I do have an airbrush, I'm so new to using it that I still have trouble getting paint to come out of it at all. Plus, I have a dust problem (comes from having a cat), so anything that takes more than minutes before going non-stick will need sanding afterwards to get all the rogue particles out of it. :( I can lay down Humbrol flat paints completely even in two coats with a soft wide brush and a few drops of thinner though, and it dries quick enough to avoid the whole dust problem...

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I have used your suggested technique, I 1st painted my Camel Honda Lotus with Tamiya paints mixed and airbrushed, decaled, then I went into my bathroom and turned on the shower with hot water, I steamed up the bathroom, then proceeded to spry Future diluted about 50/50, you need to be able to hold the car, and have an extra hand to catch the run off on a paper towel, I sprayed in on till it was just running off, catching the drips at the lower corners, and not allowing any pooling along the straight bottom edges, then I'd put it on a plate and cover it with a bowl, preferably clear so you can see where the car body is. Note, use a square of Styrofoam to set the body over, you don't want the bottom of the car resting on anything.

It came out great.

Curt

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Pick your Tamiya color and spray away. It dries in 15 minutes

Bigasshammm's Nissan's little brother:

119a844c0.jpg

Ooooo I want that kit.

Yeah as far as spraying goes get yourself a Tamiya can. Spray the model and then put a large Tupperware container or something over it to block any particles that may be flying in the air. Leave it for a while and you'll have a rock hard super glossy finish without even a clear coat.

Do be careful with the spray cans though as thy can generate runs if you hold the can too close or let too much paint hit one area.

Maybe practice on a junk model first to get the hang of it?

As for airbrushing make sure and properly thin the paint. Should be about the consistency of milk is most common. Spray at about 15-20psi. For gloss paints do a couple light coats then a final "wet" coat. Then touch up later if needed.

Sometimes you'll want to lightly sand between coats as well depending on how rough your finish is.

Don't forget you can also polish the paint before clear coating but make sure it's good and dry. Basically hold the model up to your nose and if the paint still smells it's not fully cured yet.

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It turns out I actually had a can of Tamiya's gloss red, so I've given that a shot. I also figured out recently what household cleaner you should use for removing Tamiya Spray paints (96% fuel ethanol, which is available in 1-liter bottles for less than half of what I pay for a rattle can...) so even if the first attempt doesn't succeed, I can try, try again...

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I have the Calsonic cars as above, plus the newer R-34.

I bought the Tamiya spray can as that was the only option for the correct color...

Curt

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Hah! I have solved my problem, at least for this car, courtesy some guy who had the guts to do *this* to his Corvette:

2012-05-11_16-05-55_976.jpg

No, the car wasn't actually *painted* that color, he used olive drab 3M wrap to protect the gloss black original paint since he lives out in dirt-road country. And I'm not quite spot on for accuracy, since I'm using a ZR1 rather than a baseline C6. It's close enough for me though, and from the forum thread where I found this image there are apparently other cars done up the same way for the same reason.

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As mentioned up above, most "real" car paints are matte; the shine comes from a clear gloss (typically a 2K urethane... but you don't want to mess with that). The much lauded, much lamented Zero paints are matte. IIRC Cobracolors and Scale Finishes are, too.

So no, it's not a crazy idea. Future may not be the best bet to GET a good, deep gloss, but there's nothing wrong with the idea at all.

---

Otherwise, I'd second the recommendation for Tamiya's spray lacquers. They are awesome. Better still, if you decant, and thin slightly with Mr. Levelling Thinner, you can get an *incredible* gloss, straight from the airbrush with a bit of experience. Tamiya is my go-to paint for simple, foolproof glosses.

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  • 1 month later...

The secret is "the box".

"The Box" lets all the solvents in the coat of paint soften the top flash dry of the paint back over to liquid again and it smooths itself out. No more orange peel. No more dust particles while drying.

Works so well I recommend a crystal clear cake cover from the bakery so you can watch the paint doesn't start to run or pull from sharp corners. This method will loosen the paint back up to liquid enough for it to do that.

Stop spraying your paint coat just after it glosses out and stop. Do not waste time putting it in the box and keep from lifting the lid until its ready to flash dry again to stop the process.

If this trick is going to work for you, it will work within the first few minutes. If it does not, keep the body in the box for at least another hour. It helps bad orange peel some if you happened to go too thick and saves some sanding.

The old fashioned oily enamel paints have always worked well for me. Acrylic will never give you a hard gloss without hand polishing, neither will genuine automotive paint.

I never clear coat except over decals because you can ruin a paint job just as easy with clear gloss as you can with color coats, so get good at getting a gloss out of your paints and only use a clear coat when required.

Edited by gluefinger
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  • 1 month later...

Model Master rattle can lacquers work great also as well as most lacquers. The touch up paints for autos work great also but make sure you have a good primer downs so the plastic is not affected by the paint solvents.

Any info from Don Yost is good stuff to follow.

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  • 8 months later...

When you look in the dictionary for lazy gloss painter, you will find my picture. I hate sanding, polishing, and buffing gloss paints. The only gloss paint that I have had a lot of success with has been the old Model Master gloss model car enamels. One other trick that I use to great success is to "bake" my car bodies between coats. Several years ago I purchased a cheap (around $10) food dehydrator and I use this to "bake" my painted car bodies. I will prime the body with two coats of primer, baking the body in the food dehydrator for 24 hours between coats, followed by 2 "dry" coats of paint and then 4 "wet" coats of paint. The same as before allowing the body to bake 24 hours after each coat. I know that taking 8 days to paint a body sounds like a lot but the time I spend being very careful putting the coats on is less time that I will spend sanding, polishing or buffing the paint. So far using this method, I have yet had any of the paint to orange peel. The only paint that I have had to orange peel was a bottle of Model Car World laquer paint. Using this method, it orange peeled so badly I had to sand all of it off and went back with som Model Master enamel and things did fine. If you guys have any questions or want to know more of what I did to modify the dehydrator trays or racks, just send me a PM and I will be glad to let you know. Cheers!

Best Regards,

Ken Bailey

(SonyKen)

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