Sorry, this should have been posted on General Modeling Discussion.
I do understand that brushing takes a long time but in my case that’s not an issue. In fact, I see it more as a tranquilizer.
I studied commercial as well as classical art and have some experience with a brush so even though this is my first attempt at model building I decided I would like to use a brush. I went on the web to see if other modelers did hand brushing on cars and came across the following:
Statment by the builder.
*I used medium and large soft-bristled synthetic-bristled brushes that I bought from Hobby lobby. The Red '40 sedan is one coat of Testors #1103 square bottle Red, out of a well-mixed brand-new bottle. The kit plastic was light tan. It is unprimed but washed with rubbing alcohol. I applied two coats of Future with the same type brush that I painted the car. The Tangerine '32 Vicky was molded in Silver plastic. I applied two light coats of Plastikote Sandable White Primer. I used a brand-new square-bottle of Testors Gloss Tangerine/Mandarin Brilliant that I bought at a Michael’s store. I applied one coat of Tangerine with the same two brushes I used on the '40 sedan. When the paint cured, I applied two coats of Future by brush.*I don’t own an airbrush. I didn’t sand and/or polish anything. I have been brush-painting airplanes and military vehicles for over 50 years.
That’s the beauty of this hobby! You can do things however you like! I can remember brush-painting my models when I was younger and I coudn’t be happier.
The reason brush-painting seems to inspire terror in most modelers is that the ‘one’ time they tried it, they weren’t careful or patient enough – both in terms of the painting itself, and the ‘thinking it through’ part before-hand.
It’s not like painting a wall…you can’t just slap it on and get good results. (And to all you professional wall-painters out there…I realize that’s not the best way to get good results on a wall, either. [:D])
But with a little forethought, some patience, and some good brushes, it’s not that formidable a task.
Still, if it’s a new-ish technique to anyone, I’d heartily recommend practicing on a scrap model, or even something as simple as a plastic drink bottle. Work out your brush-stroke and coverage technique, and the pressure will be lessened when it comes to painting your masterpiece.
Thinning the paint is part of the success story. I use thinner of some sort in acrylics and odorless mineral spirits in enamels cut about 30-40%… Either can produce strokeless results. The shine in the two Fords shown can undoubtedly be attributed to the magically self leveling Future. It wouldn’t matter a whole lot if the color coat was acrylic, lacquer or enamel with Future on top of it… And that’s great if clear coat finish is the look you want, which for myself is most often not the case. It works for semi custom cars of older vintage and for modern cars. But in car models my aim is more period stock classics and antique which were not clear coated.
My brushes I prefer right now have Taklon bristles. But while I brush paint many things, I no longer brush car bodies, perhaps not for 50 years now. I recall my biggest enemy was losing a bristle from the brush in the finish lol. So buy decent brushes.
I sometimes do a car with a brush. Why? to bring back memories. This is done with a fifty-fifty paint mix of a solid color over the cleaned plastic. It was better when we had Pactra!
I meant to get back so here goes. 50-50 is Say 25 drops,(from the end of a paint brush handle. ) of thinner ,followed by 25 drops of paint in a Clean bottle. You don’t want to mix it in the original bottle as you may need unthinned color for touch-ups later.
Over cleaned Plastic was mis-understood. The way I intended it to mean is to Clean the model Body, Hood, Trunk and Body accessories real well, Before painting. I use warm water and Dawn dish detergent. This stuff gets ALL the mold release and finger oils off the parts you have to paint. Rinse extremely well.
The trick here is that when air dried in an old cake dome, The parts will contain no impurities on the surface. Do not handle the parts after cleaning with bare fingers. At least get a pair of nice Women’s dress gloves from the local Target. White Cotton, for sure.
Yes! you can get them at say, Wal-Mart, but I stopped buying stuff like that from there because of shorter than normal wear life! White cotton Gloves are used by even Museums to handle display Pieces. Because finger oils contaminate the object’s surface.
