How To Fix The Finish

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

I decided that the currect project I am working on would be the first airbrushing attempt for me so yesterday evening I airbrushed the hood of the el camino I am working on and till now I have only used spray cans with ok results. Well from reading the posts on this site I decided to go with several thin coats instead of a couple of thicker coats. I wound up with a stippled finish instead of a smooth finish. My guess is that I didn’t use enough paint, I didn’t do the “wet” coat (in my understanding I think that just means more paint but correct me if I’m wrong) after the light coats like some of the posts suggest. I was wondering if how long I should let the paint dry before wet sanding and applying a “wet” coat of paint or should I remove all the paint and start again?

I am using model master enamels and a badger 200 airbrush with a cheapy testor air pump.

2

Did you thin the paint? That could cause the problem if you didn’t. Also, how far back was the airbrush when you sprayed and was the car primered?

3

I did thin the paint 1 part thinner to 3 parts paint. I would say I had the airbrush too close after reading more post but it was about 1 1/2" to 2" away from the part. No the part wasn’t primed.

4

the paint to thinner ratio still sounds off,mix to the consistency of skim milk

if you want to try the same part again,soak it in brake fluid for about 15 minutes then the paint will wash off,try again,it takes practice

5

wash off? with water or thinner?

6

when you soak it in brake fluid for a little while the paint will lift off the plastic,then wash it (scrub a little with an old toothbrush) in warm soapy water,the paint should fall right off with no harm to the plastic

7

That worked perfectly but that doesn’t explain what I did wrong in the first place. I mixed some more paint in a seperate container the same way I did yesterday and I would say its the consitancy of skim milk so do I just need to apply more paint? Or am I doing something else wrong too?

8

You need to primer it also. Helps the thinned paint stick easier. Also it might take a couple more coats than you usually do since it’s thinned paint. My F-14 i’m building now has about 6-7 light coats over the primer.

9

If I wet sand the plastic do I still have to prime? Or should I wet sand the plastic and wet sand the primer coat?

Joey

10

I prime EVERYTHING! It shows the imperfections, and helps hold the base coat paint. Never tried the wet sand instead of priming so i don’t really know if that would work.

11

Thanks for the help, I have two projects here maybe I will try both methods and see which one works best.

Joey

12

That’s what this is all about. Trying new things. Let us know what the results are. I’m kinda curious

13

priming is unnecessary. you can paint over bare plastic with no problems whatsoever. I never usually prime my models.

14

In regards to primer, note that I prime mainly to pick out any imperfections in seam filling or sanding, and not necessarily for better adhersion of the paint. It seems I never have any problems not priming with certain manufacturers but do with others - the paint lifts from Tamiya tape even after overnight drying.