I painted this engine last year. Unfortunately, the paint peels easily. I add some pressure to my finger nail and then the paint scrathces, like this one:
Some information:
The paint I used (The black part) was Model Masters Semi Gloss Acrylic. I sprayed 3 light coats on it.
Just a side note, I did not clear coat this yet.
Am I doing something wrong? Is it about the paint? Should I add more coats, or spray some coats differently (wet coat)?
Or maybe it’s the surface. Should I have primed the surface? Also, is this thing normal when it comes to paint in general, since it does not have a clear coat?
I would also like to add, how do I fix this? I do not want to start all over again. How do I fix it from scratching?
No I am not going to say IT! That would be cruel. This is why my class at the V.A. Rec.center in Martinez hated the stuff! We all had an Epiphany when four of the Six Baldwin Camaros, scratched easily.
So I stripped every one of them and went outside the loading dock, one at a time and Sprayed them with Tamiya gloss Black Rattle-Can paint. Thank goodness no one had put Decals on yet!
Primer is always a good idea, but the main problem is the paint itself. Model Master Acryl paints are awful for adhesion and just about everything else they’re supposed to do.
It’s the paint. Model Master acrylics have poor adhesion properties to bare plastic. And they are not too scratch resistant either. Combine the two and this is pretty common when using this type of paint. It’s not you.
No amount of additional coats of any kind will increase adhesion of the first coat to the plastic. That first coat needs to really grab the surface of the plastic.
I almost always use a primer. My current go-tos are either Tamiya white or gray in a spray can, or Badgers Stynylrez through the air brush.
Clean the part thoroughly after handling and before painting. Natural oils in our skin are disastrous to good adhesion.
I use Stynylrez primer under MM Acryl and have had no problems with it scratching. It is entirely true that paint does not stick to bare plastic basically at all. But if you dig enough with your finger nails you eventually will scratch any paint. Not sure why you would do that other than in a test.
