What should I do to prep, paint a metal barrel. Do I have to prime it first?[?]
de-dreese with auto motive grade pre-paint cleaner such as r+m 901 or clean with lacquer thinner–sand with 400 to 600 grit(american grade) sandpaper—prime with automotive grade lacquer primer(spray bomb is ok) — when dry, sand again with 600 to 800 grit—do not touch with bare hands-- the oils in your skin could degrade the finish–you can now apply the acrylic or enamel of choice
p.s. if the barrel is aluminum, a self etching type primer especially for aluminum is suggested— all else the same
I use ‘Plasti-kote’ gray sandible primer. It’s a lacquer base. Don’t let that scare you. It comes in a spray can and can be found in auto part stores.
Glenn
Guess i got lucky with mine . I just primed it with Model Master enamel primer and then finished it with MM enamel paints , no spacial treatment. It still looks good after 4 yrs.
CFR
You only have to prime it if you want to use an acrylic on top.
Clean the barrel with denaturated alcohol which is used to remove grease and oil from machinery.
Lightly sand the barrel with 400 to remove the oxide layer.
Paint the barrel with either lacquer or enamel paint. I recommend buying a spray can of Rustoleum primer. It will last forever and has many uses.
Finally paint the barrel with what ever you want.
I rinse off my barrels, let them dry and then prime with a Model Master or Tamiya primer. Several barrels are a few years old and I haven’t had any problems with the paint. HTH
I just did my first metal barrel myself,with my Dragon Tiger I initial.I lightly sand then gave a luke warm rinse in some dish detergent. Let dry,then i used Model Master 4680 gray acrylic primer. let dry, then a very light sand again. Then i gave it the base coat of model Master Acrylic 4795 Panzer Schwarzgrau let dry then add another coat.After that i used some Floquil Panzer DK gray ,wich was lighter then the MM panzer gray and a lacquer paint to lighten it up a bit. After all that i sealed it with MM dull coat lacquer. looks great and have no problems,even with a lot of handling. I love metal barrels, now that i tried one…lol.
Thanks for all your help!
[:D], sounds good!
Well, darn it! I guess I did it all wrong again. I just cleaned the aluminum barrel with windex and sprayed it with MM acrylic paint. Seams to be holding up OK so far. It is on a base so there should not be much banging around on the barrel. Greg.