I’ve rece built my first Tamiya models and I used the same paint process I’ve always used but on both the paint curled or looks like a fingerprint or scales almost. Is it a different type plastic?
Highly doubt it’s the plastic. Are you using an airbrush or rattle can?
Duplicolor cans
What paint ? do you prime ? Brush by hand ?
This looks like a tough one, so I’d suggest asking also in the painting and airbrushing forum. Oil contamination from fingerprints can definitely make marks in a paint job. Scaly appearance could be a lack of paint wetting, which primer may help. Or, could it be mold release oil?
I washed everything thouroghly with dish soap but what is paint wetting?
I always wipe my models down thoroughly with denatured alcohol on a lint-free cloth before painting to get any and all residues (like finger prints and sanding residue) off of it. Works very well.
If a liquid spreads over a surface, it is said to wet the surface- if it beads up it does not wet. Best example is what happens after you wax a car. Water just beads up on surface and runs off. Any oil film on plastic prevents paints from wetting, but various paints vary in how well they wet. Some people add just the tiniest drop of detergent to water in water-based paint to increase wetting, but a clean surface is the best bet.
Does it look like this?
