Is the type of paint refered to as “model acrylic paint” the same as “regular” water-based acrylic paint used for art (paintings, general colouring, etc.)? Also, once I paint my model (a F-100) with acrylic paint do I have to spray/apply some kind of protective layer on top?
…your help will be greatly appreciated, thanks (hehe forgot to type that in).
Many of the artist-type acrylics are primarily for porous surfaces such as paper or cloth, others adhere well to plastic. It just depends on the specific acrylic paint you are referring to. If it is indicated for use on plastic it “Should” be OK but I would recommend trying it on some scrap first.
Acrylics take some getting used to. They don’t adhere as well as enamel or laquer and they dry so fast that even that can be a problem. It is important that the surface be clean of oil and grease before painting, and if you have to mask over the acrylic use either low-tack masking tape or a coat of enamel primer under the acrylic. They tend to pull loose quite easily if you aren’t careful.
It isn’t usually necessary to apply a clear coat afterwards. Acrylic is pretty tough. If your paint dries flat I’d recommend a clear gloss coat prior to decaling or your decals will develop a bad case of “Silvering” because of the air trapped beneath the decal in the texture of the flat paint. Most of us use Future floor polish for that. It’s a clear acrylic that can be airbrushed or hand brushed and works quite well as a barrier coat or as a final gloss coat.
When doing the test parts like Scott said, do a scrape-off test with a toothpick or something to see if the paint will be sturdy enough. I really dig in when scraping off. I make sure I get all the way down to plastic even with tough paint. That’s the only way to really know. Paint up some other test parts with model paint acrylics too for comparison. That’s where it’s at for non-model paints… knowing if it’s going to really paint the parts or if it will flake off.
Another test is to paint large, semi-flexible parts and bend them (gently) after the paint driess to see if it cracks up.