How To – Paint It

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Tips & tricks on paint and decals.
  • This forum has 28 topics, 110 replies, and was last updated 5 days ago by Chris.
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    • Forums Gents, Local engagement in the forum spaces is very low. I might try to incorporate some areas into posts or pages as I refocus but if there is anything of particular value to you in a forum please save it for yourself. Cheers!

      Started by: Arthur in: Website Information

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    • 1 week ago

      Arthur

    • Spray Booth Number Three My first spray booth was the basement kitchen fan with a big cardboard box. Overspray wasn't an issue since the basement was eventually going to be renovated. I painted about 60+ cars before having to make changes. After the renovations, I moved the spray area closer to the kitchen window. But the fan was actually higher in the room than the kitchen fan, and was less effective even with a much bigger fan. It moved the smelly air out of the room. But the overspray dust was like a cloud slowly moving to the floor. Let's just agree that it was a total failure. I painted one or two HO cars, and decided to undo everything. It was either outside, or nothing now. I needed to use gravity to my advantage. So far it's been working against me. I bought a wardrobe box from U-Haul for $19.95. It measures 24"x24"x48" inches closed. 60" inches tall with the top flaps open. It barely fits in the shower stall. I installed two 6" inch vents at the back to evacuate the fumes. A plywood plate was cut to perfectly fit into the window slot. Two 6" inch metal joiners were glued into the plywood plate for the flexible hose. The shower has a plastic drop-sheet lining the entire thing. You can't be too safe. I have hanging lights on both sides so I can see properly. Blocks were glued to keep the flaps open. The evacuation vents had to be staggered because they didn't quite fit beside each other. When the booth isn't being used. The plate and flexible ductwork are at rest beside the sink. It was finished last night. Ted came over with an unpainted Pioneer Mustang today, and the booth is an absolute success. The overspray cloud falls to the bottom of the box. Nothing escapes into the washroom itself except barely a light smell. You can't smell the fumes outside the washroom door with the door wide open. Perfect. The power for the booth comes from an old 24" inch fan. It moves enough air to easily dilute the fumes. I need to watch that I don't leave it running too long after painting. It removes a lot of warmth from the house very quickly. Thank you very kindly for looking.

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 5 days ago

      Chris

    • Painting More Inserts Painted some inserts for a fellow slot enthusiast: Black isn't just black. Use a subtle dirt wash on the sides of the four spokes. Bring out your wire detail... if you don't want to sand out the detail you can use a wash: Spray with aluminium. Brush on flat black diluted 50/50 with iso alc. Brush on a dirt wash 50/50. Chrome knock off raised centre ring and tips only. DArt 450WIRE3KO wire wheel inserts were used. Customized 4 spoke McLaren 490 Inserts are made using 450LOT4SPKO with the centre knock off removed and 490ADAPTER added (fixed in place using 5 min. epoxy). These will fit standard Slot.It wheels now. Visit the DArt eSHOP for these inserts.

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 2 weeks ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Monday April 3, 2023 @ 7pm – Wheel Inserts 101 Gents, Now that the worst of covid is behind us and we get back into full blown racing I thought it best to start off slow with something that might be useful for almost everyone. Most of the models we scratch build use wheels that require inserts so it makes sense to start with something so common. And the techniques used to paint and weather inserts can be used for many other parts of a build too. Wheel inserts are usually the last part of any build to be completed. Often they are just given a single splash of paint and then installed as is. But you can use them to help make your model really pop - and should - since it is so easy to do! Here I will do my best to show everyone how I prepare, paint, weather & install inserts. As with most aspects of our hobby there is no right or wrong way. Furthermore, you may have some very helpful tips and tricks to add to our workshop, so please do! During this workshop we'll work on any inserts that are purchased so if you need inserts for a current project you'll get them finished and ready to go! If you bring your wheels I'll show you how I would install them too! NOTE: If a set of inserts need a shot of Tamiya or Chrome please let me know in advance so that I can prime and spray them the night before so that they are already dry for us to work on. Make sure to RSVP your spot in the calendar because space is limited. Thanks for browsing!!!

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 1 month ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Stripping Old Paint Most of us know the benefit of using Super Clean to remove a bad paint job. But every once in a while you get stubborn paint that just won't budge. I bought this pre-painted body at a flea market for $5 as a quick test. Once it past the slot car test. I could not bear to look at the paint. It had a lot of bad blotches in various spots. The body looked like this after soaking for 2-weeks in Super Clean. The hood was the first test for Easy-Off oven cleaner. Overnight in Easy-Off did the trick. The only spots of paint left were from when glued covered the paint.

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 9 months ago

      Avatar photof1nutz

    • Paint Spree I just got back from the cottage, and painted a body or two while I was there. The first was a flat black Fly truck with a tobacco livery. A crappy colour with an undesirable livery is great excuse to paint it. Taking it apart was interesting. At least the weather was nice. Then I painted a few HO bodies. Between the truck and the HO cars, I went through three cans of clear-coat and ran out before I finished painting. Three bodies still need clear-coat. Practise is good.

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 10 months ago

      Avatar photoPorsche911

    • Liquid Chrome by Molotow Anyone who has tried to replicate a chrome finish knows that this can be a challenge. As noted elsewhere I've had good luck with Krylon's Premium Chrome rattle cans - but thanks to a tip from F1Nutz I now have another great product in my paint shop that is even easier to use - a 4mm Liquid Chrome Pump Marker by Molotow. They have a complete line which includes a refill too... Available from Amazon or at the Group 25 model car show (by Sunward Hobbies). I tested the marker on some knock offs and headers/tail pipes and wow does it leave a nice finish! Impressive! And so easy to use too! This product gets 5 out of 5 thumbs up! :good:  :good:  :good:  :good:  :good:

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 2 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Simple Spray Booth It's cold outside so those of us who have cars to build need to paint indoors. Here are some pictures of a simple portable spray booth I put together that helps to keep the air fresher in my home. It was made using a clear polypropylene tote that I got on sale from Canadian Tire. This material is fairly easy to cleanup after painting and it allows in outside light for greater visibility. It uses a box in box design that allows for perfect sealing and easier portability. It uses an equipment rack fan that I bought on Amazon for just over 20 bucks. This fan runs on house voltage, is brushless and sparkproof and moves 110 cfm of air. this type of fan allows you to use any normal hobby paint including nail polish and automotive lacquers. The filter consists of lighting grid cut to fit  and fine aquarium floss built into a dollar store food saver. The fan is bolted through both boxes and the exhaust fitting making for a leakproof seal. I also added an on/off switch for convenience. The exhaust uses 4" semi flexible metal tubing attached to a woodworking exhaust fitting at one end using a 4" hose clamp and a dryer vent quick connect at the other. This is attached to the other half of the  quick connect that I have bolted  to a wooden window insert. As the main box was originally a tote the hose clamp can be loosened and the entire exhaust be put inside ready to be moved. My wife was painting a C4 corvette for Group 25 that Ken kindly gave her so we had a chance to test out the design. It worked flawlessly. It's best to start the fan before painting and to leave it on for a few minutes after you finish to make sure no solvents escape back into your home. Please remember that you should also be using appropriate safety equipment for the type of finish you're spraying. As I tend to use lacquers that means a respirator , gloves and eye protection. The whole project went together for about $75.00 worth of materials. I hope some of you find this useful. Let's get building! Cheers Steve  

      Started by: Avatar photoracer68

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    • 3 years ago

      Avatar photof1nutz

    • Painting a Driver’s Head Last week I had the opportunity to paint a 1:10 scale driver's head for a friend. It was for his R/C off road vehicle - but I'm not sure which manufacturer's - I suspect Tamiya but I could very well be wrong... I used Tamiya flat acrylics diluted with Tamiya acrylic thinner (for airbrushing) or water (hand painting/washes). After cleaning the plastic parts with SuperClean I airbrushed the head with a stock skin tone then darkened that skin tone slightly with a tiny amount of brown for the faint shadow underneath the cheeks, chin and ears. While the airbrush was still within reach I painted the cap with another stock dark olive colour. All of the airbrushing was done using roughly a 50/50 mixture of Tamiya acrylic paint and thinner to get a milk like consistency that I find perfect for airbrushing. Three light coats gave me enough base coverage. For the hand brushing I always start with the hardest or more detailed parts first - in this case the eyes - since if I screw things up I don't lose as much time if I have to apply the base coat over again. For the eyes I washed in some off white (which I think is still too bright - next time I'll add more colour to the white) then painted the iris blue and then the pupil black. I added a little line of diluted brown both above and below the eye for his eyelashes. Then I added a few very diluted washes of red over the lips - starting with the most diluted coat first over the whole lip area followed by a touch more pigment to the centre of the lips until I was satisfied with the result. Brown hair and eyebrows were next followed by some lightened highlights. Cleanup for everything was with Dollar store nail polish remover (with acetone) and so there was never any unpleasant smell. Soaking the airbrush parts in this solution for a few minutes then scrubbing them clean took all but 15 minutes... I did not use a primer and although I cleaned the plastic the paint can be scratched off with a finger nail if one tries... fortunately this head will not be handled much (if at all) so this was not a concern - but I would use a primer next time... ...hope this helps!

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 3 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Tail lights, turn signals, and back up lights I'm still learning much as a model builder and thought I might share some of my mistakes along the way. I used to use straight bright red to paint tail lights. It took a few cars to figure out that clear red looks much better. The clear lens in the bumper was painted from behind. The bullets painted over top. Both came out better than expected. Turn signals were also giving me grief until someone at Group-25 mentioned that "turn signal amber metallic" was avalaible. For back up lights and white turn signals. Gloss white seems to work okay. Note the plain red paint on the Failane tail light. That was painted before I found the clear red. Such is life. :unsure: If you have something to add or share. Please do! :good:

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 3 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Symmetric Masking Patterns for painting a car body. (This is a generalized and expanded version of some suggestions I made to a member who had said he had experienced some difficulties with masking work. Another member later asked me to place my ideas in this How-To forum.) Finishing a car body often entails some curvilinear shapes that need to be replicated symmetrically between left and right sides of the body. These can range from fairly simple to very complex curves, as shown by various photos below. Lola T70 Can-Am;  Dan Gurney and John Surtees. (1966 Bridgehampton won by Gurney, the only Can-Am race won by a Ford engine. Surtees won the first race in this inaugural season, three of the six races in total, as well as the series championship.)   Mercedes Benz 300 SL; Factory car, Carrera Pan Americana   Ford Daytona Prototype   Porsche 917K; Psychedelic/ Hippie   In terms of the masking, these symmetric patterns are very difficult to replicate from left to right. I’m not an expert, but I’ve had some success with this approach; you may want to try it on your next finishing job.  Buy a few widths of Tamiya masking tape, thin and flexible. Testors also makes a version that you may find useful. Before doing any painting, stick the tape over the areas – on one side of the body, that you want to remain as the light colour. Take a pencil, pen, or marker and draw as smooth an outline of the perimeter shapes you want to achieve. (Doesn’t need to be perfect at this stage.) Find a piece of Lexan (clear plastic sheet) from a container of some sort. Remove the sections of masking tape that you have scribed from one side of the body. Stick those scribed sections of tape spread out onto the Lexan sheet. On the back of the Lexan sheet, stick new strips of tape to coincide with the ones on the front. I have also used wax paper, instead of Lexan, as the middle layer and it also seems to work well. Remember, your original scribing did not have to be perfect; now the next step does have to be perfect!  Find a sharp  large pair of scissors. Carefully cut a smooth line (through the three layers) along the scribe marks you had made while the tape was on the car body. You now have sections of flexible masking tape back-to-back in symmetric mirror images. Save these until later. You can now start the first stage of painting. Prepare the body with sanding and washes as you see fit. Apply your choice of primer, possibly Tamiya fine grade white, if you intend on using light coloured regions on the body. Do any follow-up smoothing and further preparation; a second coat of primer may be needed. After curing, apply your light colour finish coat. Let cure fully then do any follow-up smoothing. Now, carefully peal the tape pieces from both sides of the Lexan and place them at the corresponding positions on the car body. Make sure they are stretched properly and that the edges are smooth and tightly adhered to the body.  You are ready to start spraying the first coat of your second colour (the darker colour).  Mist the dark colour over the taped pattern and the rest of the body. Do the appropriate follow-up spray steps. Let the final coat cure partly but not to a full hard shell. Carefully remove the tape masks after the final paint is dry to the touch, but still has a bit of flex. Do any follow-up refinements. You may want to clear-coat at this stage. I should mention that I have not yet applied this method to finishing any 1/32’nd scale bodies. ( I used to use it - with limited precision and success as a ten year old kid, on my IMC and MPC 25’th scale LM bodies. )  With new improvements in tape, I’ve used the method more recently on 24’th scale track bodies. The 32’nd scale bodies are 1/3 smaller than 24’th, therefore the compound curvatures will be higher. If I encounter an adhesion or wrinkle problem with the mask due to increased surface curvature, I intend to use a band of the narrowest masking tape ( a couple of mm wide) and stretch it around the perimeter to smooth out any problem areas. This method is not limited to making mirrored shapes between left and right sides of the body. It can be applied to central shapes that need to be symmetric, such as waterfalls patterns.  Scribe your pattern near the centre on one side of the body, mark an axis of symmetry, remove the scribed mask from the body, place your line of symmetry along the straight edge of your Lexan sheet, then wrap your scribed masking tape around the front and back of the Lexan. You are now ready to move to the smooth cutting step. You will end up with a mask that is symmetric but is this time,  a single pattern to be applied along the centreline of the body.   Lotus 49, Ford/Cosworth; Team Lotus.  Jim Clark, pole sitter of 1967 Italian Grand Prix, fell to 3’rd due to a faulty fuel pump on the last lap.   Hope this works well for you; I’m no expert. You should be able to improve on the method. Felix.   I used to be one of the sharpest tools in the shed; now I’m just a slot-head !

      Started by: Avatar photoFelix

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    • 3 years ago

      Arthur

    • Avoiding dust in paint This is just about my bad experiences with dust. Not how to apply paint. There's no bigger dissapointment than leaving your paint almost perfect with the last wave of the spray can and coming back to... fresh paint covered with dust or pet hair. I had to sit back and think of the many possible reasons that could affect the final finish. Any one alone could easily ruin a paint-job. 1) Dog 2) Cat 3) Shop tools (bandsaw, belt sander) 4) Forced air heat/AC 5) My wife doing things around the house such as laundry 6) My own clothes I created a system to try and combat every possible angle I could think of. This is starting out with a body that's already prepared for paint. The basement kitchen fan is used to evacuate the fumes. The entire area around and behind the oven-top is lined with cardboard and black garbage bags. Now I can explain a process that seems to work for this household. 1) I start the basement kitchen fan around 10PM. Throw a paint can on a stirring device. Then go upstairs closing the door behind me to leave the basement undisturbed until midnight (No pets allowed). The kitchen fan has time to remove ambient dust around the paint area. 2) I turn the heat/AC off around 11PM. 3) At around midnight the rest of the house goes to bed and I slowly and carefully make my way to basement closing the door behind me to keep the pets upstairs. I walk very slowly to prevent stirring dust up from the floor. 4) I head to the landry room first to put on a fresh T-shirt and jeans. Pet hair is the worst! 5) I give the body a fresh wash. Then rinse in filtered water to avoid residue. Dry the body with a dust-free towel. It's ready for paint. 6) Heat the can that's been stirring for the last 2-hours in hot water for 2-minutes. It's ready to paint. I paint the body with 4-coats using a 1-minute timer between coats. After 4-minutes of painting I slowly walk back upstairs, close the basement door, and watch TV for an hour. After an hour I turn the heat/AC back on and go check the paint. Hopefully I go to bed with a smile. I installed exhaust outlets on my belt sander and bandsaw that fit the shop-vac to help keep the residual shop dust down. But prefer not to cut or sand anything the day I paint a body. I wish everyone the best of luck in finding your own way to paint without that dreaded dust thing. :good:  

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 3 years ago

      Arthur

    • Keeping track of paint cans Running out of paint near the end of painting a car will ruin a paint job. A full can of Tamiya spray paint ranges from 133-grams to 138-grams. Empty, the can weighs 60-grams. (cap included) It takes more paint to cover a car when you make an extreme colour change. It also take more paint to cover a car when you use paints that are weak in pigment strength like yellow. You can sometimes get 2-paint jobs out of a can of paint if you don't fight the colour. Sometimes it's just not possible. I weigh the cans before, and after using them to see if there's enough paint for a second car. For me, the can becomes touch-up paint only once they go below 95-grams. Specially yellow. The last 5 to 7-grams grams of any can are often not useful because the spray becomes erratic near the end. All used cans get marked with a permanent marker stating the weight, and are weighed with the cap on. Testors paint cans are about the same. Best of luck with what ever you're painting and building!

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 3 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Testors “One Coat” discontinued Testors "One Coat" spray paints are different from Tamiya in that the metallic is much larger and more of a "metal flake". It's also very hard to get a nice shine from any of the Testors metallic colours without adding clear-coat. So Testors discontinued their "One Coat". The new Testors paint markets under the name Model Master. Everything they make presently is considered 2-stage base and clear-coat. I guess they stopped trying to mix the two together because it wasn't working very well. If you happen to have an old can of Testors "one Coat". Use it wisely (59 Eldorado :good: ). Also... Use it quickly because these old paint cans have a tendancy to erode from the inside of the can and leak. Part of my paint shelf is a nice shade of metallic red. Since the leak, I have decided to store all the Testors cans in an enclosed plastic storage container.

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 4 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Tamiya TS vs PS spray cans I painted 2-cars with Tamiya PS paint by mistake. I was at the cottage for a 2-week vacation, and a glass of wine may have been an influence. Most people tell you never use PS on plastic bodies, and never use TS on polycarbonate bodies (clear RC bodies). Now that I already made the mistake. I needed to find out why? Would I wake up one day and find both cars in a pool of plastic goo? Here are the reasons... TS is made for hard plastic and has a gloss finish when applied correctly to the outside of a body. It doesn't adhere very well to polycarbonate and usually flakes off. PS is made for polycarbonate and is meant to be applied to the inside of a clear body. It has very little natural shine on it's own. If you paint a plastic car with PS paint. It will have more of a matt finish. That's the biggest difference for plastic cars. However, there is an added bonus that your slot car will be fuel-proof. Like it really matters. The green Lotus is TS. The blue Lotus is PS paint... Oops. :wacko: And the other mistake...

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 4 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • What are you working on? Since were all stuck at home. We should have lots of time to start a few projects. I painted 2-cars between yesterday and today. Now they can cure for a week or two before working on them. This started off as George Follmer's light blue T70 Mk2 #16. The body sat in Super Clean for 24-hours. Then it was lightly water sanded with 2000-grit. The paint is Tamiya "Pearl Blue". It's much darker than the lid on the can. I recently saw a race format for 2-stock Trans Am cars and one TA+. That's a great reason/excuse to make one more stock TA car. I had a plain white TA Mustang that needed colour. The colour is Testors "Lime Ice" green with Tamiya clear-coat. My first try at using clear. The Testors metallic is more like a deep metal-flake. Although it looks the exact same colour as Tamiya "Candy Lime" green. They are totally different with respect to the metallic. Everyone please post what you're working on during your isolation. :good:

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 4 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Painting with Tamiya Synthetic Lacquers – Peter Johnson Came across, may be helpful... https://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/painting-with-tamiya-synthetic-lacquers-35?article-id=35#.WoW44mdy6Uk [Art - this complete article and the problem chart by P. Johnson are both attached if the link (above) ever breaks - you must be logged in to see attachments.]    

      Started by: Avatar photoPorsche911

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    • 4 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Removing Decals or Tampo Print – Super Clean Sometimes you just want to remove the livery from a nicely painted body before priming. If you do not, then you compromise the quality and adhesion of the new paint, not to mention that you may see the raised edges of the prior tampo afterwards. To do this you can use 'Super Clean' - Tough Task Cleaner-Degreaser typically found in a 3.78L purple container: You can source Super Clean from Canadian Tire, among other retailers. To get your best bang for the buck you can re-use the same fluid on multiple bodies/parts - I like the dollar store clear plastic containers which come in various sizes with a snap on rubber gasket lid - like the 8"l x 5"w x 3"h (I'm guessing there) Betty Crocker storage containers (with the red lid). Let the pieces sit and soak for days (or even a week if necessary). If anything remains remove it with gentle rubbing (or a non-abrasive brush). Rinse in clean water and dry. You've now removed traces of the old livery and can either prime/re-paint or apply new decals...  

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 4 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Alternative helmet straps and car stripes I have surplus supplies from building RC planes. There are sheets of self-adhesive decal material for RC aircraft that measure 5"inches x 36" inches that come in every colour. Some helmets don't come with a pronounced goggle strap. My hand isn't steady enough for paint. I use a paper shear to cut a thin strip of black decal material. I cut a small piece. Then peel and stick one end to the goggles, wrap around past the other side. Then take a razor to cut the excess. These goggle straps were added after the cars were finished. An oversight made in haste from the builder. But an easy way was found to resolve the problem. It also has a 3D effect over a painted strap. Using another colour to make stripes also works. Just know that if you place the decal in the wrong spot. The adhesive is very agressive in that it will lift the paint under it almost every time. Make sure to set it down right the first time. It was easy to stick the decal on the rear wing and trim the excess after it was in place. The nose stripes were a bit harder because they had to be cut to length prior to installation. Thanks for looking

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 4 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • When flat or gloss black doesn't quite do the job Tamiya makes a semi-gloss that fits nicely when flat-black or gloss-black just won't do. It gives a nice look to grills, exhaust manifolds, tonneau covers, and ZL1 Corvette hoods. Be careful not to lay it on too thick or it will start to become glossy.

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 4 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

    • Super Macro as a building tool I remember finishing my first car and being all proud of it. Then I took a bunch of pictures. After examining the photos I thought  "Is this the car I just built? Look at all the flaws!!! The build threads I posted have all been an eye opener from what the naked eye can see, and what the camera can see. I make it a habit now to take many more pictures of my builds than I post. I do it now just to catch details my eye did not detect. It helps keep my building standards a bit higher. Ken

      Started by: Avatar photoKen

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    • 5 years ago

      Avatar photoMiA

    • Tamiya Modeling Wax I've just started using this product from Tamiya and it really does bring out the lustre of your paint. It comes with its own 'cloth' applicator and is very easy to apply. No white haze after applying but make sure to remove any excess and simply buff to a brilliant shine with a tiny piece of cotton T-shirt scrap - just remember to be careful picking up your model since it will be slick - and no finger prints either! I haven't used this yet over unprotected decals so I'm not sure if it will attack them - best to do a test piece first. Retailing for around $12-$15 per bottle/kit at almost any hobby shop (that carries Tamiya products) a tiny drop goes a long way so price shouldn't really be a worry.

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 6 years ago

      Arthur

    • Filler – Caution Using Plastic Cement & Styrene Mixture… Hi Art: I just want to give you a cautionary note related to the Plastic cement & Styrene mixture for use as a filler... I had been told that the expert modellers use it as a filler in place of putty. I had collected rotary cutter shavings from the last time I was cutting a curve in a thick sheet of polystyrene. I left them to dissolve in a well capped Tamiya paint bottle, half-filled with Testors plastic cement, and added small cut-off pieces from time to time. The mixture eventually became well dissolved into a consistent paste. This is the first chance I have had to make use of the mix, to fill in the mounting-pin holes at the side of the Tamtech body. They are countersunk funnel shaped holes of 4 mm surface diameter and extending beyond the body inside surface. So they took a larger volume of the mix. I left the body overnight and found that only the surface of the fill was cured. I could press into it and make indentations. It became a bit harder after a couple more days. When I finally sanded it down, the centers of the fill was still pliable. The final stages of working it showed that the putty had in fact, not bonded to the plastic surface of the body and I was able to pop it out of the hole. I now realize that I should have tried an application of the straight liquid cement over the surface before applying the filler mix. Also, if you are making use of this type of mixture, it may be best to apply it in thinner layers. Alternatively, you may want to test some additives. The formulation of the plastic cement is thrown out of balance with the addition of the styrene, so adding a bit of curing agent may help. However, we wouldn't want a mix that is too thin to shape. Adding a bit of Acetone may be worth testing. Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide is the hardener/curing component for most epoxies and is also involved in the plastic cement, as acetates of that compound, so it may be worth trying. So I think the technique needs a bit more testing. I've tried a few tests myself, but I don't have enough volume of the mix to test different additives. I've been preparing the body for painting and for cutting out the light lenses. It has a great number of mould seam lines, so a lot of sanding. That exposed more of the small imperfections in the surfaces. I thought I had caught everything then I found a seam across the whole width, under the front edge of the rear wing; it became very visible under oblique lighting. It was tricky smoothing it out under the wing, especially with the intake screen right at the edge. I have the body all sanded now, so I can try re-filling those mounting holes, then cut out the seven lens sections. Sorry if this is more detail than you need Art!  I didn't want to leave you without complete info, and thought you may need the background if you try out the technique some time. Thanks Art; good luck with the work. Hope to see you soon. Austin.

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 6 years ago

      Avatar photof1nutz

    • Spray Can Nozzle Maintenance – Krylon Matte Finish Those of you using Krylon Matte Finish to seal your decals or anything else may have nozzles that get clogged even though the last time you used it you cleared the nozzle by depressing it holding the can upside down until it 'cleared'... If so, and you've made sure you've warmed your bomb, but it still fires blanks or spits unevenly then pull off the nozzle, dip in acetone and re-install... should work as good as new. I would think this works for many other bombs as well... BTW, for the Tamiya TS line of spray bombs you don't need to clear the nozzle (wasting contents) after each use - their nozzles never clog with normal use.

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 7 years ago

      Avatar photoMiA

    • Final Clear Coat – Future/Pledge is It! You've spent hours painting a body and decaling it and now need to give it a final clear coat to hold everything together. You can use Pledge - brush it on or dunk it... your choice... You can add coats easily as every coat 'melts' the prior coat and fixes blemishes. Use a dust cover when drying... and drying only takes a few hours depending on thickness. Remember, when using this add a drop of windex to minimize the yellowing over time... it is very susceptible to light and heat. I prefer the Tamiya line of hard clears... but this is the easiest way to clear coat anything, especially if you are in a rush. B-)

      Started by: Arthur

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    • 0
    • 7 years ago

      Arthur

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