Greatest tip for Less orange peel effect

I have airbrushed my 67 shelby mustang body yesterday, and after I was done I thought I would post here the best tip I was given to lessen the orange peel effect: Immediately after you are done with the wet coat, while the paint is still wet, lightly airbrush some thinner on the paint, enough so that the paint looks like you just painted another wet coat over it. This will "melt" again the paint, leveling the orange peel you had. Believe me, it is incredible to see an almost lost finish come back to an almost glass-like surface in a matter of seconds!

I mostly use Testors Model Master paints and use the airbrush thinner to "glaze" the paint, but I see no reason why it would not work with any type of paint, be it lacquer, acrylic...

Modeling has to be fun, and this really makes painting car bodies a pleasing experience, not a frustrating one.

Have fun!

Mmmmm...

I have to try that!

:icon16: :icon16:

I have airbrushed my 67 shelby mustang body yesterday, and after I was done I thought I would post here the best tip I was given to lessen the orange peel effect: Immediately after you are done with the wet coat, while the paint is still wet, lightly airbrush some thinner on the paint, enough so that the paint looks like you just painted another wet coat over it. This will "melt" again the paint, leveling the orange peel you had. Believe me, it is incredible to see an almost lost finish come back to an almost glass-like surface in a matter of seconds!

I mostly use Testors Model Master paints and use the airbrush thinner to "glaze" the paint, but I see no reason why it would not work with any type of paint, be it lacquer, acrylic...

Modeling has to be fun, and this really makes painting car bodies a pleasing experience, not a frustrating one.

Have fun!

Interesting. Do you apply the color coats with an airbrush or out of a spray can?

What color were you using?

It sounds fine for a solid color, but I suspect this might make a metallic or pearl paint go haywire.

I apply the color coats with an airbrush, I hate spray cans because of the lack of control you have. For example on my 67 mustang I do not see how to apply an even coat in the headlight buckets, even with an aibrush I have to put the airbrush up close to be able to reach them.

Anyway it must be working equally well with a spray can, only you have to apply the thinner with any type of spray gun (even the cheapest ones work for that task, as the atomization is not important, the thinner spreads itself onto the paint, unlike paint.

At least this is a technique to know in case your paint job turns rough. You still have the possibility to save it that way. As for the water acrylics like tamiya bottles, I think you need to be pretty fast to apply the thinner though, as they tend to dry much faster than the enamels or even lacquers (once they are dry, their own thinner will not dissolve them, as is not the case for enamels and lacquers).

By the way, I have tried that technique on both solid and metallic colors, with equally good results. Just don't be to generous on the thinner, or it will render the paint too watery, and it will collect in panel lines...

practice, practice...

I cant say i'd be keen to try it as i thought the thinner would only start to make the paint run and look patchy

I cant say i'd be keen to try it as i thought the thinner would only start to make the paint run and look patchy


yes but not everyone lays down a heavenly layer of perfection :icesangel like you do warren, I don't suspect you'd EVER need to try this :p myself, I would give it a shot before sending a model to the brakebath. although speaking of Mr. Warren, my skills have become so much better (thanks to ppl like him and others on this board) that I may never need to try this method! :iceslolan :grinyes:

Post some pictures

This sounds very interesting. I'm going to try that if I ever get some orange peel.

I do not know....
To me it sound much more easier to lay down smooth coat of paint than try this method... Thinner will make paint look patchy, plus there is a possibility it will dissolve paint in panel lines, etc...

You got it all wrong. Adding the thinner will melt the paint. and because thinner have the tendency to run down the body it will create a run in the paint. the proper procedure is to mix the thinner in the paint then airbrush it. I am not sure about you but I have used the airbrush for many years and I never have a problem with orange peel. Airbrush with the right psi setting will have virtually no orange peel unlike the spray can where the pressure will eventually fade which is the cause of some of the orange peel. Also i am sure pman and his kiwi bot will tell you that light coat of paint in the first feel stage is what will help with the effect of less orange peel.

For all those who want to try the method of spray thinner right on the body I suggest you doing it a scrap piece of plastic like the cover of old spray paint cover. But I will not use the method of spraying thinner right on the body after the paint is on. I will gurantee that you will develope runs on your models

I agree that this technique is a bit risky, and it is far better to lay a perfectly smooth coat of paint; however, I am just giving an advice on how to save an otherwise bad paint job. I had to try it last sunday because I had to much orange peel on certain areas of the car body.

Just remember that it must be a mist of thinner you apply over the paint, not really a layer. The mist will just help the paint being more liquid, and will in fact retard the drying process so it has enough time to level. It seems like an inappropriate thing to do, but it actually works.

By the way, I have a problem with my Iwata Eclipse BCS (bottom feed, 0.5mm needle), in that I have difficulty in layer a smooth coat on a broad area like a car body. No matter what I have tried (air pressure between 10 and 25 psi, paint/thinner ratio from 2/1 to 1/2), I always have a lot of orange peel. I have tried to experiment with the distance too, but when I get close enough to have an acceptable orange peel, the spray size is about 1/4 inch, and the control is very difficult (high risk of run or spider effect). I have another airbrush, quite old, with which I can achieve a very good coverage with few orange peel, almost regardless of the air pressure and paint thinning ratio. So, I am wondering if other Eclipse users could comment on their experience with this brush, as I am a bit disappointed by its broad coverage performance. Oh, and by the way I tried both airbrushes with Testors model master and tamiya acrylic bottle paints, with identical results.

On the other hand, the eclipse is fantastic for detail painting, this is where my old airbrush is lacking a lot, and why I bought the eclipse (but I was told the eclipse would handle both detail work and car body jobs perfectly.

Your comments are highly appreciated.