Painting the clear tail-light on the rx7

I really need help with this one. As some of you will know, the rear tail light has to be painted in smoke (on the outside). Smoke is a pretty much transparent colour, so I can't just lay on the paint and let it do its thing. I don't have an airbrush so it is quite difficult applying the paint evenly in order to make it look darker but still retaining it's transparency. I tried everything. Thinning, laying it on thick. I only get bubbles and with two layers you can see darkers marks everywhere. Im at a loss to say the least.
Anyway, I've come here to ask people for advice on what to do. As I mentioned earlier, I don't have an airbrush so I have to do it by means of a brush. Are there any tips you could give me on how to apply the paint evenly?

Thanks
Seb

with the rx7 taillight you paint from the rear, that evens up the "texture". paint the tail lamp colours, red and orange then paint black on the reverse side (not painting over the colours).
then glue it on.
thats how i did mine

When I built my Tamiya RX-7, which may be different from yours, I painted the outside of the lens a very gloss black, so that it looked to be the shiny clear black plastic. I of course left the space where the lamps would shine through, and painted those the clear amber and red from the inside. Then I painted the recess behind the lens in the body shell silver, but since that surface is so far away from the lens, you can barely see the colors in the lens just like a real RX-7 looks with its lamps off. So I didn't sweat the smoke.

But that doesn't answer your question. For clear colors, I always lay on a couple of thick coats, the second after the first is very dry. It makes the color smoother and I like the color saturation. However, on such a large surface that will be hard, so I can see where you are running into trouble. The only thing I can think of to do is to 1. get an airbrush or 2. get a spray can (though the transparent black has given many people lots of trouble). Sorry, but that's all I can tell you. Maybe someone here can help you out some more?

http://files.automotiveforums.com/attaches/69232/36295.attach
well here is the tail lamp from my rx7. i did as i said above. but i remember more clearly now.

Paint all the black areas on the back of the piece and NOT the front!

Paint the clear areas in required colours.

Paint the back of the coloured areas in silver. then glue to the body on the thick underside of the tail lamp assembly.

done, simple, glossy.

the photos show how good it looks. no airbrush needed

Here is a link to my RX7 R1 thread (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=135765&page=1&pp=15)

wow! that looks amazing! I will give that a shot! What's good about these small parts is that you can simply hold them into alcohol for 10 seconds and start again in case you stuffed it up. THe body is another story of course *glares at the dodgy primered shell*.
Thanks mate.
Ill post some pics of the final model when I get around to getting a camera :D

oh yeah, what kind of black?
semi-gloss im assuming tho

Here's how i did mine...
(All To be painted on the inside of the piece)
First Color the lamp colors Red & Orange
Then Color the rest black (except the red & orange lamps)
Then Instead of coloring the back of the body (where the whole piec goes) x-11... try painting it in gloss black...
The result would be that Dark red and orange look like the real one... (at least)
Hope this helps

how did u remove the paint when u stuffed it up? just water?

and i don't get waht u guys mean by painting outside and inside? and where exactly do you paint the black?

buy some 95% Ethanol liquid. It is brilliant for removing acrylics (only ones i've tested so far). It works even better than the tamiya thinner and costs a lot less. Just hold whatever plastic you have into a bucket of it and take a brush and lightly scrub. then rinse. I now use the ethanol as a thinner, so that should explain it.
And by painting inside and outside. The part you see in the pic is a clear part. The outside is left as it is, and the inside is painted in the colours. That is the front and the back.

how did u remove the paint when u stuffed it up? just water?

and i don't get waht u guys mean by painting outside and inside? and where exactly do you paint the black?

The part is clear. Everyone but me seems to have painted the inside of the taillamp assembly for all the colors, including the black (like when you paint the black trim around the inside of windows). I guess that looks good, since everyone else did it, but I was afraid that since the part was clear, if you looked at it from an angle you would be able to see that it was clear plastic with black paint on the inside. I guess that isn't the case, since I just did it my way and didn't experiment. Makes sense, I guess I do paint most all my colored lights from the inside....