Need heap big help on paint...

I just finished my 2nd model. Both models went very well, except for the paint.

My problem isn't in the finish, I can get a mirror finish. The problem is in the texture. Every time I try to paint the body, I have a terrible orange peel. I try to sand it down a little, but then I'm lost. After I sand the orange peel down, should I re-coat it with paint? There's discoloration and swirling, would swirl reducer or waxing prep take care of that?

Thanks for your help... and sorry if this was covered in the FAQ, I couldn't find answers to my questions in there, but maybe I just missed them.

You paint too closely of your model.

once the orangepeel is removed, and you have a somewhat uniform color, use Compound to make a miroir finish

if it still not look good, put an other wet coat of paint (donc forget, paint at 30cm to 45cm of the kit, never closer !)
if you use Testor paint, well it's an other story :D

btw orangepeel and miroir finish shouldn't be in the same sentence unless you use the word NOT. you can't have a miroir finish if you have orangepeel

ORange peel can be caused by a few factors. You didn't mention if your using an airbrush or not.

With spray cans, you will get better results if you heat it up. What I do is put a coffee cup 1/2 full of water in teh microvave for 30 seconds. Then let the can sit in the water. This will heat up the paint, and it will flow and sit better. Also, if your "too far away" from the subject it will create orange peel. Lastly, if your primer has orange peel, so will your finish coat. Wet sand your primer smooth and your color coat will look a lot better.

For airbrush, both of the above mentioned issues are culprits for orange peel...cold paint and too far away. In addition, your mixture could be too thick. I find that mixed at 50/50 (ish), 25 psi works really well for me. But if your too far back, you'll get orange peel. The paint shoudl look like 2% mils relative to consistency. Hard to judge on color paints, but it should be pretty thin (practice...).

Get yourself a polishing kit (micromark.com). I think that if your using spray can's, your always going to have some orange peel (maybe not with Tamiys though..I hear its great stuff). You can fix it with a polishing kit. Start at 3600 and wet polish/sand the paint smooth. THen move up through all of teh polising cloths (up to 8000 grit). Then use a polish (Novus, Maguires, 3M, etc.) to get it really shiny and remove swirls. I use a fine cut polish.

Also, what has helped me is to actually wet sand the color smooth, and apply a coat of clear. THen, pilich out teh clear with polishing cloths and auto polish.

Hope this helps...

Here are a few my paint jobs...

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid103/p75557593af5f907d64eb3c14995d2659/f9a05ce0.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid87/p81f846b3f0d04935af1c8736e76cf942/fa9aa417.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid83/p01db74eacda21af80258aaa9c240fe8f/fadfe25e.jpg

What I do is put a coffee cup 1/2 full of water in teh microvave for 30 seconds.

euh, you know it's dangerous to do that right ? :eek7:

euh, you know it's dangerous to do that right ? :eek7:
not dangerous to put a coffe cup of water in the microwave.....is dangerous to put the paint can in the microwave with the cup...

I don't think he was microwaving the can

No Vric was right, water can explode when heated in a microwave.
More info here (http://www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/microwave.html)

No Vric was right, water can explode when heated in a microwave.
More info here (http://www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/microwave.html)

thanks for the link

it was womething I learned in physics courses

here is others:
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/m/microwavewater.htm
http://www.stiller.com/water.htm

it's rare, but can happen. I seen this in the courses I had in college

Anywau as for the topic, use hot watter to warm the can. just so it feel the same temp as your hand (not hotter, not cooler)

well I'll be damned. I guess you learn something new every day. sorry for being a smart ass then.

Guys LOL....I must have written that wrong. This is what I meant.

Step 1). Heat the water in the microwave...make it hot, not boiling.

Step2). Take the water out of the microwave, and put the paint can in the hot Water until the paint is "heated up".

Sorry if I started something. Microwaving a can of paint would certainly be pretty stupid. LOL

Hot water from a tap should be hot enough to warm up your can before painting.

Hot water from a tap should be hot enough to warm up your can before painting.
what he said^ unfourtunately id didnt do that today but its not like its a contest car or anything.

hey i have a newbie question.. i have a can of tamiya lexan paint, can i just paint the body without any preparation whatsoever? maybe a little wiping with a tissue..

There is no problem heating water in a microwave. Superheating is rare and only consist when done in corningware or something extremely smooth. If you are still paranoid, put a little salt in and that will break the barrier and start the boiling process.

You paint too closely of your model.

once the orangepeel is removed, and you have a somewhat uniform color, use Compound to make a miroir finish

if it still not look good, put an other wet coat of paint (donc forget, paint at 30cm to 45cm of the kit, never closer !)
if you use Testor paint, well it's an other story :D

btw orangepeel and miroir finish shouldn't be in the same sentence unless you use the word NOT. you can't have a miroir finish if you have orangepeel

I didn't understand the first sentance...

Sorry, I know you can't have an orange peel mirror finish. I meant I can make the car shiney, but it's a textureful shine.

I bought some stuff that's supposed to renew paint and remove swirls, I'll experiment with sanding down orange peel and using that. My project s13 is too ugly WITHOUT orange peel, I need to get a perfect paint job, lol.

hey ozzy
maybe you should try posting sum pics, then people might be able to help you better

just a suggestion

I'll experiment with sanding down orange peel and using that.
best way to learn

but orange peel is often becose you paint with your spraycan too closely of the model

you should stay always at about 30 to 45cm of the model

Hmmm, what's that in inches?

I don't think that's my problem though. I always stay at LEAST 1 foot away from my model.

Seec, good idea. I'll get pictures as soon as my digital camera comes back home. (my parents took it on vacation) I'll get pictures of my finished 3-viddy Z too.

Hmmm, what's that in inches?

.

http://www.digitaldutch.com/unitconverter/