Painting extremely fine details - help !

Hi,

as a noob, I am looking for advice on or techniqe on painting extremely fine details.

Two examples of what I find really daunting setting out:

1) The GT-R badges on the front of the Tamiya r33 vspec - by the time there are a couple of layers of paint on you can hardly see the detail , let alone paint it !

2) Brake calpiers on the HOnda RCV bikes - the little red word "brembo" - how the hell are you supposed to detail something like that ? Even through a ( relatively low power ) magnifier it still looks tricky. l

(panel lines were also a persistent problem until I came here and found out about gundam markers also ! )

A|ny help or advice appreciated.

Cheers

BIG"S"

A teqnique called dry brushing works well for that sort of thing.A search of the FAQs will help you there.

i agree dry brushing is the way to go

i agree dry brushing is the way to go
Dry brushing does not work well for recessed details like the brembo logo on the bike calipers.
Paint the calipers with either enamel or acrylic paint then paint the logo with the opposite type you used first. Then you can take a little thinner on a cotton bud and wash off what is on the surface leaving the paint only in the recessed part.
David
http://www.scaleracecars.com

I just found some things in the LHS called microbrush, these really help too for small details. They are like a flexible plastic rod with a really small ball of cotton on the end, it isn't cotton but that's my best description! and they hold very tiny amounts of paint, they are so small that you can paint almost anything.

I just found some things in the LHS called microbrush, these really help too for small details. They are like a flexible plastic rod with a really small ball of cotton on the end, it isn't cotton but that's my best description! and they hold very tiny amounts of paint, they are so small that you can paint almost anything.


I have them. They are used with a type of glue. Which is super strong. I guess you could use them as a paint brush.

Actually there are two types of microbrushes, one, that has some type of adhesive on the tip, which comes in handy for holding tiny as you have described, and another which are actually tiny paint brushes, with very small bristles that will hold a small drop of paint, this is what I use for small details. Or, use a toothpick, or a pin, just take your time and its all a simple task. just time consuming. Good luck with your detail painting. :smile:

Why not find decals? or PE parts?

I agree with Mike, the GTR bage for my tamiya R34 was a decal and it looked great but PE parts are always sweet, same with the "Brembo" on the calipers for it

i was thinking that Brembo wouldnt be recessed...i was thinking more like raised. If its a raised detail try this. Paint the part silver first. Then paint it red. After the red is dry sand through the red paint to the silver paint. Id use a pretty high grit sandpaper. I have also been toying with the idea of putting paint on a piece of tape and lightly placing it on the raised detail.

A variation to the above is to paint the lettered area in whatever basecolour you want, when dry, coat with a layer of compatable clear varnish, when thats dry, paint your top colour and when thats dry use the flat edge of a knife blade to gently scrape the top colour off the letters, the clearcoat should provide enough of a protection layer as to not go through to the plastic. I appreciate however its time consuming but its a technique I have also used on aitcraft to simulate where paint has worn off leading edges and canopy frames etc.

Hi,
2) Brake calpiers on the HOnda RCV bikes - the little red word "brembo" - how the hell are you supposed to detail something like that ? Even through a ( relatively low power ) magnifier it still looks tricky. l




Ok, as a regular bike builder I'll put my :2cents: on this technique. For recessed lettering it is THE best, atleast IMHO.

1. Paint the caliper X-31 Titanium gold or whatever is called out for in the instructions or another color of your choice.

2. Thin some X-8 red (or whatever...) and paint the lettering. Dont worry for some overflow but take it as careful as you can.

3. When red is dry, gently sand off the excess red with a 1500+ paper.

4. Drybrush with X-31 (or whatever used in 1) to take away any missing titanium gold from the sanding.

You now have a perfect lettering and could go for a layer of X-19 smoke (or whatever...) to give the caliper a worn effect.

Regards
Joel

And here is the picture using technique Joel described.
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/12320529.jpg