Another modelling newbie

Hi guys,

Just thought i'd say hi and introduce myself :smile:

Kinda got 2 kits on the go atm -

Revell Dodge Viper - 1/25 - worked on this with my niece (13) when she bought it after xmas, both worked on painting, and i brush painted the body (urk!). Paintwork is crap imo, and i'm using this kit as a guinea pig for spraying and polishing.

After reading these forums & FAQ's several times (which are invaluable for ANY modeller, esp a newb such as myself), i started my -

Tamiya Nissan 350Z - 1/24 - brush painted a few of the smaller parts (brake disks), and bought a cheap airbrush (badger 250 i think?) and using propellant cans. So much better than brush painting (which i hate), but would prefer a bit more accuracy and control with an airbrush. Has taken a while to get a decent paint:thinner mixture (3:2 seems to work well for me), but am getting there.

Main concern atm is the car body - primered with Halford's Plastic primer, and sprayed with TS-17. Not much left in the can and have given it 2 mist coats, and a slightly heavier coat.

Did a test on the Viper (sprayed with another can, same amount of coats) and polished with t-cut which pretty much instantly cut right through to the primer. Order some Scratch-X which arrived today, tried it on another part of Viper and is MUCH more kinder to the the paint, and gives a great shine in comparison to t-cut.

Anyway, will sand the 350Z in a few days (bought a MicroMesh polishing cloth kit) and give it another coat of TS-17 after a wash. Just one question, how should the paint finish look on the body before the final sand and rub with scratch-x?. I have seen a few images, but it's kinda hard to tell when jpegs are used - should it be smooth and shiny? I currently have a lot of 'rough' areas on the bonnet and roof (more towards one side of car). I will sand these out and repaint, just wondering how 'wet' the body should be after the final coat?

I will take some pics when the model is done, if anyone is interested in a first model from a newb :)

Looking forward to completing this as best as i can, so i can buy a new Viper kit for my niece and building/painting it to a quality that will make her happy.

Cheers,

Flapster - Andy T.

Welcome aboard!! :wave:

It's hard to find the right words to describe what the paint surface looks like, especially if I want you to 'see' the conditions we describe.

The best thing, I guess, is to think of the paint in two dimensions: flat and shiney.

All flat and shiney is of course the goal. However, it rarely comes out of the can that way.

Sometimes you'll get a paint surface that's shiney (meaning you can see reflections) but not flat, so those reflections are distorted.

Other times, it's flat but not shiney. The surface is level, but dull and not reflective; sometimes hazy, sometimes scratchy. This is sometimes harder to tell, because it's difficult to judge the flat-ness of the paint without the reflections.

And too much of the time, it's neither flat nor shiney. In that case, I prefer to polish the surface a little first, to then be able to judge the flat-ness...

As far as how much paint: almost always, less is better. Many thin coats is better than any too-thick coats.

Tamiya has posted a beginner's painting guide, and the best part is a small movie file in which they demonstrate a fair pace for your spray can passes:
http://www.tamiya.com/english/scale/beginner2/2.htm

Thanks for the reply jay - that vid from the Tamiya site was interesting, seems to spray closer and makes the pass a lot faster, i'll try that after i get the current coat smoothed out, cheers :)

Flapster - Andy T.

Welcome aboard!! :grinyes: :smokin:

Thanks for the reply jay - that vid from the Tamiya site was interesting, seems to spray closer and makes the pass a lot faster, i'll try that after i get the current coat smoothed out, cheers :)

Flapster - Andy T.

you can do it slower but addind distence. The video give you the main idea :D If your can is basicly empty after only 3 coats, you probably paint too far, so you wast lot of paint. A Tamiya Spraycan should be ok for 2 kit.

As for your "Airbrush", you will get better result out of a spraycan and will cost you less money. (we talked often about those cheap "airbrush")

as for the scratch-x (auto wax) just make several coat of paint (at last 3) then rub few weeks after (not before, or you will have bad result)

and Welcome abord !

Welcome to AF Andy T. :)

WELCOME TO AF! :biggrin:

Welcome to the "money drain" forums.
Dont know what i mean?............wait to you see all the models you want and have to order them!!!