Primer setting time

Hi just finish the primer coat on the Ferrari F40 engine (glad i did it because you dont have get a nice finish) how long will i have to let it set for before starting finishing color (i will be spraying Tamiya Acrylics) also do you guys clear parts like engines etc?

What type of primer did you use? Spray can lacquer (plastic auto primer) or just gray paint (Tamiya Acrylic)?

Lacquer primer is good to go after a few hours TBH, but I tend to leave it overnight to allow the paint to fully gas out. Primer is a tool to find problems, so now you’ve primed, check for areas that need more work. Then sand, and re-prime. You can sand lacquer primer after a few hours, and recoat.

As for clearing engine parts.. I don’t, wouldn’t see a need to do this TBH. I tend to sometimes clear bodies. But over then this, I don’t. Unless you use a clear gloss over the top of flats to apply decals to help reduce silvering, and then re clear with flat clear. Is this what you mean?

Hi Mickbench i am using a Spray can lacquer (plastic auto primer), i will leave overnight just so i can be sure it has set OK as there seems to be no imperfections in the primer or engine (well to my unproffesional eyes) i will go ahead and have some fun with the airbrush tommorow i hope :-)
cheers again

Like Mick sed- leave it overnight and it will be fine.

Incidently, you really don't need to prime everything. Priming is most important for bodies, and for items in which the plastic is molded in a significantly darker color than you're planning to paint. You'll drive yourself crazy trying to prime everything- save it for where it's needed. Usually, washing the parts with water and dishsoap (to remove mold release agents) is all you need to do to prepare parts for painting.

As for clear, don't bother. Clear is usualy used for overcoating metalic paint on bodies, and for decals. Otherwise it's rarely needed. The engine block and transmission of the F40 are cast alloy- they're supposed to look a bit grainy, not polished. Tamiya acrylic will look great on them.

As MPWR has said, you “don’t” have to prime every single bit of the model, but I do as I do tend to use a lot of spray can lacquers. Halfords blacks etc as a base for Alclad II metalisers etc… Plus when I build engines I normally sand away the seem line, and then prime to see any problems etc, but for parts I have no intention of using lacquers, Alclad II or haven’t done any “real” sanding, I’ll tend to just shoot paint straight over the bare plastic. As I said primer is a tool to protect plastic from hot lacquers, check for problems and for colour changes.

So where is the WIP? Just kidding… LOL

:-) WIP is coming tomorow just finished shoting the engine and i am happy with the results, got a really nice smoth finish just wish i had filled the join holes on the engine as you had done on the ducati bulid, but hey you live and learn i will do on the next build.

just wish i had filled the join holes on the engine

Don't worry too much about it. The transmission on the real car was cast in two halves, just like in the kit. There's a gasket in the seam, so it's hardly invisible. But it will all be hidden beneith the exhaust assembly anyway.

Looking forward to seeing some pics!

Cheers MPWR makes me feel a bit better, just looking at your build and i was wanting to get the cast finsh to the headers like on your build but as i am just starting i have seen people use baby powder etc on the paint then paint over this to get a similar effect what do you think about this? is it worth it?

The valve covers are practically invisible when the engine is installed, so flat red is likely good enough. It's rather difficult to se the plug wires I added to mine. If you want to try the texture, stay away from the baby powder- it's a terrific way to make a mess.

Try thinning XF7 (you're using Tamiay acrylics, right?) with straight isopropyl alcohol (say about 91%), and holding the airbrush a farther distance than you normally would when you spray. The alcohol will parially evaporate in the spray stream, causing the paint to be partially dry when it contacts the surface. This leaves a grainy, textured look. Experiment with it first- but if you don't like how it looks, you can always strip the parts quickly with window cleaner.

cheers MPWR i will try this method and bin the baby powder. would you shoot the whole heads silver then mask off the silver parts at the ends and shoot the red or vise versa?

The silver thingies at the ends of the cam shafts? Well, they're not supposed to have the texture that the head covers have- so painting silver first and then masking it to do the red would be sensible. Be careful, as silver is hard to mask- it sometimes pulls up with the tape. You could gently sand them (to give a bit of tooth), wash them, and spray them with your primer first- this would probably help. Then silver, mask, and red.

I seem to think I did it by painting the textured red first, scraping the ends clean, masking and spraying silver, and scleaning uo overspray with thinned red and a fine brush.

Either way, make sure you take care of the mold lines on the ends first- they will be visible when everything is assembled.