Can anyone show some white model bodies?

Hey guys,

As some of you might have seen, I am in the process of building a TRD Altezza which the body will be painted white with the TRD logo decals.
It's been a while since I have spray painted white color on a car body, and every other time I did it I used tamiya white primer as a base coat and white from tamiya TS rattle cans. This setup were trouble free for me.

However, now that I have access to an airbrush and automotive paint, my paint setups have to be changed. I know that gunze Mr. Surfacer protects the plastic against automotive paint thinner very well, but turns out no hobby store in Calgary carries the white version of Mr.Surfacer.

Right now the model has been painted with the grey surfacer and will need some work before white paint can be applied. I am just wondering how hard is it going to be to apply white paint onto grey primer ie. the color difference after final coat, how many more layers needed etc to help me decide if I should spend the extra on a bottle of white Mr.Surfacer. $$ is not the main concern, but I just don't like holding up the project a month for a little bottle of paint.

If available, comparison photos of white over grey primer/white over white primer would be nice for me to see.

Thanks.

This isn't exactly what you asked for, nor may it be a good solution for you, but...

Quite a while ago, I painted a two-tone which was half white half red. This was back in my days of hardly no paint knowledge whatsoever (and the model is still incomplete and needs the paint redone). However, the point is that I sprayed dark brown/rust-colored Plastikote auto primer (which I still use) and immediately topped THAT with flat white Testors enamel (a paint type which I DON'T recommend due to excessive drying time, although the flat paint seemed to dry very quickly). The paint covered excellently and was pure white. Before I realized I needed to redo the paint due to some unfinished bodywork and improper prep work, I planned to cover the flat white with clear coat and go on my way.

I have no idea if this was because of the paint brand, type, consistency, or my spraying technique at the time, but it worked. Take this as you will, and good luck with your painting.

Alex

if you've still got white primer, you can use that as your "colour" and simply clear on top of that for the gloss finish.

tamiya white primer takes automotive paints just fine

tamiya white primer takes automotive paints just fine

an even simpler answer!

tamiya white primer takes automotive paints just fine


I wish that was the case but I wasn't so sure on it anymore after my last project. I airbrushed automotive Honda blue onto tamiya grey primer and the body mold lines (which some parts were sunken and were so filled with tamiya grey primer) ghosted through after the blue. Perhaps the shop where I bought the blue paint uses stronger thinner?

I wish that was the case but I wasn't so sure on it anymore after my last project. I airbrushed automotive Honda blue onto tamiya grey primer and the body mold lines (which some parts were sunken and were so filled with tamiya grey primer) ghosted through after the blue. Perhaps the shop where I bought the blue paint uses stronger thinner?

My guess is that it has nothing to do with the Tamiya brand. Its mainly that you used grey as your last primer coat. Blue is a somewhat transparent color. Unless the paint you are using is very opaque, then you must prime with white.
It could be that the auto-color you're using has a strong thinner but unless you used heavy coats straight away, I doubt that's what caused the bleed through.

I wish that was the case but I wasn't so sure on it anymore after my last project.
All I can say is that all of the builds in my sig (except the Daytona on the right) are automotive paints (3 different brands) straight over Tamiya primer. Three of them are over white primer.
It is of course possible that the paint you used reacted differently but I find that unlikely. Could be a reaction between in the base plastic that is the problem.

I had the same problem with putty showing through the paint. It turned out it wasn't the paint, it was the primer. You have to lay down a sealer primer, then regular primer (tamiya) and then paint. Also i would stay away from spraying white paint on grey primer. Just my 2 cents.