How can i do this, HeLp

Hello Guys,

Nice forum you have here, :)

i was looking around the internet and found this site, So i thought that i had better join in on the group and see if i too can get some help.

I'm trying to paint a car black with a red and yellow stripe down the middle,

Now i have undercoated the car in grey, But where do i go from here?

Do i now go with the yellow first , then mask over some of the already sprayed yellow, and spray red over top ? ( Stripe is yellow - Red - Yellow )

Then mask the yellow and red areas, and followed by painting the rest black for a final coat ?

Not sure if this is the correct way.

Any ideas ? :)

Do i now go with the yellow first , then mask over some of the already sprayed yellow, and spray red over top ?

That´s the way i would do it, but you should use white primer before spraying yellow. The result is much brighter.

If you want to get paint layers of similar thickness, mask of your stripes and paint black, then mask of all the black and paint your stripes (yellow then red).

I would recommend just painting the car black, and putting the stripes on with decal film (http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=TF). Masking and painting stripes is a quick recipe for insanity. It's difficult, labor intensive, virtually assured that it will be flawed, and any flaws will only be correctable by stripping the body back to plastic and starting everything over again.

With decal film, you cut exactly the shapes you want, place them exactly where you want, and if you're not happy you peel up the decal film and try again- quick, easy, and no stripping. It will almost definitely look better than paint, also.

Since you'd be putting yellow on top of black, you might need to apply multiple layers of the yellow, or underlay the yellow with white film first.

I would recommend just painting the car black, and putting the stripes on with decal film (http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=TF). Masking and painting stripes is a quick recipe for insanity. It's difficult, labor intensive, virtually assured that it will be flawed, and any flaws will only be correctable by stripping the body back to plastic and starting everything over again.

With decal film, you cut exactly the shapes you want, place them exactly where you want, and if you're not happy you peel up the decal film and try again- quick, easy, and no stripping. It will almost definitely look better than paint, also.

Since you'd be putting yellow on top of black, you might need to apply multiple layers of the yellow, or underlay the yellow with white film first.

Well....true, with only exception that yellow and red decal film will MOST LIKELY bleed through or be overly dark if you put it over black. You need very good quality and very opaque decal film to do this successfully. Also, you need to cut decal stripes precisely to avoid jagged edges. I actually think that painting will be the best way to do it, all you need is to mask it with good quality tape, or BMF, and go in light coats. White primer is a must for yellow and red paint too.

I would go with painting too.
Use a white primer.
Mask and than paint yellow. Mask again and paint red. mask once more and paint black.

If anything goes wrong you will have to strip it and do it again, but still when you get it right it will look better.

Personally, I would paint it. I don't have access to decal film to make stripes. I've painted my white stripe on my cobra and it turned out perfect.

Just double check your masking tape for any lifting and your paint should go on fine. Follow what jano11 said. Best of luck.

Sure, painting may be the conventional approach, but that doesn't mean it's the superior approach. Having done it both ways, I really wouldn't consider painting it unless it was truly not possible with decal film. Try it once. See what gives superior results, and see what you'd rather do again.

KevHw- you've got access to the internet, don't you? Granted, it might take clicking a hyperlink (or worse, Googling)- but it exists, and it's not unobtainable.

Alex- yeah, I may have mentioned double layering or underlaying with white film in my original post. It's pretty easy to temporarily apply a small scrap (or three) of film over a dark surface and determine how opaque it is. Also, a good sharp pair of scissors makes easy work of cleanly cutting decal film. ;)

Seriously, guys. It really works. :rolleyes:

Sure, painting may be the conventional approach, but that doesn't mean it's the superior approach. Having done it both ways, I really wouldn't consider painting it unless it was truly not possible with decal film. Try it once. See what gives superior results, and see what you'd rather do again.

KevHw- you've got access to the internet, don't you? Granted, it might take clicking a hyperlink (or worse, Googling)- but it exists, and it's not unobtainable.

Alex- yeah, I may have mentioned double layering or underlaying with white film in my original post. It's pretty easy to temporarily apply a small scrap (or three) of film over a dark surface and determine how opaque it is. Also, a good sharp pair of scissors makes easy work of cleanly cutting decal film. ;)

Seriously, guys. It really works. :rolleyes:
Sorry, I should have been more careful with my wording, in that yes I have access, but I'd rather save the costs of buying decal film when I can just pour out a few drops of white (or whatever colour) paint to spray the stripes.

It might also be because I hardly ever stripe my cars, so there's that convenience factor too, I guess. That's just my own personal choice. Never suggested anything being superior and I don't question your experience one bit :smile:.

That´s the way i would do it, but you should use white primer before spraying yellow. The result is much brighter.

If you want to get paint layers of similar thickness, mask of your stripes and paint black, then mask of all the black and paint your stripes (yellow then red).
Good advice. (DasWiesel meant to say "mask off," not "mask of.") Before applying black, I would apply white primer to both areas you plan to stripe. Then mask the white stripes off very carefully, paint the car black, and paint both colors over the white primer. (Red also looks muddy and dark when you apply it over black.)

There's a pretty big risk of paint seeping under the masking tape. Use good tape, like Tamiya or Micron. Then use a smooth, rounded tool end to burnish the tape edges before painting. I use one of my wife's knitting thingamajigs.

If the stripes turn out thicker or thinner than the rest of the car, you can sand the edge a bit and even out the surface by applying a clear coat to the car.

Ddms

Thanks for all of your information,
Will go and spray the area to be striped with white undercoat and
then follow what you have advised.

Black mask off , then apply yellow mask off , then apply red,
Slightly sand, clear sand again. :)
Hopefully it will work out nice :)

Let us know how it went, eventually show us your results.:)

Thanks for all of your information,
Will go and spray the area to be striped with white undercoat and
then follow what you have advised.

Black mask off , then apply yellow mask off , then apply red,
Slightly sand, clear sand again. :)
Hopefully it will work out nice :)


hello Squiz, dont know if you already sprayed the car, but even if so, it will be usefull for other modellers.

As we all know masking is the most important part of creating multi colored painted cars. And as some posters mentioned there's alway the risk of paint bleed specially in areas where the masking tape needs to go over strong curvatures or recessed panell lines.

One tip to eliminate paint bleed even more is to seal the edges of the mask first with a shot of the underlaying color.

Here's the sequence I would follow

Grey primer (for the rough touch ups), white primer (finer grid sanding) Spray the yellow freehand, no need for a mask as your last coat will be black which is opaque.
As yellow is slightly transparent you'll need just a thin layer.

Mask off the yellow but before you start with spraying the red line first spray the edges of the masking tape with an other shot of yellow. This will seal the masking tape completely and even if there is some paint bleeding through...it will be of the same color as the masked off area.

Red is about as transparent as yellow so here also just a light coat is needed.

Let dry thoroughly and mask off the complete yellow & red stripe to paint the black, but here again, before applying the black, give the egdes of the masking tape a shot of yellow.

With this sequence you'll have the smallest numbers of masks, and your yellow & red stripe will be slightly recessed reducing thye chance of damaging it when you want to sand the black with 2000grid to remove small errors.

good luck and yeah do post the results