painting the side view mirrors

[kyuuketsuki]

Hi all,

I am new here. I have a question about painting side view mirrors of a vehicle.

I have difficulty in painting those mirrors. They never come out right ie, bubbles, rough paint surface, anything you can think of, they happened whenever I paint those mirrors.

I get so upset that the entire model is 'destroyed' from that bad paint.

I would greatly appreciate any tips, hints on painting the mirrors. Also, how can i remedy those that i have painted and ruined.

Thank you.

Kyuu

[mike@af]

I usually spray paint or airbrush them. Are you brushpainting?

[freakray]

I spray or airbrush mine too, never had a problem.

[Lambo003]

Are you talkin' about the mirror surface itself or the entire mirror housing???

Housings should be sprayed right along with the model to eliminate any sort of color difference.

Mirror surfaces are best represented my either Bare Metal Foil or Mylar. Mylar looks the best though!

I get so upset that the entire model is 'destroyed' from that bad paint.

Calm down, brutha! It only gets better

Originally Posted by kyuuketsuki

Hi all,

I am new here. I have a question about painting side view mirrors of a vehicle.

I have difficulty in painting those mirrors. They never come out right ie, bubbles, rough paint surface, anything you can think of, they happened whenever I paint those mirrors.


I would greatly appreciate any tips, hints on painting the mirrors. Also, how can i remedy those that i have painted and ruined.

Thank you.

Kyuu

[blubaja]

Welcome to AF!

[kyuuketsuki]

thanks for the tips.
yup, im refering to the mirror case. I spray painted the mirrors.I dont understand why the bad result.
So how do i remedy those already in bad shape?
Can i use thinner to 'wash' off the paint and restart again?

In the future, do I attach the mirrors to the body of the car first and spray paint both parts together?

thanks all!

[redstang423]

i'm not sure what everyone else has experienced, but i have found you can use thinner and some light scrubbing to remove paint if hasn't dried completely. if it is hardened or that doesnt work, there are many different ways of stripping the paint on here including soaking in brake fluid and oven cleaner... a quick search or if you hit the FAQ's will give you plenty of infoto that end.

for the mirror case, if it is body color, i glue it to the body right away before priming and spray it all as one unit. be careful you dont get a "shadow" lacking paint from doing that though.