Halfords Paint

[adz13091982]

I have managed to ruin a model with my airbrush- no matter how hard I try I keep getting orange peel (tried different levels of thining and air pressure).

As there are no Tamiya spray paint available at the moment can I use Halfords spray paint for modeling instead?

[cinqster]

Originally Posted by adz13091982

I can I use Halfords spray paint for modeling instead?

Directly from the can? Oh yeahhhh!

I find their paint finish hard to beat, but it does reley on good preperation, practice and technique. All their primers are really good - you can use the grey plastic primer but their ordinary grey primer goes down lovely on well prepared plastic bodies. Even the yellow primer filler is good but allow a proper 24 hours for drying for this one as it goes on thick. If you want control on primer thickness the white primer is thinner and not far off the subtlety of Tamiya's own primer.

When using colour top coats I'd recommend heating the model parts gently, and heating the can in some hot water and shake like hell, especially so in the winter. I also heat the paint with a hairdryer seconds after painting. I've managed to get good results this way spraying outside on cold damp days as the dryer will drive out any airbourne moisture and eliminates 'blooming' and fisheyes.

Best results for me are by using one thinnish coat (almost a dust coat) over the primer, quick attack with the dryer then two heavier coats 20 mins later and dryer again. With practice you get used to the paint looking like it's gone on too thick but miraculously the paint thins as it dries. After 30 mins a thickish coat can often appear absolutely perfect as he paint appears to shrink. I've managed to T-Cut the paint within less than 5 hours but you have to be really careful as the paint is still 'green' and easily damaged by a fingernail. Get it right though and you get a glasslike finish without the grief of wet sanding and polishing really hard paint. When hardened the stuff is tougher than any model paint you'll ever find and even their clear is ace. Watch decals with it though as it is quite 'hot'. I tend to lightly clear with the Tamiya stuff (TS 56 I think)? to seal decals then hit it with the Halfords afterwards to build up a proper bulletproof clear layer.

Good luck!
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[adz13091982]

thanks a lot for the advice - couldn't ask for any more