# Painting Resin Bodies.



## bolts69 (Dec 24, 2009)

When painting two toned bodies, when I take the tape off some of the paint comes off. What type of paint and tape does everyone use and how do you prep the body before painting?


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

some folks clear coat the first color before masking for the second color.

roughing up the body with very fine sandpaper and priming is a good idea.

washing resin bodies thoroughly is recommended. Bleche-White is a good product to clean resin bodies with. dish washing detergent can usually remove all of the mold release. I like Palmolive 

some resins leach mold release for a long time and are not easy to paint at all.


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## SuperDave321 (Mar 10, 2015)

Al is dead on about the prep. I even wipe down resin with thinner. I paint with 1/1 automotive paint, Acrylic urethane base coat clear coat. Shot thinly through an airbrush and use low tac tape.Tamiya tape is really good stuff. Pull the tape back over itself when you peel it off. Some people use an xacto blade and cut the line between colors before removing tape. I also always cut my own line on the tape before I put it on the car. Gives a much cleaner edge.

Now, What paint, tape and prep do you use?


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

Good above suggestions...
I use a stiff toothbrush with some Soft Scrub bathroom cleaner. Ajax or Comet would also work. The grit helps etch the body, let dry then a coat of Duplicolor High Build primer, sand/body work if necessary, prime, paint...
Tamiya tape for two-toning, burnish the tape edge. I use lacquer base paints so they tend to bond to one another over enamel... If possible, spray your lighter color first...Try to use only enough to hide on your second color...Remove the tape as soon as possible to keep the adhesive form marking the base color... A couple coats of clear between colors can be helpful also. You can lightly sand away overspray if necessary... RM


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

Taymia makes an excellent tape that has a lo-tac that I use

10mm Modeler's Masking Tape w/ Dispenser - Tamiya - Finishing Supplies - Model Supplies


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

Hilltop Raceway said:


> Good above suggestions...
> I use a stiff toothbrush with some Soft Scrub bathroom cleaner. Ajax or Comet would also work. The grit helps etch the body, let dry then a coat of Duplicolor High Build primer, sand/body work if necessary, prime, paint...
> Tamiya tape for two-toning, burnish the tape edge. I use lacquer base paints so they tend to bond to one another over enamel... If possible, spray your lighter color first...Try to use only enough to hide on your second color...Remove the tape as soon as possible to keep the adhesive form marking the base color... A couple coats of clear between colors can be helpful also. You can lightly sand away overspray if necessary... RM


I'm "Lazy"... I use an old (because the bristles are Soft now) electric tooth brush (the cheapest you can get w/ a rotary or vibration head). that take standard AA-Battery or such...
Next, I use the RED Jeweler's Rouge by "Mothers" or any of "FINE" Rubbing/Polishing compound that You would use on a 1:1 car....
Fast, Easy, & Fairly Uniform. 
Then running warm water, "Dawn" liquid-soup (grease/oil cutting)..
and a clean Old-Electric toothbrush.. to rinse off everything....
let dry or blow-off w/ electronics cleaning compressed air...
wipe down several times, w/ alcohol-pads ..
Prime, let set, & Paint primary color....
after the paint cures (usually next day, or 8-ish hours) clear-coat w/ "Future" a couple times...
do the masking w/ narrow Tamiya( Hobby-Lobby, ect) , and wipe down the area for the second color w/ alcohol pads again....
carefully shoot (& cussing is normal, do to that tiny spot you missed... that sticks-out like a "Beacon" :frown2: ) then after it sets a couple of minutes, CAREFULLY remove the masking tape,,
& let cure overnight.. then clear coat the whole body & place under a magnifier-lamp (for low heat to dry/cure B-4 dust & bugs can screw it up.)
re-clear-coat several times & use lamp to dry cure in between coats..
also, a hair-dryer works well on LOW HEAT & SPEED Setting....

so far.. so good..
Bubba :wink2:


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## 60chevyjim (Feb 21, 2008)

I use the bleach white and then comet or ajax with a toothbrush .
and wash it with dawn and the toothbrush again and rinse with very warm water ..
I don't have any problems with paint sticking ..
I do a lot of resin bodies with flames using flamemask brand adhesive stencils ..


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## bolts69 (Dec 24, 2009)

Gentlemen, thanks for all the tips. I finally can do a pretty nice two toned paint job. It's not show room but not to bad.
Thanks again.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

Go easy with the heat when you are working on resin bodies, even warm water can soften them. If the caster has used a silicone mold release agent extra cleaning will be needed before you apply any paint. Regular washing does not always remove silicone.
Tamiya tape works well, as an extra precaution you can shoot some clear or brush on some Future to prevent any bleed at the tape line.


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## tonesua (Jul 1, 2006)

Rich Dumas said:


> Go easy with the heat when you are working on resin bodies, even warm water can soften them. If the caster has used a silicone mold release agent extra cleaning will be needed before you apply any paint. Regular washing does not always remove silicone.
> Tamiya tape works well, as an extra precaution you can shoot some clear or brush on some Future to prevent any bleed at the tape line.


You can say that again. Prep is everything. I made a few resin tiki and moai heads for necklaces, and the mold release I used was hard to scrub off, even resorting to some orange cleaner. I had issues with paint lifting off (using acryic. lacquer Monster Kolor brand, great for airbrushing), through out the painting process.

I would also recommend using a barrier type spray, if you are going to use harsher lacquer paint, as resins can not always stand up to lacquers. Do they still make it? 

I love blue painters tape. But for the tight areas, many airbrush pros recommend the tamiya lo tac tape.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Well bud, show us what you came up with on your first endeavor ?


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## bearsox (Apr 22, 2006)

*If you also cast your own bodies ... a simple trick is to de-shine the bodies prior to casting them ! Sounds funny but i did this on my 55 Chevy trucks for some guys when casting as an example by making 2 molds , 1 with the bodies shining due to a nicely polished body entering mold and the other a nice dull body non polished and lite scuff ! Post cast very noticable which is which and the scuffed body just needed a wash and she was ready to paint ! Since the typical reason for paint not adhering was relieved prior to casting the issues was settled and an easier fix was found ! *


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## jimkelsey (May 7, 2013)

I generally wash the body in Dawn detergent and that pretty much gets off all of the oils. I then use Testors enamels, beginning with a basecoat of flat white. This allows me to see all of the flaws and provides a nice base for any color. Here is a link to three resin bodies that I painted over Christmas, made by Jeffrey Schmidt: 2010 Camaro, 1969 Barracuda and a 1968 Dodge Cornet. https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/


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## jimkelsey (May 7, 2013)

I generally wash the body in Dawn detergent and that pretty much gets off all of the oils. I then use Testors enamels, beginning with a basecoat of flat white. This allows me to see all of the flaws and provides a nice base for any color. I then use blue masking tape to mask everything off - or sometimes clear scotch tape. Here is a link to three resin bodies that I painted over Christmas, made by Jeffrey Schmidt: 2010 Camaro, 1969 Barracuda and a 1968 Dodge Cornet. https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/


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