# A simple way to paint a model car.



## MadCap Romanian

I see a lot of people on this fourm admiting that they have never tried a model car because they are intimidated with painting the bodies. 

Perhaps the fear lies in the fact that when they look at a model car magazine, the paint sparkles in the sunlight and there isn't a flaw to be found. It does take a lot of patiences, practice, trial and error to get paint to look like that, but it is possible to have a decent looking model at the begining stages of model car building. 

For starters, buy a model kit that allows you to focus on strictly the body. These would be the simple, skill level 1 snap-together starter kits made by Revell and AMT. There are no opening hoods, doors or trunks to worry about as the body is usually a one piece. A Snap kit is also a good starting canvas for painting because they are usually a little cheaper than a skill level 2 kit and if you make too many mistakes, it doesn't really matter because it's still a skill 1 kit. It's a good practice kit, in other words.

For paint, use a spray can from Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Rona or where ever. I prefer Tremclad rust paint because it gives a tough, tight finish and is durable. You can also buy Tremclad in Flat or Gloss and they have a fair selection of colours. The other benifit is that they cost $4.00-$5.99 for enough paint to spray 3-5 model cars. Tremclad also doesn't contain Toluine, Xylene and other chemicals that melt plastic. So it is a "safe" paint.

Depending on the size and shape of a model car, I usually find that a pop can will fit underneath and 1/24 - 1/25 scale model car. If not, use a cardboard spaghetti box with masking tape on the sides. Stick the masking tape to the inner sides of the model. This will give you something to hold on to while painting and will also act like a stand while the kit is drying.

Pre-prep your model by removing any and all seam lines and then sand the entire body with no less than 320 grade sandpaper and work your way up to 600 grade. This will remove the moulded in "shine" of the plastic and provide a "Tooth" for the first coat of paint to "Grab" on to. Wash the body and remove all the sand paper dust, oils from your hands and oils from the plastic "release agent" used to get your kit out of the mould at the factory.

Allow to dry and find a dust free, warm, well ventalated environment to spray your model in. Make sure you are not spraying paint over top of dust and hair that might be attracted to your model by static electricity. I give the kit a final wipe with a painter's tack rag and then blow on the kit to remove any final dust. 

Always hold your model at arms length and never rotate your wrist. This will cause "Arcing" and leave you with runs. Instead, move your arm using the shoulders and keep your hand parrallel to the model kit.

Think of paint as "Rain". Rain always falls down from the top. Therefore, start with the roof, trunk and hood and then move on to the passenger side, nose, driver's side, tail and then the underneath edges. 

Set the kit aside for 10 - 15 minutes and then spray it again in the same way as before. The first coat of paint will be tacky enough to accept the second without severly melting the paint and producing runs.

If you find you need a third coat, again wait 15-20 minutes and spray again.

After this, leave the kit for a week in a warm place free of dust so that all the paint coats have a chance to "gas out" any chemicals in it's drying process. The outer coat should now be hard enough to accept any sanding, polishing or waxing needed to take out orange-peel, dust or any other painting complications. 

If you do find paint complications, you can eliminate them by cross sanding, sanding in an X pattern. 

The problems with enamels is that they tend to "run away" from high points like door trim mouldings. Sometimes it's better to spray on 2 coats, sand the kit enough to provide a "tooth" for the next coat and then spray on the final 3rd coat. Sometimes it's even better to apply a 4th coat so that you don't accidently wax through a thin spot in the 3rd coat and reveal a window of kit plastic. 

Anyway, that's my painting tip for cars. Hope it helps you out! And remeber, those "mirror" finished took those guys years of experimentation, practice and good paint. It's an art that takes time, but CAN be learned!

Trevor Ursulescu
Monster Hobbies


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## the Dabbler

It ain't the painting that puts me off, I just hate putting cars together, real OR model.


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## Prince of Styrene II

Some excellent tips in there, Trevor, that I will keep in mind when I paint "King". Thanks!


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## MadCap Romanian

No problem. I use to be a body man before I opened up a hobby store. I still use a lot of the tech I learned there in my model building.


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## brineb

Great info Trevor!!! Thanks for sharing!!!


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## rat salad

• Do you primer coat at all?
• For gloss finish do you lay down the color in flat spray and then seal it with clear gloss?

When I tried painting my Munsters Koach body I just washed it off, cleaned it up and sprayed it with Model Master Gloss Black. The spray sputtered and spit all over the body, making it speckley (textured). It didn't go on nice and smooth at all. It looked horrible. I tried smearing the paint off right away and totally trashed the body. I had done a nice job building the engine and wanted to cry when I screwed the body up. It's the only model I've ever actually started and never finished (shelved it). It's buried in my toyroom somewhere. I didn't throw it out.


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## MadCap Romanian

I've had my fair share of problems with the Testor's line of spray paints. I find that the majority of them are a little too thick to spray through the can's nozzle. That's why I recommended Tremclad.

You should be able to clean off the old paint by spraying the body with Easy-Off oven cleaner. Just spray the body with Easy-Off, let it sit for a few hours, and then scrub it off with a toothbrush under running water. Just remeber to use gloves and eye protection when using Easy-off as it will eat your skin. 

As for Primer coats, I use them only if I have done massive ammounts of body work on a model, or if the colour of the plastic is red and I want to change it to white. Usually I just spray the final colour right over top of the bare plastic.

I buy gloss paint when I want a gloss finish. Spraying clear gloss over flat can result in paint incompatibility problems.


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## superduty455

Trevor, those are fantastic tips for a beginner starting out painting a car. 
I'd like to add a few comments on how I paint my cars if you don't mind . 
Just remember, everyone paints a little different, do what works for you as their is no wrong way to paint a car.

Upon getting a body ready for paint I actually wash it in warm water with Dawn.
I then go after all the molding seams with a womans fingernail sanding file. My wife buys them for me at Wal-Mart. They are pink and have a fine and coarse grit and I find these work great for seams.

After that I go after the whole body with 1500 wet/dry sandpaper. I usually wet-sand this way, again with just a drop of dawn dishsoap. After that I rinse and dry then throw the body in my dehydrator for further drying.

I then spray Plasti-Kote T-235 Sandable Primer Gray over the entire body. This helps find any mold marks and problems that you may not see. I then fix these problems with either putty or more sanding. After all that I apply specific color primer, either white or gray, depending on my color choice.
I find that Tamiya fine white and gray primers are excellent for any colors you choose. I then lightly sand that final primer coat with a 3200 grit polishing cloth, again, wet. Repeat same steps for primer on the body.

Up next is the color. If you are using a spray can I find it helps to warm the cans up before spraying, the paint flow is much smoother and settles over the body much nicer.
In order to heat the can up I recommend using a container in which you can put hot tap water into. Allow the can to sit in their a few minutes and then shake, the can that is.
I like using my dehydrator and let the can heat for 5-10 minutes. IT is unbelievable how well the paint flows when it is warm.

If using an airbrush, then no need to heat the paint as it flows perfectly from the airbrush and drys much faster. We can touch on that more if anyone is interested. I usually apply two thin coats of paint about 5 miuntes apart. Let them flash for 5-10 minutes before applying each new coat. I then apply about two more heavier wet coats with time in between each coat to allow flashing of the paint before the next coat.

As far as clearing a body, I usually leave solid colors alone. Only for the simple fact that the solid colors I use are already nice and glossy.

I highly recommend clearing metallics and pearls. Also of note with these two types of paints, you cannot polish them without a clear coat or you will remove the flakes and pearl effects from the paint therefore defeating your purpose. 
I'm not saying you don't have to clear coat your solid colors, because you can, but it's not necessary.

Anyway, that is the gist of how I paint. I usually spend quite a bit of time on prep work to the body before paint. After the paint, I spend much time on polishing as well.

Any questions don't hesitate to ask. The plethora of information on this site is unbelievable, as Trevor has shown.
Here is pearl white cleared and polished:









This is Nero Daytona Metallic with clear coat:









Here is Tamiya Black with no clearcoat:









And Tamiya White with no clear:









All of these with exception to the black Mercedes 190E have been primered.
Chris


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## Prince of Styrene II

superduty455 said:


> In order to heat the can up I recommend using a container in which you can put hot tap water into. Allow the can to sit in their a few minutes and then shake, the can that is.
> I like using my dehydrator and let the can heat for 5-10 minutes. IT is unbelievable how well the paint flows when it is warm.


If I may make a suggestion here- I read by a Tamiya employee who builds for Tamiya that he actualy rolls the can. He lays it flat in his hand & then moves it in a circular motion to & away from his body. Shaking can trap air bubbles in the paint inside the can. Rolling will mix the paint without the trapped air.



Luke Skywalker said:


> superduty455 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Let them flash for 5-10 minutes before applying each new coat. I then apply about two more heavier wet coats with time in between each coat to allow flashing of the paint before the next coat.
> 
> 
> 
> What's that flashing?
Click to expand...

Yea, what he said!


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## superduty455

Sorry about that guys, just a term I use.

Let the paint dry for that amount of time(5-10 minutes). I wouldn't consider calling it gassing out, which paint does, but more of a chance to let it dry a bit before the next coat thus not allowing too much build-up too fast.

Chris


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## MadCap Romanian

> I highly recommend clearing metallics and pearls. Also of note with these two types of paints, you cannot polish them without a clear coat or you will remove the flakes and pearl effects from the paint therefore defeating your purpose.


This is true UNLESS you are using laquer based paint, such as Canadian Tire touch-up. But then, painting with Laquer is a totally different technique, as Laquer is basically coloured liquid glue. 

I usually use clear coats if I am sealing a car with a lot of decals on it, or sealing in a pearl coat, as I use pearl powder and there really isn't any other way to spray the paint itself.


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