# best way to paint body 1/12 scale mustang



## rwebster (Jan 21, 2013)

whats the best way to prime and paint my mustang, first car in a while, what kind of paint and primer is best to use? do i wet sand first?


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Well, there are probably a few ways to go about this. If it were me, and the car was going to be a pretty simple color available in a Tamiya spray paint, I would use that.

You may want to do a little sanding on the body first. pretty much all model car bodies have some mold parting lines around the window pillars, front and back corners, down the edge of the hood area or trunk, etc. You will want to remove those before painting.

I like Tamiya spray primer. If you are painting the car in a light or bright color, be sure to use white. You can also lightly wet sand the primer if necessary. 

Apply several light color coats instead of one or two heavy coats. You can also lightly sand or polish between coats if necessary. Make your last color coat somewhat heavier and slightly wet. The trick is to get the paint on thick enough so the whole car is wet and the paint all flows together and dries at the same time. But, don't glop it on so thick it runs (runs can be sanded out later).

Tamiya sprays can give a pretty nice gloss as is. If you want to add a clear finish, I like their glosss spray, or you can use Pledge with Future Shine applied with a large, soft, quality brush. Future is self leveling and you can brush it on a body and it will level out smoothly before it dries. If you see the Future starting to pool up here and there, wick off the excess with a paper towel. You can also brush on a second coat of Future the next day. If you don't like the finish, it can be stripped off with Windex.

Otherwise, airbrush the body with your preferred type and color of paint...


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## fire91bird (Feb 3, 2008)

Just be careful with metallic colors if it needs sanding. Metallic colors generally don't sand well, so you need to apply a clear coat before sanding or polishing.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I've never had any problem sanding the Tamiya lacquer paints; metallic or otherwise. Just make sure they are fully cured. Since the paints do dry to the touch very quickly, sometimes you think they are fully cured but they are still soft inside. Let them cure a day or two to be safe.


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## fire91bird (Feb 3, 2008)

I generally give it a week, (paint one weekend, polish the next). My experience has been if I spot sand metallics without clearing, that area will get darker and once that happens, a clear coat only makes it worse. I've been able to avoid it for the most part by clear coating metallics before polishing, but I imagine if you sand then entire car body the metallic finish would be uniform in that case. You're fortunate to have a technique that works with different paint, I have to treat solids, metallics and candies all differently. All spray cans, so that might be part of it as well.


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## rwebster (Jan 21, 2013)

what grit sanding should i start with?


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## fire91bird (Feb 3, 2008)

I've had good results using 600 grit lightly over the whole body. Mold lines may require a little more attention and I've found sanding sticks work pretty well for those. After that, I'll wash the parts with water and a little dish washing soap to remove the sanding dust and any other residue, letting it dry before priming.


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Consider including the use of your fingers to sense when the model is smooth: we can sense variations under 200 micrometers with our fingers. As for the eye, consider using light sources obliquely raking the surface of the model to highlight texture variations as well.

... and if there are mold lines on the c-pillar, we have to be extra careful to know when to stop sanding those!


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