Painting Model Kits

[Lethalzero]

yes im a noob

so what kind of paint should i use in a plastic kit?

all i know is

1. Primer First <-- what kind of paint is this?

2. then the "kind: of paint and color <--- acrylic, enamel or what?

3. Then gloss paint <-- the shiny clear paint thingy?

and also how can i dissolve the glue? i glued some part by mistake.. btw i used tamiya glue... the one with the square white bottle..

Thanks for the help

[fhrex]

I usually go straight to styrene with lacquers. I've never used a primer. I use Gunze Sangyo colors. As far as dissolving glue....I really have no idea.

[Ghadrack]

You are probably going to get a ton of different responses, everybody I kow has their own preferences and techniques.

Personally I came back to model building after a long stint of miniature painting for RPG's tactical board games like Warhammer 40k.

I prime everything, and I use (let the gasps ensue) Krylon primers for metal and plastic. They are cheap, they work well and I find that priming gives me a more consistent result and helps me find problem areas and imperfections before I am working with final colors. Priming takes patience though because if you do it wrong you lose surface detail on your kits, thin coats, less is more, you are just trying to get a nice smooth surface with good paint adhesion properties, not cake the thing in cheese.

Anyhow, I use a wide range of different paints. i primarily use water based acrylics, Vallejo, Polly S, Testors water based, I also use quite a bit of Tamiya because they have a fantastic range of military colors that the competition doesn't do quite as well in my opinion.

Using water based acrylics I clear coat pretty much every finished kit, Depending on the size of the kit I will use either a Testors flat clear that i can run through my air-brush or (gasp again) Krylon rattle can flat clear.

[Vifam7]

yes im a noob

so what kind of paint should i use in a plastic kit?

all i know is

1. Primer First <-- what kind of paint is this?

2. then the "kind: of paint and color <--- acrylic, enamel or what?

3. Then gloss paint <-- the shiny clear paint thingy?

and also how can i dissolve the glue? i glued some part by mistake.. btw i used tamiya glue... the one with the square white bottle..

Thanks for the help

I don't put primer on my models. I don't have an airbrush so putting on a thin layer of primer with a spraycan is next to impossible with my skills. Since I handbrush paint, I use enamels. Enamel paint is (IMHO) better for brush painting.

If you've glued some part by mistake, the only thing you can do is saw the part back in half.

[azrael]

Primer is basically a paint layer that allows the paint to stick to the object you are painting easier. It's not always necessary, but if your paint seems to run because it's too thin, then spraying on a primer coat is recommended. If you airbrush, then it's recommended that you put on a primer coat to help the paint stick to the model.

Acrylic or Enamel? That's up to you. I use to do enamels back in the day but the even well ventilated, I hated having chemicals around. I've since switched to acrylics. Clean-up is easier since it's water-based.

Glued parts? As suggested, you'll have to break it and then re-glue it. You may need to use epoxy putty to rebuild or clean up the damaged plastic.

[MechTech]

If you're on a budget/limited resources, the newer Krylon enamel paints have a VERY fine spray and settle down flat. They'll only run if you really overdo it! - MT

[Ignacio Ocamica]

I'm still in the stone age

I use brushes and enamels!!!

[Lethalzero]

aw... sadly the one i mis glued was the canopy.... its crooked...

and im dead

btw? do paint covers the lines to be panel detailed?

im imagining the paint to be thick...it might cover those narrow lines?

Edited February 6, 2009 by Lethalzero

[shiroikaze]

If you thin the paint and airbrush it, it shouldn't really cover those details. As for handbrushing, I've really no clue.

Try cutting the canopy out? Slowly and patiently?

[Lethalzero]

i have to find another canopy first...

Tough luck...

anyway thanks for the help..

[Vifam7]

aw... sadly the one i mis glued was the canopy.... its crooked...

and im dead

Not necessarily. Take a hobby knife and carefully scrape the bottom of the canopy. Slowly scritch and scratch away the glue and plastic.

In the future, don't use modeling glue to stick on the canopy. I use regular Elmer's white glue. Easy to come off if I make a mistake and it doesn't cloud up the canopy.

btw? do paint covers the lines to be panel detailed?

im imagining the paint to be thick...it might cover those narrow lines?

Depends on the model kit. Hasegawa kits have a lot of shallow panel lines that are easy to disappear (particularly if brush painting). My suggestion is to not lay it on thick and keep the layers to a minimum. Don't worry if some panel lines disappear due to paint. IMHO not evey panel line needs to be lined.

[Darth Mingus]

OK, are some general guidelines regarding model paints. There are 3 types of paint available for modelers: Lacquer based, acrylic based, and enamel based.

* Lacquers should only be applied on top of the bare plastic or other lacquer paints. They will react with other types of paints. They are also very runny so they should only be applied with either a spray can or an airbrush. Paints like Mr. Color, Mr Surfacer, and the Krylon are examples of lacquer paints. They are toxic.

* Enamel paints can be applied over lacquers without problems. Large coats over acrylic can be problematic. Most modelers use thinned enamels to do panel lines because the thinner to clean up will not react to other paint types. Enamel paints have great metallic colors and hand brush nicely and dries slowly so you can even out coats better.

* Acrylic paints can be painted on top of anything. They can be thinned by water and have nice flat finishes. They fall somewhere between Enamels and Lacquers in terms of drying time.

Note that you cannot, under any circumstances, mix any combination of enamel, acrylic and lacquer paint. Also watch out for some clear coats because they may be lacquer based. Acrylic based finishes are best, but they are not as tough as the others.

I would recommend finding a technique that works best for you on cheap disposable kits before tackling your masterpiece.

EDIT:

Forgot to add that some paints may react to some plastic types. I have heard reports that Bandai's ABS parts become brittle after painting with Tamiya acrylic paints, even though these are considered the safest paints. Primed parts did not suffer this. I have not confirmed this myself but it is a cause for concern, especially with the Macross Frontier kits.

Edited February 6, 2009 by Darth Mingus

[Cent]

Tamiya Acrylic airbrushing on my VF-25F seemed to be just fine...

A question about lacquer though, I have a lacquer matte Testors Dullcote, and I'm planning to spray it overtop of the Tamiya Acrylic... Is that going to be a problem?

[Vifam7]

Tamiya Acrylic airbrushing on my VF-25F seemed to be just fine...

A question about lacquer though, I have a lacquer matte Testors Dullcote, and I'm planning to spray it overtop of the Tamiya Acrylic... Is that going to be a problem?

Yes. Don't do it.

From what I know, you should use Future mixed with Tamiya Clear Flat or Gunze's "Topcoat".

[Darth Mingus]

Yes. Don't do it.

From what I know, you should use Future mixed with Tamiya Clear Flat or Gunze's "Topcoat".

Agreed, don't use the Testor Dullcote. It will cause your acrylic paints to do the Orange peel thing. I have head that you cannot mix Tamiya and Future. Tamiya flat base should be OK.

[Vifam7]

Agreed, don't use the Testor Dullcote. It will cause your acrylic paints to do the Orange peel thing. I have head that you cannot mix Tamiya and Future. Tamiya flat base should be OK.

You're right, I'm wrong regarding Future and Tamiya. My memory was faulty. The "Complete Future" guide mentions that Tamiya doesn't mix well with Future.

Edited February 6, 2009 by Vifam7

[Cent]

uhh... weird... i asked other modelers about it, and they told me it'd be fine o_o. Maybe I should just test on the sprue. What am I supposed to see if it's going wrong?

Edited February 6, 2009 by Cent

[Mallet21]

Tamiya flat base is pretty hard to work with if you don't have your ratios right.....It can leave a 'chalky' finish.

If you have an airbrush, you really can't go wrong using Testors/Model Master Acryl Flat.

[Cent]

Well I tried it out. Testors Dullcote Lacquer on top of Tamiya Acrylic and Gundam Marker panel lines.

On the test sprue, I found that very thick, heavy coats of Tamiya Acrylic would show some slight bleeding when overlayed with a close spray of Dullcote. Otherwise, there were no issues after drying, and everything else was fine.

On my VF-25, there were no problems applying Dullcote to any of the paintwork. I did notice however, that the panel lines would become softened, and that touching any of it would smear it. After knowing that, I sprayed the rest of it without touching any paint or the panel lines, and there were no further issues. Your panel lines don't bleed, they just become wet and susceptible to smearing until the lacquer coat dries. The acrylic paint will not bleed either unless you have a very very thick coat. I was spraying the dullcote about 6 inches away with light sweeps.

Edited February 7, 2009 by Cent

[Lethalzero]

I would recommend finding a technique that works best for you on cheap disposable kits before tackling your masterpiece.

currently this is what i am doing

thank you sir, for giving this valuable info...

and also for the gluing techniques...

[Lethalzero]

also about panel lines?

what should i do, use a gundam marker or? paint the lines with black before final color of paint? to create something like a shadow on the

panels

im gonna use white paint tamiya x-1 enamel on this birdy...

btw my hands aint sturdy to use gundam marker...

[jardann]

For the panel lines try a technique called a pastel or sludge wash. First, clear coat the model. Grind some chalk pastels (do not use oil pastels!) into a fine powder. Mix it with some water and a drop or two of dish detergent. Brush the sludge onto the panel lines and let it dry for a little while. Come back with a damp tissue, paper towel or cotton bud and wipe away the excess. Don't rub too hard, and the dark pastel should stay in the panel lines. This works only for kits with engraved panel lines. Do a search on sludge wash or pastel wash for more details.

Edited February 11, 2009 by jardann

[Lethalzero]

thanks bro, will try that..

btw how do i make panel lines like this...

so cool

Edited February 11, 2009 by Lethalzero

[Cent]

I think that's heavy use of preshading.

[jardann]

Yes, that is using preshading (or maybe post shading). Basically for preshading, you first spray a dark color along all of the panel lines. After that has dried, you follow up with the main color and spray the body of the kit while making light passes over the darkened areas or even just carefully spraying up to the eges of the dark areas until you get the effect you like. For postshading, you paint the base color first and then use light passes of the dark colors to go over the panel line areas and slowly build up the color to the amount that you like.

This is a basic description of the techniques. They are not really hard to do, but it takes a little practice. You pretty much need an airbrush to pull these off. Especially with the postshading technique.