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I had the disappointing experience of trying a short cut by not painting a stealth fighter, since it was molded in black. It just didn't look right. Looked like a kids' toy, not a model.
My opinion: Paint everything!
Gimme a pigfoot, and a bottle of beer...
teejay, I've got a '65 Ford Fairlane that is white in color, unfortunately its sitting in a pasture with weeds growing around it waiting for someone to take it off my hands...just sayin. :)
On the Bench: Lots of unfinished projects!
If its the exact color you want spray it down with dullcote or glosscote. But, you need to paint the interior surfaces to prevent it from being translucent, unless it is already pained a different color. Paint the surfaces with aluminum colored paint or white. Black is to severe because if it is translucent the black will be visible through the plastic.
Chasing the ultimate build.
I almost always paint, but once in awhile for a very small part I have applied glosscoat or dullcoat, as appropriate. I find those clear overcoats can often help reduce the translucent look of the bare plastic.
Don Stauffer in Minnesota
An automobile - been decades since I built one of those, but yea I can now see your point about leaving the bare plastic since it already has a somewhat smooth finish.
You should post this same question in the automotive section, might get more opinions on the subject.
regards,
Jack
Thanks to all for the advice. Jack, I am building a 1960 Ford Falcon.
If you leave the plastic unpainted, I wouldn't use a dark color to cure the transparency issue as the color would show through the plastic. Use white instead.
Personally, to me the unpainted plastic often has a "soapy" look to it and I'd paint everything but the clear plastic windshield/windows, chrome and tires when building a car.
But the most important imperative on this site is to build it as you want to regardless of any other person's opinion. If you want to gloss coat the plastic, go ahead. If you want to paint it with with the little brush from a bottle of white out, go ahead.
Gotta paint everything if you want a quality build.
jgeratic Depends on what quality of finish you want.
Depends on what quality of finish you want.
Spot on.
Personally, i always paint my models, no exceptions. For me, however, painting is the best part of model building!
Chris
I remember when I first started in the hobby, I never painted. Didn't even use a hobby knife to trim parts, but once I started to employ sanding, putty, filling seams, etc, painting hides all this work.
What exactly is it that you are building?
Do you still paint your model if the color of your plastic body (which is white) matches the color of the model illustrated on the box. I was thinking of just painting the raised letter and spray the whole body with gloss clear coat to make it glossy and protect the paint on the letters. And if the plastic body looks transparent, just spray gray primer inside the body and mask the outside. Let me know what you guys think.
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