having tough time with paints.

Hi roelrmz welcome to the forum.

"Boiling" may indicate some surface grease/oil or too much paint being applied from a can held too close to the surface. Dull may just require a polish. Wrinkled maybe a reaction to the surface underneath. Chalky ??

First thing before you paint you must always wash the body to remove anything from the surface like the grease/oils from your fingers. Then shake the can for several minutes and heat it. I place it in hot water or leave it in the sun (ite been said don't put it in boiling water but I usually boil the jug pour the water into a bowl and then place the cans straight in - never a problem)

Many people use an undercoat especially formulated for plastic like the Tamiya undercoats. I use this and also the Dulicolour automotive undercoat. Be careful though with the latter as it sometimes attacks plastic (I've only experienced this once with a Tamiya kit). However an undercoat is not altogether necessary. One advantage is that if the body hasn't been cleaned properly it will show at this point and is therefore easier to sand back. Lightly sand this coat after its properly dried (at least 24 hrs or so, although I have been known to sand after only a couple of hours if the body has been in a warm environment), wash again with soapy water then start misting on the top coats.

If you aren't going to use an undercoat then just mist on the top coat first. This means holding the can further away from the model so less paint droplets land on the surface. It will take maybe 3 or 4 passes before the area may be nearly covered. By misting on the top coat this will again reveal any likely problems such as grease/oil spots. You're see these as small areas that the paint recedes away from, exposing the undercoat or body beneath. The distance you hold the can away from the body is a bit trial and error and is also relative to the speed at which you pass across the body. A slow pass, close to the object will result in more paint and the more likelihood of runs. The faster the pass the closer you can hold the can. Over the years I have found I hold the can about 17-20 cm away and move quite fast. For me a misting coat the can would be about one and a half that distance.

I always allow the coat to "flash-off" before I attempt another pass. This is when the paint turns from the glossy appearance to a dull appearance. This may be up to a couple of minutes depending upon warmth. I'll lay maybe 3 or 4 complete coats over the model, maybe a few more across selected parts if the part is difficult to reach (eg under a racing car wing or through a front grille) allowing a couple of minutes at least between each pass. after each coat I'll check for any surface problems and if any appear i stop immediately. If all goes well then I'll leave to dry for several more minutes before putting over a "wet" coat. Up until now the paint will look somewhat dull. The wet coat means moving the can slower and maybe slightly closer so more paint goes on "wet". This is what will give you the glossy finish. I'll also make sure the can is hot again before this coat. Don't rush it as this process may take upwards of 30 minutes and you're not finished yet! At this point I will put the piece away to dry thoroughly maybe several days. If I'm not happy with the coverage or surface I'll sand lightly and repeat the wet coats.

I always expect to polish the final coat with either an automotive ploish (especialy if I use Duplicolour) or the Tamiya polish. However good you think the fianl coat is generally always a light polish will make it better, this will remove any dullness (try polishing a matt or semi-gloss paint and see the effect), orange peel etc.

Sorry for the long epsitle but hopefully that will help. Take your time and practise.

Testors paints are ok, but they require a little more work in my opinion. To get a real nice gloss finish with Testors I have to use my polishing kit (Micro-mesh kit KR-70). I also don't like the amount of time thats required for their paints to cure. Don't get me wrong, I frequently use Testors products, just not as much for bodywork.

I would reccomend Tamiya's spray line (TS). These are synthetic laquers (whatever that is. I'm not a chemist so I won't pretend to have a clue) They are the best hobby paint on the market today. There is a huge selection of colors to pick from. The great thing is that they dry rock hard very quickly. Recently I painted all the body work on a motorcycle kit and was decaling it 2 hours later. Another great thing is that they are very glossy straight out the can. Often no clear coat or polishing is required at all! Tamiya designed a very nice spray nozzle that atomizes the paint very well. It also feels as if the cans are pressurized more. Either way it's very easy too produce a nice finish straight out of the can.

Darren

A good thing about Tamiya spray cans is that you don't have to turn the can upside down and clean the nozzle, it'll work anyway and the paint in the can will last longer as you don't spray it out in the open air. If it would get clogged anyway just put the nozzle in a jar with white spirit over night and it'll be fit for fight again. The Tamiya TS-range is by far the best spraycans you can put your hard earned bucks on, they give excellent results with little or no fuzz. I just got a shipment from HLJ today with pearl yellow for my Pennzoil Skyline, some cans of white primer and the new pearl clear coat. I'm very excited about the clearcoat stuff and what it's gonna look like when applied. This will probably be the last time I order paint from HLJ as we now got them in Sweden to...at last. Can't really figure out what took them so long to get here!?

Cheers!
Niclas

i agree, tamiya is the only spary paint to use. at least you can get the tamiya sprays, we get them in New Zealand, but can only get the smaller bottles of acrylic paint, not the larger, the importer said the larger tamiya acylics are no longer made and they can't import them. yeah right. still charing us the same price for less paint!!!