Am I the only one this happens to?

One thing I have ordered that I really want to try is Polly S plastic prep. It says it leaves the plastic static free and removes all dust and hair! We shall see

I just finished reading, with great interest, all the replys you received to your question "Am I the only one this happens to?" At least I now know I too am not alone with this problem. Painting is the one part of model building  which brings me the most angst. It's such a crucial step. When I think I've done everything right, wash the plastic with mild dishwashing soap solution, rinsing well, drying completely, it still ends up with flaws, drives me nutz! I've improved over the past year  and have had my good luck which makes the whole thing worth it. Thanks for sparking the paint discussion, I've picked up some very useful tips.

A couple of added thoughts:

The Polly-S paint prep does work well. It also helps to sand the body with 800 or 600 grit wet/dry sand paper and apply a thin coat of primer or undercoat if shooting candy or pearl paints. Static electricity will attract hair, dust, and/or small particles. While spraying the paint in the dry air it stirs up  some static electricity. A humidifier helps reduce the static electricity problem. A rattle can should be well shaken before and during use to minimize the small clobs of pigment that make an ugly appearance in the paint, especially candy colors.

If using an airbrush the paint should be filtered before thinning and after thinning. The airbrush should be cleaned before each use. Use a tack cloth and tack off the model lightly with the tack cloth just befor spraying. As mentioned above wetting down the surrounding area is a good idea for keeping down dust. Remember you are stirring up the air when you spray so wetting the area keeps down the dust, hairs, etc.

Warming the paint expands it and as it cools it help it to lay down, i.e. less orange peel. This is especially true for enamel like Testors MM. To avoid runs apply paint in coats and let each coat get "tacky" before applying another coat. The first coat should be a thin coat and it should be very tacky before the next coat. It is referred to as a "tack" coat and is specifically intended to minimize runs. This is again especially true of enamel. If you are spraying in approximately 70 to 75 degrees F use  a thinner with a similar "flash point", that is the temperature at which the thinner readily evaporates. Most model enamel reducers or thinners have this as a flash point (approximately room temperature). A higher flash point thinner can slow the drying time and can give the paint more time to lay down, again minimizing orange peel. However, the various brands of model paints do not offer thinners (reducers) with variations in flash points.

Those who use real automotive paints can get thinners with different flash points. However, using the newer chemical paints can be very hazardous to your health and they are not recommended. Some of these paints are so toxic that rubber gloves are required to be worn when sanding the dried paint or primer because the chemicals can be absorbed through skin contact.To say one of these paint jobs is "to die for" may be truer than you may think! If you have not had the training on the use of these paints, and access to the necessary safety equipment,  DO NOT USE THEM.

Take a walk through the cosmetics department of a store and look at all the neat colors that are used for nail polish. It can be thinned and sprayed. The brand name has its own thinner (remover). However, this enemel will eat the plastic so a barrier is necessary if you use it. You can protect the plastic with an automotive lacquer primer applied in thin coats so it does not attack the plastic. You can spray some out of a rattle can into a bottle and then spray it through your airbrush.

Lastly, protect your lungs and wear a mask.

A few thoughts from 50 years of experience painting models and more than a few real cars.

It is important to not mix brands, that is, use Testors thinner with Testors paints etc.

My biggest problem lately is with dust and hair. Ive also noticed that this time of year, static is terrible, How many times have you gotten out of the car, reached to shut the door and "ZAP" get shocked and say . Ive been gluing a piece or tube styrene to the inner body and clamping a Aligator clip with a grounded wire to it, has helped remarkibly, but not completely. Being that its in the single didget temps here, Ive gone back to using Odds n Ends rattle cans from Walmart, Ive painted in below zero temps and never had anything but a glossy finish, without clear. Testors or any other product Ive used wont cut it for me in these winter hibernation months.

Flat, while agree with part of that, I don't think its cold enough to freeze paint, since it is a petrolium product. Now, I could be wrong, but until somebody proves me wrong, I am sticking with this little thought I don't think 40 degrees is to cold to paint in, it would just take the paint longer to dry, like it does when its humid? At least thats the only problem I have ever had?

The model may be warm and the paint may be warm, but if the air in between is cold then atomizing the paint could chill the droplets in their brief flight between the spray nozzle and the part.

Hmmm that might make an interesting experiment.  Next time it gets really cold I might try to spray some pure water out of my airbrush just to see if it freezes in flight.  I'm sure someone must have tried it.

This is an interesting topic as I have just moved from the scorching south to the frigid north and I have been wondering if the 40 degree temperature in my garage is warm enough to airbrush.  Maybe not.  I may have to pipe up a spray booth for indoor use.  Unfortunately, a ventilator powerful enough to protect my lungs will also pull out a lot of warm air I have paid to heat.

The snow thing is because the water hit the wet paint and it made it lift. Water will repel the paint, I had it start sprinkling on me once while I was painting and when the paint dried there were little spots of bare plastic all over the car!

I don't think the paint or the parts really have time to change tempatures, not enough to affect the finished product anyway. They are usually only outside for a minute or two, and then its right back into the house to dry.

That coffee mug warmer is a good idea, thanks Flatlander, I might have to check those out.

Don't feel alone ezzle!

I recently unpacked some models the moving company destroyed in my last move.  In the debris found the body of a Davey Allison stock car I did when I first got my Badger 350 in the early 90's.  White, Black, Red.  It was really sharp!  Same with the remains of a solid black '95 Mustang I did with a rattle can.

I also found the last model I completed before the move - a Dodge Viper done with my "better" airbrush.  I'd be ashamed to post a picture here - lackluster gloss, a cat hair, a small run.  (Naturally, it survived the move intact.)  Sometimes I wonder.  Am I am out of practice or have I lost the touch?

One thing that does help is a coffee mug warmer to keep the paint warm until the instant I spray.  I set a cup of warm water on the coffe warmer, let the airbrush straddle the rim with the paint bottle dangling in warm (even hot) water for several minutes, then pick it right up and start shooting.  If I stop for any time, I set the brush on the cup and let the paint rewarm.

If the hood you were painting landed on snow, some of your problems might be temperature related.  Even if you warm the can beforehand, evaporation of the solvent and the flight of little droplets through cold air can cool the paint considerably between the can and the surface.  If the model surface is freezing cold that doesn't help either.

But then again, maybe you are loosing it just like me. 

I think, scary as that may be, that I figured out my problem. I am starting to wonder if I'm just getting in to big of a hurry? I mean, I have been building a LOT lately, and I am starting to get a little burned out, so I have been taking it easy the last couple days and not pushing the issue. Maybe its the frustration of trying to do it really nice and worrying about it that is making it so hard for me? It could be also, that I have had these problems in the past, but didn't take the time to worry about it, or just put the bad side in, so you can't see it? Ahh, to be young and care free again

cars are the most difficult to paint anyway

hey   i build lots of cars  and if i ever got a perfect paint job like some i see at the model shows i will wake up and realize it ain't my model 

  it ain't my model

 it ain't my model

my painting skills with gloss paint  stinks

Here's something I found from a guy I hold in high regard, you may want to try it. I take no credit for this recipe, Alex recently posted it over at F1 forums:

I use Tamiya TS paints almost exclusively. Here is what I do. 1. Washing is always a good thing, but I don't do it all the time. Definetly for white metal and resin as they are usually sanded down a lot anyway. Resin gets washed in Bleech White - a white wall tire cleaner here in the US. 2. Priming - don't always prime either, depends on the color of the plastic versus the paint. Blue Tamiya Subaru body - blue TS-50 paint - no primer, etc... If I do prime it is white or grey Tamiya primer out of the can, two to three mist coats and one to two wet coats. Let dry, sand, wash if needed, etc.. 3. For all canned painting - I use the hottest tap water that comes out of my house tap when left running for about 2-3 minutes. The cans get baked for about 5 minutes, shaken for 30 seconds and only then used. 4. For most colors, 2-3 mist coats with 15 minutes between coats. 5. Follow by 2 wet coats, 30 minutes apart. Or one wet coat, wait a day, wet sand with 3600 or 4000 and put a final wet coat on. I have produced some first rate finishes straight from the can that do not need polishing. 6. The problem that has occured with the paint in the original picture is that the last wet coat was probably too thick and has eaten back down to the primer or bare plastic. You have done a fine job, I have been painting for years and every once in while push the wet coat too far and end up with the same result. 7. Depending on how thin your paint is, a good way to fix this is to just sand the car all over with the 3200 grit sanding cloths, wash with soapy water, air and hair-dryer dry, and go straight to step 4 with the mist coats, and finsh with a wet coat. I have done this before and it has worked well. 8. I have also tried blacking or bluing out the lines to see if it hides most of the misktake, by thinning down black or dark blue paint and running the paint into the joints, this has worked several times, but not if the plastic/primer is showing far from the joint. 9. You do have several options and I personally have fixed this with spray cans before and not obscurring the details. Alex Hague

Let me think about this... have I ever managed to bugger up a paint job.... Hmmm... (take that as a "YES")

I am in the process of repairing one! Yet another one... I might have found the cause to this time's blunder for me. And it might be what happens to others as well. With the spray can, the chemical reaction between gasses and paint takes time to settle down (as a reaction). I know that I was in a hurry this time, NEVER a good idea, esp for your final coat! So when you spray not having given it all a chance to settle down, it causes the chemical reaction to continue after spraying, causing a load of tiny bubbles... which is currently covering most of my Ducati's body! Fortunately I am far from assembling the body itself, as I usually paint that long in advance.

But I am feeling the pain with you. Mostly it comes out a charm, as the Subaru I am currently working on alongside! Then there are the other times...

Btw, an airbrush does help, but first you have to learn to use it properly! It is not a guarantee of good results! Though it is much more consistent (if cared for properly) than a can. Just a bit of a hassle if you, like me, don't have a dedicated place to spray where the a/b can remain assembled, at least...

thanks for the support guys. Try using a little bit of acrylic retardner in your paint, it helps slow the drying process.

Painting is my weak link in the building process. I paint by brush as I'm concerned with all the pollutants spray painting puts into the air. I realize however that some builders spend the money and buy or build spray booths.

From my experience put the spray can into warm water and let it warm up, make sure the room temperature is at least 72%. Use a misting can with water and spray around your work area to keep the dust down. You probably know this already. Then spray from the distance anf by the directions marked on the can. But the answer to your questions is yes, it has happened to me. 

Has anyone got some good tips on brush painting water based paints?

Bill.

When I used to paint 1:1 cars, it seemed like the only paint jobs that turned out awesome were the ones I didn't care about. Grab the gun, load it with clear, blaaaaaa  spray where-ever, no pattern. And then Bam.... Better that factory. The paint jobs I really tried to do a great job on, I usually would spend the whole next day wet sanding and buffing.   Dust balls, runs, you name it, I fixed it.    So maybe try that, Stop trying so hard..... LOL

I have an airbrush in the mail, so my paint skills should bump themselves up a few notches when it gets here I figured that I got shorted on the modeling skills, mine are good because I work hard! I was painting my Enzo yesterday and the can burped, which threw paint and made a few nice runs, and since I flinched(?) when that happened, the hood popped off and landed in the snow have you ever seen what snow does to a nice paint job? Its not pretty, and that part looked really good to!!!

Yes, it is just you.  All the rest of us never have problems, as we were all hatched with fully-formed master level painting skills. 

Just kidding.  I feel your pain, as I was just yesterday on the verge of breaking something because some paint managed to find its way under the masking job I had done, even though I had checked and double checked to make sure everything was how it should be.  I'm still using spraybombs too, but I just know that as soon as I get an airbrush, my paint will look like the guys in the magazines. 

Keep it up.  I've only been modeling a short time, but I've been an artist my entire life, and sometimes your skills take a vacation.  Don't worry, they'll come back.  Of course, once you can paint again, it won't really matter since you'll suddenly lose your ability to fill and sand gaps properly. 

kyle