Lacquer Paints

Silly question - Why prime with Future?

Future does not serve the same purpose as a primer. You would be better off using a lacquer based primer paint that is safe on the plastic, such as what MCW has and recommends.

I would only use Future (not that I use it) for sealing in decals and giving a clear top-coat. 

If you never worked with lacquer before, be prepared to do some color sanding (wet & dry) or at least buffing. Also make sure you have good ventilation where you will spray.

Just my

 

I use a scratch filling sandable primer and wet sand it with 1000 or finer paper before the color coats. Also the first two or three coats of primer I spray mist coats because lacquer can go on "HOT".

Jhande, I usually build airplanes and have to use Alclad II on those. I paint the surface black, then coat it with future. from there I spray my alclad. I guess the real question was will the MCW lacquer behave like alclad? I'm kinda on a tight budget now so i'd really like to use what I have. But if I MUST use a primer, I can dig in my couch and shake little kids so their lunch money falls out. BTW, I have very good ventilation in my work space. I have a spraybooth that leads straight outside. Thanks for your tips though!!!

If I remember reading some cans correctly at Wal*Mart they carry some that are lacquer based. I can't remember now what I might have tried using. It's been years since I last sprayed anything with lacquer. But for a few bucks and on a scrape piece of plastic it might be worth investigating?

Check in both the hardware section and automotive section for such as: Dupli-Color or Krylon lacquer.

You can always just use more of your color coat and apply a few more mist coats before applying the wet coat.

Glad to hear you'll be keeping your nostrils and lungs clean. 

 

Rad Max 8

Future is an Acrylic  gloss coat , not paint primer. 

I would not use lacquer paint on plastic unless  the plastic had been protected by an enamel primer.

Look at   IPMS STOCKHOLM . ORG     Then go to  HELP DESK     then to    TECH TIPS   then   PAINTING TECHNIQUES.    You will find a good article on  MODEL CAR PAINTING WITH REAL AUTOMOTIVE PAINT.

Also look at   BMC MODEL CARS     good  tutorials on model painting.

As an experiment on my 69 Camars RS  I used gray enamel primer, Dollar General store One dollar for a 10 oz can,   then with the primer well dried , I wiped it down with cotton /polyester cloth. The primer coat was smooth as silk.

After several mist coats of enamel paint , followed by two wet coats of paint , the finish looks great.

The final touch was  Turtle Wax F 21 Car Polish for a deep high gloss finish.  This is my first car model and the above mentioned information resources were the reason the  car body came out so well. Now for the BMF .

I 'am just a beginner myself , the enjoyment for me is also learning new skills.

Hope to post pictures of the finished model.

Keep us posted

 

I have not used MCW paints but have used a ton of automotive finishes.  Don't go any where near Future under lacquer.  You will have a 90% probablity of disaster.  The other 10% would be plain dumb luck.  Prime with the same type of primer and then test it on scrap before you use it.  For automotive lacquer there are several choices.  Go to your local auto paint house and get the real thing.  I use Dupont Velvaseal and Velvacoat.  They are not cheap at about $20 a quart, but a quart will last you for 15 to 20 years and hundreds of models.  The next alternative would be Tamiya's TS series primer.  I use the white stuff when I am in a hurry and don't want to get the airbrush dirty.  This is a good base for just about any paint.  The easy rule of thumb is cooler paint over hot primer.  The temperature referance refers to what will melt what.  The level of hottest to coldest is:

1) Acetone

2) Lacquer thinner

3) Enamel thinners

(4 Alcohol

(5 water

If you go with a cooler thinner over a hotter thinner you will only go wrong 10% of the time.  That 10% is a paint conpatablity issue that can generally only be found by trial and error.  Good luck.  Pete J.

Why don't you just order up a bottle of MCW's primer while you are ordering the paint?  I have used MCW paint with great results but find that they tend to be on the dry side so I try to add a little laquer thinner to them, especially the primer.  I have also used Duplicolor laquer primer in a can with success.  (Available at most autoparts stores).   However,  if you plan to paint a light color like yellow or white a lighter primer  works best.   Check out my website below to see the results I got with MCW paint on a number of Mustangs I have built.  All are done without clear coat and are just polished out.

http://public.fotki.com/GilCosta/model_cars_from_the/ford_cars/

I have used MCW paints for 10 plus years with very gratifying results. I have used both his primer and Plastikote (available at automotive paint jobbers suppliers) with equally acceptable results. I like Platikote because you can spray it, wait 30 minutes, sand and spray more if needed. I avoid the air brush as much as I can, because I hate having to clean it.

Check out my club site for my models www.ecpmod.com

Andy

I found this site, along with your tips, to be most helpful in finding out what i need.  I think this link is one of the best I've found for car modeling. Thanks again, guys.