Advise on painting cars???

Everyone has different techniques.  Some people brush paint, some mask and spray, others ignore it.  I am more guilty of ignoring it most of the time.  I usually brush paint it though, but it doesn't look that great most of the time.  I've also flocked those portions of an interior, on my 64 Impala Lowrider which has been under construction forever.  If you decide to mask the outside and spray all I can say is don't use a spray can.  Use an airbrush.  If you use a spray can you'll be breaking out the paint stripper.

 

On NASCAR models, it's about 50/50 some people spray interior first, and some people spray exterior first.  Some even wait until all the decals are applied.  I'm not that brave.  I've not done a NASCAR in a long time.  I generally spray the exterior, then let it dry, mask it, the use my airbrush for the inside.

Hi Scott,

With practice a nice exterior paintjob can be accomplished with a spray can. But a supurb paintjob can be done with an airbrush once you master the skills of that tool. Now on to how I've painted for years...

I paint the body before I start anything else with the kit. That way the paint has plenty of time to dry and cure. Plus I can fix any problems with the finish and touch it up. I've tried using a spray can on the interior parts but that's a bit difficult as they tend to fly around a lot.
I prefer to brush paint the interior before I glue any pieces together.

I work with quality brushes of varing sizes and have only used enamel paints (mostly Testors and Model Masters) since the 1960's. Once all the paint has dried and cured for two or three days, I start glueing everything together after test fitting the parts again. And yes I use the smelly Testors cement in the orange tube #3512A.

Hope that helped shed some light for you? 

jhande wrote:

Hi Scott, With practice a nice exterior paintjob can be accomplished with a spray can. But a supurb paintjob can be done with an airbrush once you master the skills of that tool. Now on to how I've painted for years... I paint the body before I start anything else with the kit. That way the paint has plenty of time to dry and cure. Plus I can fix any problems with the finish and touch it up. I've tried using a spray can on the interior parts but that's a bit difficult as they tend to fly around a lot. I prefer to brush paint the interior before I glue any pieces together. I work with quality brushes of varing sizes and have only used enamel paints (mostly Testors and Model Masters) since the 1960's. Once all the paint has dried and cured for two or three days, I start glueing everything together after test fitting the parts again. And yes I use the smelly Testors cement in the orange tube #3512A. Hope that helped shed some light for you?

I have an airbrush and for single color project can use it fairly well.  Not very good with fine lines yet.  I do not mind using a brush but every time I use them with Testors, I always get brush strokes.  I have read some articles where it says the trick is to keep the edge wet while painting.  I do not seem to get which edges since the are at least three edges (on big areas).  Small parts I have no problem with.  I guess I will try the airbrushing the outside of the body first and then try hand painting the inside of the body after the outside is done.  I am planning on doing Earnhardt's lumina.  I kind of started this a while back but am nervous in painting it.  Last thing I want to do is ruin a good model.  Scale Auto had an article on building this kit but I was only able to get the second part talking about getting a nice polished finish after painting and the placement of decals.

Thanks both of you for you opinions and advise.  I have two other cars waiting in the wings a '69 GTO Judge and a '70 Buick Grand Sport.  If I can get these three models looking nice I may keep doing these for awhile.  I have built atleast attempted a couple of aircraft in the past and one figure.  I start models but never seem to get into a smooth flow so them start taking a long time to complete and I lose interest for months.

I will post pics when I hopefully start this weekend or next when final exams are complete.

Again thanks for the help.

-Scott

Hey Scott,

Sorry for picking up the thread belatedly. I'd love to do some Nascars as well. They're somehow simply not sold over here (South Africa) so I guess I'll just one day have to get soem from across the pond.

My take is simple. If I were you, doing the Earnhard car (I presume it's thje "regular" colourscheme and not one of the special ones), I'd do a base, then paint the silver/aluminium colour, then only mask that off and do the black over that. The latter prefereable with a/b to get less of a step with the masking. (For the mask, I'd use a photocopy of the "3"  decals to get the arc around the number right.) I usually simply brush the insides of everything I do after completing the outside. But outside I'd use pray cans or airbrush. Followed by some micromesh system, rubbing compound and wax, to smooth it all out (depends on whether you want to do it or not).

Good luck and show us some pics! 

SNOOPY wrote:

I have an airbrush and for single color project can use it fairly well.  Not very good with fine lines yet.  I do not mind using a brush but every time I use them with Testors, I always get brush strokes.  I have read some articles where it says the trick is to keep the edge wet while painting.  I have two other cars waiting in the wings a '69 GTO Judge and a '70 Buick Grand Sport.  I start models but never seem to get into a smooth flow so them start taking a long time to complete and I lose interest for months. I will post pics when I hopefully start this weekend or next when final exams are complete. Again thanks for the help. -Scott

Hey Scott,

Ahh... My all time favorite '70 GS (I owned a few 1:1's in my day) and the Goat. Now I have to settle for the 1:24 versions.

Anyway...
That tip about keeping the brush wet was correct, not so sure about the tip thing though.
A few factors will play a role in those nasty brush strokes left behind. First let me mention that a property of enamel paint (most paints actually) is to self-level during the drying process.

I use all natural bristle brushes and of desent quality. Cheap or stiff bristle brushes will not allow for smooth paint flow and will leave brush strokes.
I use the biggest brush for the part being painted. In other words if I am painting the seats or the interior tub (floor & doors) I might use my 1/4" flat brush.
Don't over work the paint. Make one smooth even stroke in one direction. Example - If painting the floor, start where the back seat meets the floor and stoke towards the dashboard. If the paint stroke begins to show to thin (plastic through the paint) reload the brush and continue the stroke by overlapping. Second pass would of course be next to the first, painting in rows so to speak allowing each to just touch each other. Done with enough paint on the brush and quick enough they should flow together and self-level.
The paint must be somewhat fresh. When I purchase paint locally I give the bottle the shake test. Does the pigment on the bottom mix within a few shakes with the goo on top? No, buy somewhere else as the stock is too old. Same with my old paints at home. If they don't then it's time for new.

There's really no magic formula or special amount of paint to have on your brush. It's merely a matter of starting with fresh quality items and getting the feel for it. Maybe try some brush stokes on a gallon plastic milk jug or something. If you feel comfortable with it and can figure out how to hold or clamp the items you could airbush the bigger interior parts and brush the smaller ones.

Maybe something that might help get you pointed towards a smooth work flow to keep your interest in building? My son needs to complete a car model in a day or two or else he gives up for awhile and this helped him. Myself, it might takes weeks or months depending on what extra's I'm doing to it. I might only spend an hour a week on a kit. Anyway, sorry about that...

Start with the body and all it's parts - test fit, trim, prep, paint, ... set aside to dry.
Get the bulk engine parts, test fit, trim, glue, paint, set aside to dry.
Interior - test fit, trim, paint, set aside to dry.
Undercarriage - test fit parts, paint but leaving bare any glue spots and holes.
Rims & Tires - test fit, trim, scap chrome glue-up, set a side.
Do trim work such as blackening out grille, rims, etc...
Back to engine (make sure it's dry) glue up remaining pieces.
Back to undercarriage (make sure it's dry) glue-up remaing pieces and paint.
Back to interior (make sure it's dry) glue-up the pieces.
Finish off the undercarriage and interior assembly (minus the wheels) so it's ready to insert into the body shell.
Back to the body, finish any trim work such as window trim, door handles, installing glass...
Put the two halves together installing bumpers and whatever else.
Back to the wheels - this is an optional step and can be done however you feel fit. Paint the raised white letters, whitewalls and carefully install.

The steps that mention (make sure it's dry) I usually do another day at the hobby table. I actually break down an out-of-bow build into a 3 or 4 day build following along the steps above. I usually allow a few days for the paint to dry before I work on it again. The 4th day is usually about a month or so later when I polish and wax the model. Yes my wife thought I was nuts too... I first rub it out with Crest brand toothpaste or Meguiar's ScratchX if the paint isn't really smooth and then I use Meguiar's Gold Class just as I do for our cars.

Gee, sorry for such a long winded post. Hope you find something useful in it or at least something to think about.

Back to studying for my finals too. Good luck on yours Scott.

There is another idea I came up with.  Sprasy the inside of the body first.  After that dries, without masking anything, spray the exterior.  After that dries go back with brushes and touch up over the overspray that ended up on the inside of the body.  I've done similar before with non radcecars, and with other genre's of building.  I see no reason why it wouldn't work for you as well.  In fact I'm gonna give this a shot with the SVT Mustang Cobra I am working on.