Help! My Testor chrome paint #1290 won't stick

It is generally a good idea to wash the plastic before you apply paint. It is not always neccesary, but it can't hurt. I use dish soap and a toothbrush in warm water. Let the parts air dry after you wash them.

I use primer about 90% of the time, regardless of subject. Some people don't use it on aircraft or armor.

I am by no means a paint expert. I know there are a lot of them on this forum, maybe they can help you with the technical terms for what you are experiencing. I do know that temperature and humidity play a role in the way paint dries, though, so make sure you are not painting where there is a lot of humidity, and in an area that is about room temperature.

Also, the way you spray has something to do with it. You want to spray in several light coats, not one heavy one. Start with a mist that barely covers the primer. Do several coats like this, and finish with one or two good caots that kind of fill in the color. This will prevent the paint from pooling up on panel lines and stop it from running. It also preserves detail. This applies to the primer coat as well.

I know I haven't covered everything, but it's a start at lest. I'm sure someone can fill in where I missed.

Also, you can do a search on painting techniques. The airbrush question has been asked by many, many people on this forum, so I won't go into it, but rather tell you to do a search on it as well. Start with this section, and just run through the subjects, surely your question will be answered.
Good luck
BTW, welcom to the forums!

I agree with Jetjag.
Make sure the surface is clean and DO NOT touch it with your bare hands as oil from your skin can wreck havoc on paint adhesion, especially metallics which are delicate by nature.

Mike

Awesome - Thanks so much ya'll. Those were really helpful comments, and point toward why I was having the problems. One, I was doing the spray painting outside on a damp night; it never occurred to me that would be a problem. Two, I was spraying it on thick, my theory being that the thicker I laid it on, the better it would look. Pretty dumb in hindsight, but makes sense now. I'm definitely going to go with the primer either way.

I'll check out the threads on airbrushes. Looking forward to getting into this, despite my first disaster. Seems like a great group of people, and I do appreciate the generous help.

Cheers,

CRC Ph.D. / therudboy

QUOTE: Originally posted by therudboy My first project was a small model of Lockheed Connie. My plan was to paint most of it silver, masking the rest.

After you get a good coat of your silver down you might want to protect it with a coat of clear (spray can clear is fine or future). Reason is the tape has a tendency to pull up the silver and you don't want that happening 3 steps into the project. Just a little advance warning.

BTW: since the 1st silver coat is messed up how are you going to proceed now? Do you have plans to strip the silver and try again?

Priming can prevent a lot of potential problems, at least in my experience!

I-Beam, good point about the clear coat. Actually, that has been one of my worries, namely, pulling off otherwise well-applied metal paint when I mask.

As far as the project, I tried to sand the screwed up metal paint off the plane, but messed it up so badly that I had to chuck the whole thing. But no fear - I've reordered the kit and plan on getting it right this time! I realize now that at least with delicate paints like metals, you have to use a lot of patience and proceed in discrete steps and with caution. But looking forward to getting started again.

Thanks for the tip!

Best,

CRC / therudboy

I suggest you keep that kit. You can strip the paint if you want to and also use it as practice. I have a few old kits that I use to practice with my airbrush, it beats messing up a kit you really want to do well on.