Spray Can!!!!

No, you didn't mess up by choosing a spray can. This ship...

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...was my first ship model and my first model in 15 years. The red, white, buff and some of the black are not only sprayed on from a can, but from Wal-Mart house brand cans that go for under a buck!

I got the confidence to use a Wal-Mart can from this thread:

http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=37406

The tips the others have offered here are all great, especially the one about practicing with a milk jug. Go buy a cheap Wal-Mart can and practice. Also, warming the can changes everything, so stick it in war water for a couple of minutes.

Here's another tip: Prime EVERYTHING that you spay. No exceptions! Primer won't solve the problem you brought to the forum today, but trust me, it will save you a lot of sanding later. I had some horrible orange peel problems with this ship. I basically had to sand white paint off the entire hull because I shot onto it without priming first.

side note, theres more than 1 variety of blue painters tape. If you're looking at the most common 3M, the blue tape and blue cardboard core - the tape has a texture. Dont use that. The "designer" sometimes called tape, blue with an orange core, no texture, very thin and smooth (but unfortunately not as thin as BMF) that I use all the time, and it gives very clean lines and is very low tack.

I also like their plastic tape you can get at an autobody place, from 1/8" rolls on up. Thats nice for curves and curved pieces since you put tension on the tape as you pull it and it will conform to the shape. I used the 1/8 to put the white spiral on a FW190 nose. Try that with regular masking.

waste gate wrote:

If you need to take off the current 'runny...gloppy....dumb looking' paint I would suggest Castrol Super Clean.  You can find it at NAPA auto stores (and probably other places like Wal-mart)under the name Super Clean.  Castrol divested itself of the product.

Ok I think I got the right thing....its called super clean and it is in a spray bottle....so now what do I do with it?

There a few things to look out for when using spray cans.  First is temperature and humidity.  Temperature extremes as well as high humidity will wreak havoc with the paint.  Both in the way that it sprays and in the way that is dries.  If temp and humidity are within reason, make sure the can is well shaken.  Give it a good, long shaking - usually longer than the 2 minutes it recommends on the can.  Remember, you really don't know how long the paint has been sitting on the shelf, so there may be chemical seperation of the paint and the kicker in the can.  Next is the distance.  Keep the can between 8 and 12 inches from the surface of the piece you're painting.  Too close and yo'll get drips and runs.  Too far and the paint will dry before it gets to the surface and the paint will appear to be gritty.  You want to do several very light coats instead of one heavy coat.  I know it seems like it will take forever, but you'll be much happier in the end.  And try to resist the urge to give it a second coat before the first one is dry.  With primer, I'd suggest a half  hour between coats (though primer is usually dry in 10 minutes).  With the enamel top coats (which is what most of your krylons and duplicolors are), I'd suggest waiting at least 12 hours between inital light coats and at least 24 hours when you're getting around to the finishing coats.

With primer, make sure you get regular primer and not filler primer.  Filler primer is much thicker and will obliterate all details, which is not fun to try and fix.

-Fred

Triarius wrote:

waste gate wrote: If you need to take off the current 'runny...gloppy....dumb looking' paint I would suggest Castrol Super Clean.  You can find it at NAPA auto stores (and probably other places like Wal-mart)under the name Super Clean.  Castrol divested itself of the product. Aha! That's why I can't find it! Any idea who's making it now?

 Hi Triarius,

The same thing happened with Proctor & Gamble visa vis Clorox.  Any who here is a link to there website.

http://www.superclean.com/index.php

waste gate wrote:

If you need to take off the current 'runny...gloppy....dumb looking' paint I would suggest Castrol Super Clean.  You can find it at NAPA auto stores (and probably other places like Wal-mart)under the name Super Clean.  Castrol divested itself of the product.

Aha! That's why I can't find it! Any idea who's making it now? 

waikong wrote:

Jim advise is good. Not specfically said, but your current paint job is runny and gloppy because of too much paint. That's why you have to start spraying before the model and stop spraying after, otherwise you will have too heavy a coat when it first sprays out. You can also put the spray can in a tub of warmt water (NOT boiling hot!) to thin the paint - so you can get a finer spray. Then the several pass should do the job.

Thanks for catching my oversights. It's been a long few days without a few nights sleep and my busted nogg'in isn't working very well.  

I have used spray cans for years on my model cars, there is definitely a knack to it. Might I suggest getting an extra can or two and practicing on a milk jug a bit.

Spray cans tend to let a lot of paint out at once. So the trick is to move quick and keep your distance. Better to spray a few thin layers of paint than one heavy. Start the spray action in front of the car body before you get to it, travel in a parallel path of the body (keeping constant distance) and continue spraying past the car body before you let go of the nozzle.

A better choice of tape would be 3M 233 (greenish) or 233+ (beige) as used in the automotive body repair field. Check at any auto parts store, they should carry it. It comes in rolls with widths from 1/4" to 3" by 60 yds. long. If you need a tape for going on a freshly painted surface, say for a color seperation, get 3M/Scotch 218.

The blue tape is really meant for house painters and such projects.