I've been building scale aircraft for more years than I'd like to remember, however, recently I decided to give a car kit a go just to do something different. It's a Ford 32' coupe and I want to lay down a gloss black finish. I use acrylics. Here are my questions for the model car gurus out there. From your experiences, do you find any one brand of gloss black acrylic that surpasses the others? Also, what techniques should I be following to get as perfect a final finish on the body as possible? Any tips or techniques would be greatly appreciated. And, as usual, thanks.
I don't use acrylics but one thing I do is use those flexible foam filled sanding sticks and sand across the sides and roof when the contours allow. Often there will be some small undulations in the plastic due to uneven shrinkage at edges, corners, and intersections and this gets rid of them. When held just right in the light and moved around so you get a highlight falling across it, the highlight should ideally be straight and undistorted across all panels as you move it around.
I personally find it hard to get a good gloss on acrylics. I use enamels for gloss. I recently have been using the Tamiya spray lacquer a lot - it is pretty good stuff, but my standby is still Testors enamel.
Hi Mike, I too am primarily an aircraft guy with some sci-fi and figures stuff taking more of my interests, of late. I gave up on model cars a long time ago for the simple fact that i could not get a dust free, good looking finish. I have alot of unbuilt kits in the basement and tried to get my son interested. Of course he wants to build cars. So we built him a Monogram Mustang (Ford, not N.A.A.) Anyway I bought some el cheapo Delta Ceramcoat Acrylic at Hobby Lobby when they had it on sale like 2 for a buck. Why waste big bucks on what may be something my son would not want to pursue. I know some figure builders who swear by the cheap Acrylics like Delta, Folk Art, Plaid, Apple Barrel etc. I experimented with this stuff a long time ago and found I could thin it for airbrushing but it was alot less durable than plastic model specific paints. It will scratch off with a finger nail. So I thought what if I made it more durable by spraying Future Floor Wax over it, when I built the Mustang?
Anyway I sprayed my sons car Cobalt Blue then later top coated it with Future. I did not try to get a perfect paint job nor did I care. Guess what? That Model car has the shiniest, almost flaw free paint job I ever managed to lay down on a car! I was so impressed with the results I am going to build a Revell 79 Camaro (I had a real one) and use a 50 cent bottle of Delta Acrylic Black and overcoat with Future. If it comes out as good as the Mustang I may start building a Muscle Car or two.
Experiment and you may like the results. I found I did by accident.
Ditto Toms' remarks paying close attention at body panel seams and door edges as these tend to form a lip that causes the paint to move away from the panel line.
I too have never gotten a good gloss using acrylics. I personally use Boyd's enamels in the Testors ModelMaster line. After applying two color coats with a sanding with 2400 grit I apply a few coats of Boyd's clear gloss. Remember that when using this stuff that you need to apply 1-2 coats within the first hour or you must wait 48 hrs or your paint will crinkle. Also remember not to cut you clear gloss to hot (too much thinner); keep it at less then 50/50 or it will again crinkle the underlying coats!
I had Future crack and split when I put it over Gunze Acrylics. That was over a decade ago. Never found out if it was the Future or Gunze. I did not care to lose another project, so I stopped using it. I did spray Future over Model Master enamel and over a decade later that finish is still perfect.
I gave up using Future. I still had the 10 year old bottle and figure what the hey use it on my sons car. Afterall like I said it was never meant to be perfect.so if it got the hairline cracks it was no biggie. Again it has turned into the best finish I ever put on a car and months later still no signs of cracking. Some guys never have had a problem with it. Me, I am afraid of losing a project where hours were spent detailing a cockpit and masking intricate splinter camo. I guess it is Murphy's law for me. Lose a project I spend alot of time on and build carefully and precisely. Have a project I rush through, don't care about and spend no prep time on turn out fantastic.
Anyway. Yes beware Future. Some guys swear by it others at it. I believe that it all depends on what it is sprayed over. Experiment is the key.
Interesting that you bring up the Ceramcoat line. I just finished reading quite a number of postings about that paint. There are quite a few modelers that have had good luck with those paints. Many thin them down with Liquitex Low Viscosity Airbrush Medium. Did you thin with water and, if so, in what ratio?
Hi Mike, I have bought the Liquitex stuff, but as of yet have not tried it. I simply have thinned with distilled water. I cannot tell you what ratio because I go by sight. The rule of thumb I have always used before airbrushing any paint was to thin it to the consistency of milk. I stir it with my mixing stick and if a drop pools at the bottom relatively quickly (but not flowing quick) and drips off then I am ready. Sorry for my unscientific explanation.
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