105 replies to this topic

[John Luongo]

great looking paint job, mike. colors should show up very well on the track. if i thought that guide movement would scrape the paint off, i would add a piece of clear shipping tape underneath the nose over the guide. seems to help. best regards

[Brian Czeiner]

You're body looks good. I see you have some blue shading around the roof air vent.

 

These are the unintended shades and fades that provide detail and nobody knows they aren't intentional. This technique can be use with framing areas of the body, like windows, the perimeter or graphics, in a darkish color. Then back with a much lighter color and you have something like these. The results from the amount of first color application can be best seen between the yellow cars. The red cars were shaded with black creating the dark cherry color and the green car is just opaque green and lime green metallic.

 

I might add if you will be using a white backer, you can tape your numbers off and have the backer create them reducing your weight of stickers. I doubt the difference is measurable but the theory/logic is there.

 

Good luck and keep posting up pics of your progress. I personally enjoy seeing the evolution of new painters.

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[Wizard Of Iz]

I got everything setup and was able to test and actually start painting with the fluorescent first coat. I will put an opaque coat over the fluorescent when it dries and then blue on the back.

 

So exactly what Mark said.. on my test water bottle (I picked something with lots of bends and also something I can move to see how strong it was) I was able to get it to stick just fine but if I scratch a bit it does scratch off... I'll see how this pans out exactly long term.. I don't care about where the guide flag is but if it's scratches off else where I might be a little off put. Can I mix some of the 4050 in or put it on after to maybe help with this scratching? I'll also reach out to Createx and ask this probably on Monday.

 

my only comments so far (it's early and I'm still learning)

 

1) pipettes don't seem to really be needed. I just count the drops I put into the small plastic containers I bought at Michael's craft store. Stir to get the softer/milky consistency as recommended. Close the cap. I hope this things don't let it dry out but I didn't mix a ton of paint so no big deal...

2) I can't always exactly figure out where the heck I am aiming but with my paint schemes it doesn't matter

3)  It's a more enjoyable experience once you get everything setup.. Like rattle can is quick an easy.. this is more involved but kind of fun at the same time, can quite explain it. I think this will vary from person to person.

4) I've probably spent close to 200 bucks for everything including a 2x4' table from lowes for $50. This include paint, thinner and the airbrush kit itself. I think it's avanti and even tho I didn't get it at HF it's the same thing.

5) I'm up here writing this waiting for fluorescent to dry, lol.. it's a bit slower to dry.

 

See attached photos for results.. I did get a little heavy in spots because again, I can't always see where it's going... I wish it didn't scratch as much as it does though...

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

Great work!  

 

It's kinda fun to watch someone ask intelligent questions, get real-world-experience advice, and then "watch" them put it all together and try new things. Congratulations for being brave enough to ask and smart enough to listen.

 

Don't get hung up on the fact that you can scratch the paint off with your fingernail.  After all ... the underneath side of the body doesn't come in contact with much once it's mounted on the chassis.  Unless I'm under a time crunch, I let the bodies sit - upside down - overnight before I mount them.  Seems to be adequate time to let the paint cure a bit.

 

Give it a try if you want ..... but I don't think adding 4050 is needed. Nor have I found a need to clear coat the underneath side of the body.  One of the advantages of using an airbrush is being able to reduce the weight of your painted bodies ... and still have adequate coverage.  Using a clear will negate some of that advantage.

 

Once you back the fluorescent color with white, you really don't need to back it with anything else.

 

Using a hair dryer on its air - or at most - low heat setting will speed drying time tremendously.  Just hold the body at about an arm's length from the dryer.

[Bill from NH]

Here's a painting tip I often use. I use a shoe box or small corrugated cardboard box & cut a rectangular hole the size of a 4" body & another the size of 4.5" bodies. I leave all the flashing on a body, wash it, then tape it upside done into the appropriate hole with masking or other tape, & paint the body. This keeps you from handling the body itself while it's being painted & doesn't leave any overspray to clean off. 1/32 bodies, womps, HO, & open-wheel bodies will require their own size holes. You can do the same thing with a sheet of cardboard, but I find boxes are easier to handle.

[team burrito]

a soda case box works better.

[Bill from NH]

I don't drink soda, but I do wear shoes. 

[team burrito]

what about beer?

[studentdriver]

Admittedly I don't know if I have the patience for masking right now.. Maybe if I could find some cool pre-made masks or even just stencils in general I'd be open to it. The craft stores had some generic stuff but it's mostly not for racing/cars. I'll have to check. 

 

I'm trying to get some bodies ordered. I want to try something in the middle vs front to back fade next. I did green here because I didn't have any green bodies before this.

 

I had this spare body on the left. The overspray wrap is still on but it's transparent in color as far as I can tell. I might mount it on a spare car just for fun. I never have had a steady hand and again lack patience in general (trying to get better) hence the crappy black lines. I need to find a finer tip marker too.

 

Mike

 

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[Mark Onofri]

Did you try having a woman shake the cans before you use them? I've found it really, really works well.

 

Sometimes,if you thin the paint too much, it's shot. Wether it's acrylic, lacquer or , enamel. Especially acrylic. I've just started using paint markers. I've found that on the outside, they appear flat. Sometimes flat is good. I recently Purchased a acrylic paint extender. Works great. It also can be mixed with another product that turns it into a clear backup. I'll post it later.

 

Another thing I've found is sanding / scuffing the body is a sure fire way to have scratches in the end. Spent a 1/2 hour trying to get them out before I realized what they were.

[Bill from NH]

"what about beer?"      Thats worse than soda!

[Mark Onofri]

Another thing, with acrylics, if you don't thin them, you have to turn the pressure up so high that the paint is (almost) dry before it hits the body.

 

I can't remember what Parma suggested as a usable pressure, 75 psi?

 

I'll look it up and post it with the extenders.

[Bill from NH]

Mike, you may be able to find stencils in stores such as Staples or other office supply stores. If you want to play with masking for a while, either get some 10 x 10 graph paper or find an online source you can print yourself. Use the graph paper to size & shape numbers or whatever else you want to try to make. When happy with what you drew, stick some wide (1 1/2") masking tape or vinyl shelf paper to a pane of glass or mirror. Set/tape your graph paper drawing on top of this tape or vinyl & cut it with a sharp hobby knife. Numbers & letters want to be cut backwards because they will be stuck inside the bodies,

 

Since I started painting clear bodies in 1970, not once have I sanded a body. In 1997 I experienced some flaking with Pactra fluorescent orange. even when I tried a hotter lacquer thinner. I talked to a more experienced MD painter at the Nats that year. He told me that Pactra had a bad batch of bottled paint but their spray cans were good. A bought a spray can of fluorescent orange & my flaking problem disappeared.

[Bill from NH]

Mark, trying to airbrush paint at 40-60 PPI because somebody doesn't want to thin them is foolhardy & you better have a 5 needle or bigger in the brush. Those people should stick to using spray cans.

 

I tried Parma's pressure recommendation on some scrap & I would never want to use it for body painting. 

[Mark Onofri]

I'm with you Billnh. At that pressure, I blasted the body right out of my hand!
I was just reiterating what Parma had published.
Here are the products I found. I didn't realize it at the time but, I'm pretty sure it's what MadMark was referring to in his thread.
PS: no Billnh, I'm not talking about beer, because everyone knows that you can (😂) only shake up one out of six. Then, you have to mix them up and open them next to your head. Hoser.

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[Bill from NH]

The company "Golden" sent me two sample bottles of their acrylic paint several years ago. The stuff stuck to Lexan like glue in my scratch tests. I would have purchased more, but they had no retail sellers in this area & I wasn't going to mail-order it from NY. How far are you from New Berlin, NY?

[Mad Mark]

Admittedly I don't know if I have the patience for masking right now.. Maybe if I could find some cool pre-made masks or even just stencils in general I'd be open to it. The craft stores had some generic stuff but it's mostly not for racing/cars. I'll have to check. 
 
I'm trying to get some bodies ordered. I want to try something in the middle vs front to back fade next. I did green here because I didn't have any green bodies before this.
 
I had this spare body on the left. The overspray wrap is still on but it's transparent in color as far as I can tell. I might mount it on a spare car just for fun. I never have had a steady hand and again lack patience in general (trying to get better) hence the crappy black lines. I need to find a finer tip marker too.
 
Mike

Hard part about front to back fade jobs is all the sharp edges, recesses, and steps of wings and what not to try to get in and follow the contours of. you’ll get the hang of it after few bodies those you posted look good.

[Eddie Fleming]

The company "Golden" sent me two sample bottles of their acrylic paint several years ago. The stuff stuck to Lexan like glue in my scratch tests. I would have purchased more, but they had no retail sellers in this area & I wasn't going to mail-order it from NY. How far are you from New Berlin, NY?

I looked up Golden acrylic paints.

 

More money than I want to put on a body, but it does sound like good stuff. 

[Mark Onofri]

LMFAO 🤣

[Brian Czeiner]

To relieve some of your anxiety about masking try asymmetrical patterns. Or you could do a splatter pattern by dipping the bristles of a toothbrush into the paint and flicking your thumb across it onto the body. Another technique is to push wrinkled plastic or a napkin into the paint while it is still wet leaving a random pattern for the second color to accent. The stone car stripe and the orange in the #4 group bodies were done this way.

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[Mark Onofri]

Mad Mark, the reason you can scrape the paint off with your nails is ....🤣 you need a.........
💅😂

[Mark Onofri]

Only kidding 🤣

[Bill from NH]

"More money than I want to put on a body, but it does sound like good stuff."

 

Golden once sold small 2 oz. bottles of paint, not just the tubes & large jars shown on Google & Bing. You got to remember that anything marketed for "art" is going to cost more than something sold for "crafts."  I'll stick to the craft paints, as do some model kit builders.

[Mark Onofri]

I wasn't kidding about the suggested pressure

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[Bill from NH]

Properly thinned, you only need 20-25 psi. This was an example of something not to believe just because somebody posted it.

[team burrito]

don't forget the hair dryer.