9 replies to this topic

[Sean Mikuen]

Hey guys, Im just curious to what you all use, and what you guys think is the best to use. So far, Ive used the Tamiya PS cans, Parma Faskolor, some Pactra, and the new Durtrax Paint. Here are some things that I have found with them so far.

 

Tamiya PS:

Works like paint in a spray can

 

Faskolor:

Within the first 24hrs, it wil scratch off easily, its a pain in the butt to get masks off unless you are quite careful. Easy to paint with, just a tad bit of thinning needed.

 

Pactra:

Works well, needs thinning, but I have gotten the cobweb thing happening with it. maybe it needs to be thinned more? Higher PSI?

 

Duratrax:

I dont like it, whenever it is in a bottle for a few hours, the pigment and the other parts seperate, forming different layers. It smells a lot worse than the Pactra, so I dont think it is the same exact formula.

 

Tell me what you guys think, and any other tips to trim, mask, paint, thin, pretty much everything will be better ;D

[garyvmachines]

Hi Sean

 

 You don't say how you are laying it down ??? ( Air Brush ?? ) ( A club guy used a Q-tip :-)) I use Iwata air brush, With gravity feed cup.... Badger compressor  ......& mostly Pactra paint ( if you are getting cobwebs you need to thin... 1 paint bottle cap full at a time

& try it !! Too Much and it WILL RUN!!!! ) I like Fastcolor for the color's  ( A Bitch to clean up ) A hot hair dryer is suppose to harden it.......NO HEAT GUN !!! Hair Dryer ...... I never used Tamiya ... ( thought it was for tanks & plains ) One of the club guys gave me

a spray can of Duratrax red to paint his car.... His came out ok .... Used it on 2 customer cars ... 1 fine .. 1 ( Betta Body ) Melted TOO HOT thinner ( last time I use that ) ...... I like Parma paint mask vinyl.... don't be scared to use RC mask & cut them to fit.....

Good Luck & Good Painting..................

 

GAV 

[Sean Mikuen]

Hi Sean

 

 You don't say how you are laying it down ??? ( Air Brush ?? ) ( A club guy used a Q-tip :-)) I use Iwata air brush, With gravity feed cup.... Badger compressor  ......& mostly Pactra paint ( if you are getting cobwebs you need to thin... 1 paint bottle cap full at a time

& try it !! Too Much and it WILL RUN!!!! ) I like Fastcolor for the color's  ( A Bitch to clean up ) A hot hair dryer is suppose to harden it.......NO HEAT GUN !!! Hair Dryer ...... I never used Tamiya ... ( thought it was for tanks & plains ) One of the club guys gave me

a spray can of Duratrax red to paint his car.... His came out ok .... Used it on 2 customer cars ... 1 fine .. 1 ( Betta Body ) Melted TOO HOT thinner ( last time I use that ) ...... I like Parma paint mask vinyl.... don't be scared to use RC mask & cut them to fit.....

Good Luck & Good Painting..................

 

GAV 

Sorry about that, I am using an airbrush, just the $20 HobbyKing airbrush, with the .5 mm needle. I use a hair dryer to "harden" the faskolor, but it still scratches, and I work at a hobby shop so I can get a discount on paints and masks    I just wish they didnt stop making pactra, that stuff is probably the best. I probably spray the coats on WAY too thick, but it may be my airbrush because whenever I spray, there isnt a whole lot that comes out, even at 40-50 psi. I want to get an iwata neo, i had an  iwata before, and it worked well. I dont remember why i sold it, but I did

[garyvmachines]

Hi Sean

 

 I went to a Mickey Harrson Air Brush class locally....... Mickey's trick is to say a zin montra  wile painting .........

Less....is...more.......less...is...more......less...is...more........oooooooommmmmm........... ( Mick is a TRIP ..... Good painter )

This means less paint = more effect......you need to remind your self so the mantra .............

You can do nice work with any gear... even rattle can's....... just take your time & please your self...... you cant go wrong !!!!!

 

GAV  

[Jairus]

Hey guys, Im just curious to what you all use, and what you guys think is the best to use. So far, Ive used the Tamiya PS cans, Parma Faskolor, some Pactra, and the new Durtrax Paint. Here are some things that I have found with them so far.

 

Tamiya PS:

Works like paint in a spray can

 

Faskolor:

Within the first 24hrs, it wil scratch off easily, its a pain in the butt to get masks off unless you are quite careful. Easy to paint with, just a tad bit of thinning needed.

 

Pactra:

Works well, needs thinning, but I have gotten the cobweb thing happening with it. maybe it needs to be thinned more? Higher PSI?

 

Duratrax:

I dont like it, whenever it is in a bottle for a few hours, the pigment and the other parts seperate, forming different layers. It smells a lot worse than the Pactra, so I dont think it is the same exact formula.

 

Tell me what you guys think, and any other tips to trim, mask, paint, thin, pretty much everything will be better ;D

You sound like a new guy, but on the other hand you tried a lot of material!?!
(That suggests something else is afoot.)

I strongly encourage you set your sights on one paint type and figure out what works best for and with that media.

Forget Pactra because it's discontinued.  Spider webs are because it's way too thick out of the bottle.  Thin with good quality thinner and use only on Lexan till it's all gone.

 

Learn to use water based paints.
Yeah they scratch easy. Mostly because you are not prepping the surface right.  Try sanding the inside with course steel wool first.  Clean thoroughly and then shoot light coats.
Will still scratch, but then so does lacquer. So .... what of it?
Any surface that touches the chassis needs to be backed with strapping tape anyway.

 

[Sean Mikuen]

You sound like a new guy, but you tried a lot of material.
That suggests something else.

I suggest you set your sights on one paint type and figure out what works best for that media.

Forget Pactra because it's discontinued.  Spider webs are because it's way too thick out of the bottle.  Thin with good quality thinner and use only on Lexan till it's all gone.
 
Learn to use water based paints.
Yeah they scratch easy because you are not prepping the surface right.  Try sanding the inside with course steel wool first.  Clean thoroughly and then shoot light coats.
Will still scratch, but then so does lacquer so .... what of it?
Any surface that touches the chassis needs to be backed with strapping tape anyway.

 

Ok, and I've heard that some people use other lacquers under the water based, and that hardens it up, or they use faskoat. As for water based paints, I'm probably going to use faskolor because I can easily get it, and it's not very expensive for how much you get. As for being new, I am a relative newbie when it comes to painting, and I have only been doing slot cars since about last November.
I also did some painting of RC cars, and got a few bodies from the local raceway. I'm getting better, and I need to find something and stick to it!
and I am not good at cutting bodies (but that comes with practice. Lots and lots of practice).

Hi Sean
 
 I went to a Mickey Harrson Air Brush class locally....... Mickey's trick is to say a zin montra  wile painting .........
Less....is...more.......less...is...more......less...is...more........oooooooommmmmm........... ( Mick is a TRIP ..... Good painter )
This means less paint = more effect......you need to remind your self so the mantra .............
You can do nice work with any gear... even rattle can's....... just take your time & please your self...... you cant go wrong !!!!!
 
GAV  

Another good montra is "I am in no rush" (now only if I could apply that to break out races ). I just need masks to get some basic designs, and unless I want to get really detailed, I would like to stick to solid tape.


Here are some of the bodies I've (tried) painting. I like the wing car, but it's getting the tape on that is the tricky part. As for the black car, I did the costs WAY too thick. If I want a dark color, I need to do multiple coats. With that said, my airbrush seems to be having a bit of a hard time getting the paint out...

[Duffy]

Hey Sean

 

I went through this learning process myself a couple years back and documented it in this thread, DUFFY'S INKS. You can skim my stupid prose and just pull the info out, everything you're talking about is in there.

 

The biggest thing with Faskolor is to ruff up the shell with steel wool or coarse ScotchBrite (itmight be less messy than getting litle steel bits all over) and to scrub your shell out afterwards with alcohol, and then start out LIGHT dustings for a couple coats. Faskolor wil go through your .5mm tip full-strength at 40#, which you can get with a cheep Chinese compressor/tank - PM me if you're looking.

[Sean Mikuen]

Hey Sean
 
I went through this learning process myself a couple years back and documented it in this thread, DUFFY'S INKS. You can skim my stupid prose and just pull the info out, everything you're talking about is in there.
 
The biggest thing with Faskolor is to ruff up the shell with steel wool or coarse ScotchBrite (itmight be less messy than getting litle steel bits all over) and to scrub your shell out afterwards with alcohol, and then start out LIGHT dustings for a couple coats. Faskolor wil go through your .5mm tip full-strength at 40#, which you can get with a cheep Chinese compressor/tank - PM me if you're looking.

I did find a larger needle, but with the .5 mm needle, I find that it is still tough, it is probably because my airbrush needs a deep cleaning. I will most definitely look at the post when I get to my computer. As they say, experience is the best teacher. And of course, I can always talk to Bill Pinch, and he can give me some pointers. Also, I should be getting a 3d printer in the next 2 weeks, and I hope to make some tools to help me with cutting the bodies. I may make another post on that in the future

[wjtaylor]

House of Kolors is the only way to go. No body prep, no sanding, washing or anything else.

 

My compressor is set at just over 20 pounds and I use a double action gun, so I am only throwing at about 15 pounds. I can get full coverage and you can read thru the flourescent yellows even after you back it with white.

 

I don't know where you can get it where you are, but HOK has a web site and i am sure they have a section on where to buy their products.

 

My retailer is Coast Airbrush Anaheim CA 714-635-5557 ask for Thomas and tell him Bill the slot car guy sent you.

 

Bill

HiSpeedProducts.com

[Sean Mikuen]

House of Kolors is the only way to go. No body prep, no sanding, washing or anything else.
 
My compressor is set at just over 20 pounds and I use a double action gun, so I am only throwing at about 15 pounds. I can get full coverage and you can read thru the flourescent yellows even after you back it with white.
 
I don't know where you can get it where you are, but HOK has a web site and i am sure they have a section on where to buy their products.
 
My retailer is Coast Airbrush Anaheim CA 714-635-5557 ask for Thomas and tell him Bill the slot car guy sent you.
 
Bill
HiSpeedProducts.com

I will definitely give them a call when I get the time to! Do you think they would be able to get me a little "testing" kit, to see if I like the products? Maybe like, 4 colors at 1/2 ounce, for like, $15 + shipping? That would be going with each ounce is $6, and some. I don't know, I doubt you would know too. As I said, I will definitely get a hold of Thomas, and ask him. Thanks for the idea for using HoK! ~Sean