I give up (painting tiny vehicles)

jkristia

Member
Some time ago (after the backup and before the crash) I posted a question about how to paint those tiny Williams Bros HO vehicles, as I had a problem with the paint kind of peeling when painting the second color (white) on top of the base color (blur).

Well, after some searching, I got to the conclusion that I had to wait more than 24 hours before brush painting a second color.

So this time I waited a week!! and still when I started brush painting the white, the paint started to peel, so I decided to air brush the roof instead, but didn't get a good result because of the pain bleeding under the masking tape. I know it's my fault and I can blame that mistake on the paint.

The second car I did was the red one, I'm kind of satisfied with the paint, gave it 3 coats, and the paint came on nice and smooth, so I thought that I finally figured out how to use the paint, 1:1 paint / thinner for airbrushing. So on to the next one, first coat went on nice and smooth, waited 24 hour for the next coat, DISASTER!!, on one side of the car, the paint is nice and smooth, on the other it started to lift/peel??

Ok, I give up, no more painting with Testors Enamel paint for me, back to acrylic (I think).
 

jkristia

Member
Here is the blue car, and as you can probably understand why I'm NOT very happy with that result
 

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jkristia

Member
The read car i a little better, except that I don't really like that red-metallic color
 

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jkristia

Member
and this close-up of the beige car shows where the paint has lifted a bit. It's weird that it's there and on the back, the rest of the paint looks ok.
I can't decide if I should strip the paint from the blue and beige car and try again, or if I should just finish them, and just make sure to place them correct so they show their 'best' side.
 

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Ray Marinaccio

Active Member
I've had problems using Testers and acrilic paints.
Then I tried Floquil paints and use them ever since.
I'm not real familiar with the type of plastic those cars are made of. I've found some plastics don't take paint well without being scuffed.
The red car would make a nice street rod.
 

spitfire

Active Member
Jesper, I'm not sure about the type of paint you should be using, but here's a little tip that should help with paint bleeding under your masking.

The culprit is capillary action. The thin space under the edge of the tape attracts paint like a magnet.

The solution is to re-spray after masking with a coat of the base colour (blue in your case) before you spray the other colour (white). This second coat will seep into any spaces under the masking. Then, when you spray the second colour, there is nowhere for it to seep under the masking, and you get a clean line.

Personally, I have avoided buying Williams Bros. models for this very reason, and the fact that you can't buy realistic looking chrome paint.

Anyway, good luck. Hope this helps.

Val
 
F

Fred_M

I've never painted these Jesper, but did you know Williams Brothers have a forum? It looks like the company answers it regular also. http://www.williamsbrosinc.com/forum.html Their email address is mailto:info@williamsbrosinc.com . Let us know what you find out, but just looking at them they look like they are vacum molded clear plastic like airplane canopies and blister packs. That stuff is HARD to paint, a sharpie pen will even wipe off of it with your finger. When I was into RC ing for a while we had to buy special paint for vacum formed bodies. FRED
 

Vic

Active Member
The Robber Barron Reveals All!!

spitfire said:
Personally, I have avoided buying Williams Bros. models for this very reason, and the fact that you can't buy realistic looking chrome paint.
Val

Get a bottle of Model Master Silver Chrome Trim. Mix it well. To apply it to the chromed areas load your brush heavily and just flow it on...DO NOT try to brush it. Not as good as foil but passable :) :thumb:

A "nutter" good trick.....If you can't get the clear glass areas to come out right don't worry about them.....Paint the glass areas Navy Blue after they are dry add 3-4 coats of clear gloss to them...comes out looking like a car that has glass but you can't see inside of it :) :thumb:
 

jon-monon

Active Member
When I was into RC ing for a while we had to buy special paint for vacum formed bodies. FRED

I've read the RCers have paint that's very flexy (read crash and burn - proof) that's also good for plastic rails, grab bars, etc; won't flake off.
 
F

Fred_M

jon-monon said:
I've read the RCers have paint that's very flexy (read crash and burn - proof) that's also good for plastic rails, grab bars, etc; won't flake off.
Yes, it's a special paint made by tamiya and pactra for that plastic its made from ... Heres a site that tells step by step. http://www.ifi.unicamp.br/~epiovani/lexan.htm We never scuffed them like the optional method they list as it would show through. The paint is also formulated to melt into the plastic to form a molecular bond, kind of like liquid plastic cement. FRED
 

N Gauger

1:20.3 Train Addict
I always use a primer coat first - even if it's "real auto spray primer" (Sandable primer) either Black or Gray - it stops the paint from cracking & peeling :)
 

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
Val,
Thanks for the tip about spraying a base coat after masking. That's one of those little pieces of information that goes a looooong way toward avoiding aggravation! :)
Ralph
 

jkristia

Member
Thanks for the all the info.

Actually I knew about that trick to get nice sharp lines, I just forgot :eek:ops: ...
I'm currently working on 2 Jordan kits and this time I used grey Krylon primer, so let's see how they come out. I will post a picture now matter what. I'm thinking of painting one using Poly S paint and the other using Testors, just for a test.

Also, this time I washed the body parts in warm soap water, and are now wearing latex gloves when handling the parts, lets see if that helps.
 

jon-monon

Active Member
I *hear* dullcoat works as well as an extra base coat, which may be desireable if you don't have the base coat. Painting half an undec loco comes to mind.
 

Glen Haasdyk

Active Member
As Far as the bleeding goes, I use tamiya masking tape and never have a problem, I swear by it! Also, the other problem of painting one testors enamel over the other is tht no matter how well the first color has dried, the second color's solvents will disolve the first coat of paint, that is, if you are brush-painting. Airbrushing hasn't given me that result. If I'm brush painting, acrylics are my choice.
 

jkristia

Member
This one was painted using gray primer and some light blue spray paint I bought at Pep Boys today. It's so much more convenient to use spray paint than using the airbrush (if you can find the color you want), no cleaning of airbrush or paint bottle, no mixing paint, no waiting 24 hours between coats. It to me a total of about 1 hour from the first coat until it was done, but only about 5 minutes actually painting, 1 coat primer, 2 coats of light blue. Easy.
 

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Have you thought of painting those from the inside?

I had better luck when I did RC boats and the like by painting the shells on the inside instead of the outside.

If they are clear shells this also gives them an interesting depth to the finish that looks a lot more realistic especially when weathered.

This also allows you to handle the outside of the vehicle bare fingered since the painted surface is on the inside of the actual model.
 

N Gauger

1:20.3 Train Addict
Chessie1973 said:
Have you thought of painting those from the inside?

I had better luck when I did RC boats and the like by painting the shells on the inside instead of the outside.

If they are clear shells this also gives them an interesting depth to the finish that looks a lot more realistic especially when weathered.

This also allows you to handle the outside of the vehicle bare fingered since the painted surface is on the inside of the actual model.
Yeah - all my RC cars looked great too. Only bad part is - you have to do all the "Detail work first" the last coat is the actual paint color of the car (or Boat). You actually have to work backwards. :D :D
 
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