Waiting for the paint to dry.

[noddaz]

Enamel. *sigh*

Scott

[mattb]

Several years ago I have quit using enamel for any kind of modeling except for flat cardboard interiors. I had a brain fart and used some Rustoleum Red on a body a few weeks ago. After 2 days it was still sticky, so I threw it in stripper. Took about 5 minutes to brush off the paint that wasn't nearly dried. 40 minutes later it was lacquered and dry enough to build.

[slothead]

I'm one of those guys who doesn't know anything about kinds of paints. I probably have 40 cans of whatever they sell at the local Walmart - I just wander up and down the aisle till I see the color I want and figure I can't go wrong for $4. For some builds a year ago I did follow advice on HRW and order some model paint from Tamiya that came out nice on 3 Proxie Mercury Cyclones.

When it comes to modeling I basically have 10 thumbs, but my RTR cars are pretty sharp.

[RichD]

I have been using Testors enamel for many years with no problems with slow drying. If you spray enamel when it is very humid water will get trapped in the paint and it could take a very long time to dry. The same thing will happen whether you use an air brush or rattle cans. I have a dehumidifier and I only spray when the air is bone dry.

[mattb]

Never heard that humidity effected enamel at all. I spent 8-10 years painting full size cars with alkyd and acrylic enamel and humidity was a non factor. It would dry to the touch in 24 hours, but like all enamel it is always soft underneath. The only way enamel dries all the way thru is if it has a hardener added to it.

Humidity does greatly effect lacquer. Because lacquer dries completely from top to bottom very fast, humidity(moisture) can get trapped in the paint and not escape before drying. The results are a white looking dull finish. For auto painting, we had quite a few different kinds of lacquer thinner that slowed drying to match the weather and we had retarder for extreme humidity. It was still a crap shoot to spray lacquer when humidity was extreme.

Your best results will come with Tamiya or Testor model lacquer. You do need to be sure that your old paint is stripped if it is enamel. You can paint lacquer over lacquer, but not over enamel. You can find pretty good deals at Hobbylinc.

[noddaz]

If it wasn't so expensive I would be shooting automotive paint from a small spray gun in my garage. But I don't need a quart of paint at a time or 50 red cars to use up the quart of paint.

Scott

[REL13]

You could go to your local car part store and buy touch car paint, It comes in a little spray can.

[strangebrew]

I use Ace Hardware rattle can enamel. Unless I want something special, red, blue, orange is enough for me.
I always use the same brand primer, usually white to keep the colors brighter.
My experience shows the model to be dry in 15 minutes or less. I live in the Midwest, & summers are always
humid. I just shot 4 coats of enamel on a body yesterday, waiting 30 minutes or so in between & was
building the finished car 45 minutes later. Weather permitting I let the car dry outside in the sunlight.
I almost always cut, Dremel, sand & Bondo my resin bodies & I've had problems with paint staying sticky on
all the sanded, Dremeled portions of the bodies. After trying all kinds of finishes I finally found that if I
dump the entire body into a quart of alcohol (also from Ace Hardware) for a few minutes
after all the body mods are done, the paint works MUCH better.
This even works for me if I have a sticky painted part. I let it soak a few minutes, then rub it down with
a paper towel. The paint stays on, but is no longer sticky & I just add another coat.
I don't know what kind of alcohol you guys are using to strip paint, but the stuff in
a can from the paint department doesn't take off the paint for me. (At least not Ace Hardware enamel)

[mattb]

Alcohol comes in 2 strengths, something like 70% and 90%. Something like that. I learned that on here. Some guys use the stronger mix to strip bodies. I haven't tried that. I still use Superclean. I do have a 1 gallon bottle filled with alcohol that I drop a body in before I start any of the paint process.

I have had resin bodies that still had issues. I quit using mold release completely, but still would get a body every now and then that had the paint crater/bubble/fisheye. I would strip and clean paint again and the same issue would happen. I found I usually had to use tamiya putty to fill the bubbles and then I could paint. I have never solved that problem. I used to think it was mold release that got into the resin mix, but obviously that isn't it. I have washed my molds with dish soap to be sure they didn't have residue in them.

Sounds like Brew has found a good paint. I did use Ace Enamel for vac formed bodies before I went totally lacquer.

[bdsharp]

I get good results spraying craft acrylic through that $11 Harbor Freight airbrush. Endless color selection, and so cheap they're almost free. Dry time is quick and I've been known to help them along with a hair dryer between coats.

[noddaz]

That is a thought. But that type of acrylic needs to have a clear coat to seal it. Not that a clear coat is an issue.

[bdsharp]

Yes, these paints have a satin finish, but they also have flat, satin, and gloss clears that spray well. Or just use Future as usual. I thin the color and clears with about 40% washer fluid and can paint in very thin coats that don't hide detail (or defects). The HF airbrush won't do fine detail, but for one- or two-color paintjobs on Showdown cars, it does a very nice job.

https://www.harborfreight.com/quick-change-airbrush-kit-93506.html?_br_psugg_q=airbrush

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Brew, that isn't true enamel. That's an acrylic. The term enamel the way they use it means something like "hard, shiny finish". True enmel is actually kinda rare these days, since acrylics and lacquers (which are acrylic lacquers), work so much better. Remember when car finishes had to be baked on to get a good hard tough shiny finish? That was enamel.

[slothead]

How does a person know or find out what type of paint is in a spray can? I have a can of Krylon interior-exterior paint in front of me and just read the label front and back. I still have no idea what type of paint it is.

Why do I buy paint at Walmart and not at a hobby shop? I live in a small town in central Maine. The nearest hobby shop is 90 miles away near Portland. There are 2 small hardware stores in town, one of them is an Agway that seems to focus on yard and field stuff. When I have decided to paint a car it's usually a 'do it now' project and Walmart is a 5 minute drive from my house. If I order Tamiya paint it takes a week to get here by which time there's a 50% chance I changed my mind and put the project away, or used something handy.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Krylon is high quality acrylic enamel according to Krylon's website specs. Particle size is huge on models. I have used it to cover rough patches on resins and 3D printed PLA bodies its so thick.

[RichD]

Resin bodies are often cast using a mold release agent of some sort, that might be something like vegetable oil or a silicone based product. If any of the release agent is still on the body when you paint it you will have major problems. Always wash resin bodies before you paint them. Some dishwashing liquid in warm (not hot!) water will remove vegetable oil, but possibly not silicone. Superclean should work as well. Specs paint thinner AKA mineral spirits or MEK will remove silicone, but they might attack the resin as well. It would be best to do a test on something that you are not fond of. One time I got a resin body that had the release agent mixed in with the resin and it took many washings before paint would stick.

[mattb]

I quit using all mold release products in my resin casting. I had bodies that I painted over and over and no amount of cleaning or chemicals helped. I have every type of chemical/cleaner, thinner there is! I originally thought it was release getting onto the actual resin and then never being fully removed. Even not using release I sometimes have the same issues. I don't understand it, I wash with dish soap, dip in alcohol, dip in Superclean. Wash with an SOS pad, sand with sandpaper. I don't know what else to do. Usually problem is small bubbles and pits int he paint. I have immediately thrown the body in Superclean and washed off all paint. On the repaint, the same thing happens.

As I posted above. The only solution I've found is to sand and to fill the pits with Tamiya lacquer putty, sand and repaint. I hate doing this, add unnecessary coats of paint really takes away from the detailed model you are trying to create.