Plastic Modeling

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Put the can in warm (not hot) water for a few minutes before painting. Stay at least 6 inches back and use short strokes starting and ending off the model. It will even out.

Yup, I kept the cans in warm/hot water. I shook the cans for over a minute before putting them in the bowl. And then shook them crazy after leaving them in for at least 5 minutes.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

3rd coat. Mad at myself, the original splatter marks blended, but I started shaking the can, and I think some drops flew off and landed on the body.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Also, no clue how Tamiya thinks one can can do 2 to 3 cars. Feels almost empty now. Gonna do the clear coat next week. I want to wet sand the color coat before putting on the clear.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Hard to capture on camera, but there are 3 spots like this (aforementioned droplets from shaking the can), one of the roof as pictured, one on the trunk, and one on the front bumper. Is it actually worth wet sanding down these spots given I don't know just how much red paint I have left, and the fact it's a mica and not just a solid color? I really don't want to have to buy another can of red.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

Get Tamiya polishing compounds - Coarse, Fine, and Finish. You can make that orange peel texture smooth as marble with some elbow grease.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by StraightOuttaCanadaEh

Get Tamiya polishing compounds - Coarse, Fine, and Finish. You can make that orange peel texture smooth as marble with some elbow grease.

I got various 3M sand paper up to 2500 grit, plus I should still have my different polishing compounds for "real" cars somewhere. lol.

I'm more concerned with the 3 paint splatter/droplets, but I don't think there's any way to fix those without having to buy another can of red paint. So to try to offset those, removing the orange peel would have to suffice.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

Originally Posted by Kaotic Lazagna

I got various 3M sand paper up to 2500 grit, plus I should still have my different polishing compounds for "real" cars somewhere. lol.

I'm more concerned with the 3 paint splatter/droplets, but I don't think there's any way to fix those without having to buy another can of red paint. So to try to offset those, removing the orange peel would have to suffice.

Those will polish out. Just make sure you wet sand and don't apply pressure or you'll burn right through. I'm sure you know this but just in case

[Kaotic Lazagna]

The WIP. Luckily I didn't try sanding down those 3 spots I mentioned before because I ran out of the red paint on the very last coat I was doing on the spoiler. Also, the mica red came out much brighter than I wanted. Oh well. Time to finish painting and assemble everything and then try to figure out how I'm going to make the Fujimi wheels work.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Gonna wait a week for the clear to cure and harden before attempting to remove the orange peel.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Kaotic Lazagna

Gonna wait a week for the clear to cure and harden before attempting to remove the orange peel.

Should have addressed the orange peel before the clear coat. Very difficult to do afterward.
If you want really shiny get some Future floor wax and dip all the parts. Will hide most of the orange peel since it is self leveling. Take a look at some tutorials. I would show you but am on my phone in deep wilderness northern Ontario.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Should have addressed the orange peel before the clear coat. Very difficult to do afterward.
If you want really shiny get some Future floor wax and dip all the parts. Will hide most of the orange peel since it is self leveling. Take a look at some tutorials. I would show you but am on my phone in deep wilderness northern Ontario.

Future was always the "go to" for finishing slot cars after air brush and decals.

[Stephen W.]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

Future was always the "go to" for finishing slot cars after air brush and decals.

???
Back in my day most slot car bodies were made of clear plastic with decals and paint done from the inside.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Should have addressed the orange peel before the clear coat. Very difficult to do afterward.
If you want really shiny get some Future floor wax and dip all the parts. Will hide most of the orange peel since it is self leveling. Take a look at some tutorials. I would show you but am on my phone in deep wilderness northern Ontario.

That would have required me getting another can of TS-39, which I didn't want to do (already spent too much on this model ). All the videos I've watched, though, the builders sanded down only the primer (which mine didn't need surprisingly), and the clear coat. I don't think think I've ever seen anyone sand down the color coat.

That's an interesting use of, what I'm assuming is wax for floors. If I can't find my detailing compounds, I might have to look into that.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by Stephen W.

???
Back in my day most slot car bodies were made of clear plastic with decals and paint done from the inside.

For the 1/24 scale, yes, and is still that way. I have several in my slot car boxes in the garage, but unfortunately haven't had a track near me for almost 20 years. I also used to build hard body cars from model kits.

I was talking more the HO scale like AFX cars. Really makes them shine, and helps protect when hitting the wall.