painting white nicely onto grey plastic: impossible!?

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sabu

Senior Aircraftman
Registered:1476730146
Posts: 26

Posted 1501605497	Reply with quote #1

Hey all - got a question that's been bothering me for years: how do you get a nice white coat of paint onto a standard grey plastic model? I always end up with a number of problems. Note there is no issue when the surface is smooth and flat, but in aircraft wheel wells and many other areas there are many different contours. The grey of the original plastic always shines through on these contours, or I end up putting on so many coats that it ends up looking like a big pile of paint to the point where the detail in the underlying plastic is all but lost. I've tried: 1) several different coats, paint brush. This doesn't fix the problem and puts down far too much paint in some areas. 2) several different coats, air brush, trying very hard to keep each coat very light. No good, this doesn't cover properly and grey plastic still shows through. 3) priming with Tamiya primer from a spary can (white). If anyone here can operate these spray cans without putting down too much or too little product _consistently_, I will be positively amazed. This is my latest attempt and it's still drying so I haven't completely given up on this option yet, but so far I fear I've made a big mess of things with it - far too much or two little product has been put on the model in the areas I was trying to get covered. I'm using Tamiya flat white for this, but have had similar failures with gloss white as well, also from Tamiya. I see completed models all the time that have really nice, flat and gloss white paint throughout. What on earth are these people doing to accomplish this? What is their technique? What product(s) is/are being used? Any help here would be _greatly_ appreciated.
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sabu

Senior Aircraftman
Registered:1476730146
Posts: 26

Posted 1501621964	Reply with quote #2

currently thinking that the primer is a step in the right direction but can't get the control I need over the spray bottle. So I'm looking at decanting it and using the airbrush to apply it instead. Either that or I'll attempt a second coat right out of the bottle again...but I've already put a considerable amount down so not sure that's the best way to go...
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Laurie

Sergeant
Registered:1447956301
Posts: 231

Posted 1501631518	Reply with quote #3

Sabu I would use Stynylrez primer. I have been using since it came on the market a couple of years ago. It has many attributes. They produce a white also a yellow which would be OK for a white finish. It is a very opaque primer but it is also a very thin coat which prevents detail being lost. To indicate how opaque. Yellow on wing tips is an awful pain. End up putting 4 coats of yellow to get an opaque colour. One coat of Stynylrez yellow primer and the job is finished. Other attributes. After 2 hours sanding can begin and it sands to a perfect edge with out breaking away. Fill. I use Mr Surfacer 500. Over many primers the paint softens but not Stynylrez. Again sanding the filler to the primer gives a perfect flat edge without breaking away. Finishing coats can go on after 2 hours. Needs a 0.4 minimum needle nozzle and clean out the airbrush immediatly operations are complete. Only disadvantage I have found. An idiot name to spell and an idiot name to pronounce. Named by an idiot person in an idiot moment in their life. Laurie __________________ Laurie
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sabu

Senior Aircraftman
Registered:1476730146
Posts: 26

Posted 1503252146	Reply with quote #4

Thank you Laurie. Sorry for the delay. This product "Stynylrez" primer has been ordered on Amazon (I give up trying to find all this specialist stuff in local hobby shops - such as waste of time and energy...) and will report my experiences with it shortly!
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Toki

Flight Sergeant
Registered:1388704212
Posts: 301

Posted 1503260418	Reply with quote #5

This may sound a little odd but Black primer under white gives a good finish. Stephen __________________ http://s508.photobucket.com/user/sashepherd3/library/?sort=3&page=0
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sabu

Senior Aircraftman
Registered:1476730146
Posts: 26

Posted 1503585784	Reply with quote #6

I will try the black primer another time - I have white on order from Amazon per Laurie's recommendation. Given that I'm applying white paint, I purchased white primer...I never thought that black would make for a better finish - as you mentioned it's counter intuitive. I will keep this in mind and maybe try it next time I need primer for a white finish - thanks for the advice!
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