1hobby1

I have about 5 bodies to practice on. If I tape off half the car that gives me 10 practice sides to practice. I'm going to go with that for now, and its more fun painting a body than a spoon . But I have read that plastic spoons make great practice and I will try that out as well. This was sprayed with Rustoleum Plastic Primer. So today I washed and sanded down a practice body after paint stripping it with purple power. Here are my pictures of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd coat of primer. 1st. I sprayed about 6in away from body and it covered very smooth with a glossy finish. Second coat went on 15min after first coat. It was also a wet coat and was smooth and glossy Third coat went on 15min after the 2nd and I began to see some orange peel with this coat. I will let it dry and air out for a couple days. From what I have read and been told I should sand this to smooth out the orange peel correct before applying paint? Once again feel free to chime in with advice, this is becoming a very very helpful thread! Thank you!

Being a HUGE Subaru fan this is awesome! great build!

This is all great advice I cant wait to put it all in to action and try out different methods. I just stripped a model with purple power, and have another in a container now. when the weather cooperates and I have some time to prime the car ill make sure to post some pictures! Thanks again guys!

Longbox55 : wow great work! Should I sand in between primer coats, or after the final coat of primer? Thank you!

In love with those wheels. Looking great I'll be following this build for sure!

the paint is awesome!!!!! I like how glossy it is!

I have a couple old model cars I built when I was really young (11-12years old I am now 22) and I plan on finishing this corvette and then practicing my painting techniques on these spare cars. I have an Enamel Clear coat as well as the testors clear I will be trying both of them to see which I like better. I will also be working on my polishing as well!

Wow those are beautiful finishes. Thank you again for the advice! I will keep that in kids when I come across metallic paint jobs! I believe I just need practice with the spray can as well as my polishing technique. But you have some amazing models there. Thanks for helping and sharing!

found a great post and got some great info on it. thanks! Great! looking forward to reading more and than trying out new techniques! very very helpful. thank you

This is all great advice! I'm sorry for all the questions! I have a few model car body's that were painted when I was younger and will probably use those as practice. What is the best way to strip the paint so can I start from scratch with those cars and not harm the body? As for paint, I really would like to use rattle can spray paint either dupli-color or rustoleum. I have easy access to it and to get any model car paint it's about an hour drive for me. I could order them online but, Im trying to save that as absolute last resort. That being said I'm going to have to practice with rattle can paint. I also did not use any clear coat on that practice hood. Would clear coat help when polishing and wet sanding? Back to the model I am focusing on, Since I already painted the body with the same technique I used on this practice hood, should I leave it with just the gloss enamel with no sanding or polishing, or is this going to have to be a total stripped paintjob and start from scratch? This is how the body looks. Last question I promise! when wet sanding I never got that scratched look. The paint also started to thin in some spots and it was just horrible. does that mean I need to apply more paint to the body? I believe this is due to the fact I was spraying in light coats.

Also does not having a clear coat on make a difference? I watched a youtube tutorial on paint where a Ferrari model was painted and polished without any clear coat and the paint seemed to have that smooth mirror finish I am after. is that possible without clear?

It has been dry for 5 days. but you are correct on the spray distance, I did spray about 12inches away for the first coat because I did not want to cover to much area at once. for the second coat and third coat I was closer but not as close as 6 inches away from the body while spraying. I was still further away than that. when polishing should I start with a lower grit like 1800 or 2000 and spend a good amount of time on that before moving up the scale? My08malibu :Should I always be that close or only on the final pass? Thanks guys!

To start off I am a modeling newbie so I am open to all kinds of advice, so feel free to share advice! I decided to do some experimenting today. So I am in the process of finalizing a 1978 corvette but decided to experiment some polishing on an extra hood I painted to mimic the color on the corvette. I used Rustoleum Plastic Primer and Rustoleum Gloss Enamel grey for paint. This shows the difference between the regular enamel gloss compared to when I used the LMG polishing kit (wet sand with 3600,4000,6000,8000,12000) WITHOUT a clear coat. I will also be adding photos in a few days of the difference between Testors Clear Coat and Rustoleum Acrylic Enamel Gloss Clear. I taped off half of a spare hood I had lying around and began to wet sand. Here is the Before and After (Clicking on the image makes it easier to see the difference) Now, I don't know if I did this correctly but, I followed the instructions on the kit and I wet sanded increasing the grit with water and a drop of dish soap. The rough, pitted looking side of the hood is the AFTER from the sanding and applying scratch remover polish! and the "smoother" look is the before with just the gloss enamel on it. I was shocked! I am looking to get that smooth glossy mirror finish everyone is after! I will also be comparing clear coats before and after polishing once I spray another spare hood and will post the results! Thanks for reading!

I have read tons of posts on clear coat and what is recommended and what is used that works well. I do not own an airbrush set up to start. I would like to stick to spray cans either Dupli-color or Rustoleum. Why? I get more for my money, and I have access to them on a daily basis at a better than shelf price and I do not have any hobby stores near by. However I did order the Testors Gloss Clear coat online to compare differences, but my main question is, Has anyone ever used Rustoleum Acrylic Enamel Gloss Clear coat Over a Gloss Enamel spray? I used Rustoleum plastic primer ( sprays and sands well) and Rustoleum Gloss Enamel. I have the LMG polishing kit coming in the mail any day now. But was wondering if anyone had any feedback on this specific clear coat. I am new to modeling so any advice will help!Thanks! Here is what the can looks like :

looking forward to trying this stuff!

I actually just ordered some of the testors clear coat! Found it for a good price and I read it does a good job so I was sold! As for the flat paint that's great advice for future builds thanks! Since I already have gloss paint on this car I should apply decals before clear correct? Then after clear coat is over decals go ahead and polish with the 3600 threw the 12000 along with scratch remover polish and wax

angelo7 & jbwelda Thanks for all the great advice! I will be ordering some Tamiya clear coat to play it safe. as well as the LMG Polishing kit. I'll upload pictures in a few weeks of the final product!

Even though I used rustoleum paint? that wont effect anything correct? sorry for all the questions I'm just really new to modeling and trying to learn what is best!

or am I better off using the Tamiya Clear over the automotive paint?

great advice! I will look into a polishing kit and polish after I clear coat correct? As for the actual clear coat, should I spray the rustoleum acrylic gloss clear coat I bought? I have read a lot on Future clear floor polish and have heard you can brush it on. any feedback on that? thanks!

the paint is amazing. great job

Any other advise is greatly appreciated!

Also if anyone can help should I apply the body decals before I spray the clear coat? thanks guys!

thanks! It has been about a week since it has been painted, is their any specific process on how to polish it out before spraying clear?

awesome build so far! looking forward to the finished product! What did you use for the plug wires!? they look great!