testors spray enamel, now what!?

[pussiwillow]

got some ruby red metal flake, shook the hell out of the can the whole day to make sure that it is mixed real well, and that its not going to mess up on me, sprayed down a nice silver metal flake base coat, wanted it to sparkle like crazy, well i spray the red, there is like no metal flake in it at all, and its real rough looking and bumpy like there where chunks in it, never had any problems with hok sprays doing this to me, decided to see how testors worked, and im disapointed, how long does this take to dry so i can wet sand this thing down and hope i can get it to smooth out? only sprayed 2 light, even coats so far... thanks guys

[randx0]

that enamel is probably really old. did you try warming the can up?if you can get the ruby red to work for you ,testors also has a pearl gloss coat in the enamel so maybe try that if you want more sparkle . as for how long it take to dry could be a couple of days or a couple of weeks.in the future I recommend sticking to the hobby lacquers or tamiya paints. I know they're more expensive but it's worth it just for the dry time overnight as opposed to overweek.if you can't get it to smooth out try stripping it in super clean or use easy off(OUTSIDE WITH CAUTION). hope this helps good luck!

[pussiwillow]

thanks for the reply, that was the last thing i wanted to hear tho, and the can was heated up too, not that its starting to settle in its smoothing out, but it definitely in dire need of wet sanding no matter how you look at it, my hobby shops dont carry much variety in paints, is it safe to get it online and have it shipped to me here in arizona where its still up in the hundreds? i dont want to ruin the paint, or have it blow up on me haha

[Harry P.]

Here's a tip you'll thank me for later:

Do not use Testor's spray enamels.

I know that there will probably be a few people posting what a great paint job they got with Testor's enamels, and I guess it's possible to get a good result with them, but believe me: acrylics or lacquers are much easier to use, dry smoother and faster, and will generally give you a much better result than enamels, which are prone to orange peel and take forever to dry. My advice: Don't use enamels ever again... next time try a lacquer or an acrylic. You'll be pleasantly surprised, and odds are you'll never use spray enamels again.

[pussiwillow]

ya ive noticed, im definitely not doing that again! oh well, no rush on this model so i might as well let it dry and see what i can do with it, if it fails ill soak it in the purple pond and use better paint

[novadose71]

Here ya go Bob. The only two paint jobs I have done that didn't need polishing were Testor enamels, not outta the can but through an airbrush, thinned way down. Both flowed out real nice with no peel, can't remember the dry time as they were both done over 7 yrs ago, but I'm sure it was at least a couple weeks. I haven't used enamel on a body since these two were done, I use lacquers almost exclusively now and ocassionally use Automotive urethane base/clears.

The truck is custom mixed enamels from the jars, Arctic blue(and others mixed in) for body, Boyds purple for the flames, and too much of the same purple mixed in with the clear turned the blue purpler(?) than I had wanted

Leftover from the truck, Arctic blue on the Cobra is how it layed down outta my booth with a little wax to really make it shine, boy, luck was on my side for this one.

For the two good enamel jobs I have sprayed there are at least half dozen others that turned out as frustrating piles of shiznit. Most bad ones were shot from the can and the Testors cans don't even seem to have enough propellent to empty out all the paint. These are my 2 cents.

2 more cents....Another great thing about lacquer is how thin the build is, it won't flow over molded emblems and trim nearly as bad as anything else I have used, and it's a lot harder to run the paint.

[MikeMc]

LISTEN TO HARRY!!!

[MrObsessive]

I gotta tell ya........Testor's spray enamels are what caused me to get and learn to use an airbrush back in 1985.

After one of their cans ruined a then rare IMC Ford Cougar ll kit......I swore never to use Testor's spray cans again.

I ditto what Harry said................start using automotive acrylic enamels and lacquers! You'll sleep better at night knowing you got a nice clean paint job!

Those paints are also more durable to handling that you'll inevitably will have to do when you got to final assembly.

Testor's may appear to be dry even though it has sat for a week or more............but my experience has been they NEVER really dry rock hard as evidence by the paint deteriorating if handled too much!

One cure for this is using a dehydrator-------but why go through all of that when something much better can be used?

[Moon Pie]

  pussiwillow said:

thanks for the reply, that was the last thing i wanted to hear tho, and the can was heated up too, not that its starting to settle in its smoothing out, but it definitely in dire need of wet sanding no matter how you look at it, my hobby shops dont carry much variety in paints, is it safe to get it online and have it shipped to me here in arizona where its still up in the hundreds? i dont want to ruin the paint, or have it blow up on me haha

I take it you are in one of the desert areas of AZ. I have a situation here in the Phoenix valley, where I have to hold off on lacquer paints until like October every year because it is always too hot to paint in my garage during the summer months. You can order your paint in the "cooler" months with no fear of the cans blowing up.

I use the Testors enamels and have no problems with the stuff, as a matter of fact, some of my best paint jobs have come from Testors enamel rattle cans. With metallics and metalflakes, if you wet sand, you'll get a blotchy look to them because you are actually removing some of the "depth". I would opt to strip it completely and start over. You might want to check out Testors new One Step lacquers, also, because they do have a gorgeous red metallic.

[Robert81]

I agree with Harry, Never use Testors spray cans. I hated painting because of it, and I have 50 unfinished projects to prove it. A few months ago a friend of recommended Dupli-Color Lacquer. I fell in love with them.

Go to your local auto parts retailer and take a look.

Dupli-Color makes a line called "Metal Speck". They come in a big can and cost me 8 bucks Canadian.

Here is what the red looks like over Grey primer. I did not use a clear coat on this one.

They dry in about 4 hours and I had the kit primed and painted in about 8 hours.

Edited October 8, 2008 by Robert81

[Semi Trailer Mechanic]

What's goin' on...

I prefer not to use enamel but when I do here's how I apply it.

Turn on the tap (hot water). While that's warming up shake the can until the water is hot then warm the can until it's almost too hot to hold. Start spraying just before the part to be painted then across it. Using the same direction,distance from the work, and travel speed each pass until you've completed the first coat. Don't try to completely paint it in your first coat. Wait about a week before the second coat. This might seem like overkill but enamel dries from the inside out. Example after a few hours the surface might seem dry but underneath it's still wet hence the reason you get finger prints on it after several hours or when you try to polish it the paint might get tacky or gum up (even after a day or two). Speaking from experience!!! The rule of thumb I go by is when you can't smell that first coat gassing out anymore then it's completely dry then do a light wet sand if you choose to. Next spray the second coat using the same techniques as above and again wait another week or so before the third. Repeat until you got a perfect paint job by "your standards". Then wait another week beforel you finish sand and polish. The best thing to do is start out painting the body. While waiting between coats you can do your homework looking for good reference pictures, posting questions to other model builders on this forum and other forums you may or may not belong to. Then start assembling other areas of your project. Engine,trans, interior, any tirework/detail and so on.

This is the first project I used that technique on. It took four coats to achieve this finish. The picture doesn't justify how well it looks!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!

Edited October 11, 2008 by Semi Trailer Mechanic

[evilone]

ok heres an idea wait for a week for it to completely dry

wet sand it with 2000 grit then get the same color and mix some HOK flake in it

spray it let it sit a few days to gas out

clear it

wet sand that with 2000 grit

then clear it again

then if you can see yourself in the paint after a 15min flash time

let it sit for a few days and it is finished

[pussiwillow]

that paint is worthless. i gave up with it. i got the laquers and they spray so much better, than any other paint ive used including hok, but i got so frustrated with enamels i rebuilt the badger my dad gave me, and im going to attempt to get the hang of the ###### thing this weekend