How much paint for car body

[ksnow]

Looking to order Tyrol Blue from Scale Auto Finishes for my 1967 GTO build. New to the airbrushing world, and to scale auto finishes, so I'd like to try a test body first to make sure I have the process correct. I will be using their primer also. Will a 2 oz bottle of their paint (described as airbrush ready) be enough to easily cover 2 bodies? Thanks.

[hedotwo]

In my experience it will cover two bodies easily.

[ksnow]

Thanks.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Depends on a lot of factors, but it should do.

As a general rule, I can paint a body with about a 1/2 oz.

That said, if you’re painting something such as a stock Mopar where the engine bay and chassis also get body color, it can take an ounce or more.

Factors such as that, plus the number of coats that a particular color requires to get good even coverage, and the depth of color desired, along with whether or not you will be using any body color in the interior.

I often use body color for parts such as dashboards, steering wheels and columns, and possibly door tops.

When I painted my 1968 Dodge Coronet, I wound up having to do a minor repair.

I used MCW paint, which comes in 1 oz jars, and I very nearly ran out of paint.

 

 

 

Steve

[ksnow]

Thank you Steve. Maybe I will just run some spoon tests before I tackle the body. Its for a GTO build, so black on the engine bay and nothing on the interior that is body color.

[Can-Con]

1 hour ago, ksnow said:

Thank you Steve. Maybe I will just run some spoon tests before I tackle the body. Its for a GTO build, so black on the engine bay and nothing on the interior that is body color.

Careful how much you use for your spoon tests though Kyle. don't want to run out.

BTW. not the whole engine bay was black on GM cars. Usually just the inner fenders and rad wall but you'll also see the firewall painted black a lot. Don't know if that's because they were painted at different factories or restoration mistakes though. Always best to do image searches when doing a stock car.

 

[Muncie]

There is what is supposed to happen - and for me what does happen.  I add a little bit when I start with a paint that I am not familiar with.  Waiting for more paint because some of it didn't end up where it's supposed to is a bad feeling.

(are we supposed to admit things like that?)

[ksnow]

15 hours ago, Can-Con said:

Careful how much you use for your spoon tests though Kyle. don't want to run out.

BTW. not the whole engine bay was black on GM cars. Usually just the inner fenders and rad wall but you'll also see the firewall painted black a lot. Don't know if that's because they were painted at different factories or restoration mistakes though. Always best to do image searches when doing a stock car.

 

Yes, I have been doing a lot of image searches. But sometimes, like you said, you see things that don't match. And it is difficult to tell what is correct or not. Like headrests. The MPC kit comes with head rests, which I suspect were added when the molds were updated, as the kit also includes a 70ish nose and spoiler. Image searches of 1967 GTO interior shows some very nice ones with and without headrests. One even had rear bucket seats and a full length center console. 

[Dave G.]

1 oz of pre mixed lacquer is not a lot of paint, especially if you need room for fudge factor. 2 oz leaves a lot of cushion for error. 1 oz of uncut paint is more than enough, even in 1/16 scale.

I did a 1/16 Model A, body only in MCW Washington Blue. This was a roadster and the fenders were already done in black. So real estate wise, not so different from a full bodied 60's era car in 1/24. I just made it . One or two areas had sand scratch swelling, which wasn't too bad and I just scuffed out with 3200. I re dusted those areas, blending into the rest ( the wonders of lacquer allow for that). And all was well. I brushed in door jams and such but the paint really is too thin for brushing. And that pretty well did in the 1oz bottle of paint. I might have an 1/8th of the jar left. I got enough paint on the body to make it blue, clear coat is the gloss.

Now the fenders I did in Tamiya acrylic and just buffed the color itself up. No clear coat needed, no scuff sanding, just a quick buff up. LP lacquer wasn't out yet, today I'd use that for the black fenders.

[ksnow]

Thank you, Dave. Good point on the 1 oz unthinned versus 2 oz thinned. I have a 2 oz bottle coming, so that should be good for a couple quick spoon tests and the body.

[Dave G.]

7 hours ago, ksnow said:

Thank you, Dave. Good point on the 1 oz unthinned versus 2 oz thinned. I have a 2 oz bottle coming, so that should be good for a couple quick spoon tests and the body.

Yes, you should be fine, Kyle.