painting hilux body?

[cavie98]

hey guys, i'm just getting into scale building and was wondering what is the prefered paint for a hilux body? i've painted plenty of lexan bodies but never a hardbody. wasn't sure if the type of paint matters that much. i thought that a good plastic paint would be good. or do i need something better? i will have to be rattlecan, unfortunately. but need some advice. sorry if this has been asked before, i couldn't seem to find the answer i was looking for using the search button. please list type of paint and brand. thanks in advance.

[clockworks]

Any acrylic auto paint will work fine with a hard body. I just scrub the body with a green Scotchbrite pad and dish soap, rinse, dry, then use auto primer and colour coat.

[The Loyale]

Any Tamiya TS- paint will work, or any model paint for that matter (Thats what I always use)

Sure you can use any type of aumotive paint and primer, Pretty much anything you want, then add clear over it (if wanted)

-Tom

[cavie98]

thanks guys, that's what i need to know.

[izeman]

Originally Posted by The Loyale

Any Tamiya TS- paint will work, or any model paint for that matter (Thats what I always use) ....

does that mean, that i don't need primer if i use tamiya-ts paint? i just ordered several colors spray cans, but forgot to order primer.

[Neeley]

Just use auto paint.

Prime, bass coat and lacquer.

1. To get a top quality finish, use 1200 grade wet and dry paper to take all the shine off of the body first. keep the paper wet and use some soap with it.

2. Either use pre paint cleaner or some washing up liquid and plenty of water to get all the residue muck off. Then dry thoroughly and leave it in a place which is hot. Airing cupboard / next to a radiator. This will ensure the primer will bond well to the plastic.

3. Prime and wet flat with 1200 grade. When you wet flat you only need to take off the rough surface, not right through the primer. Allow the paper to become creamy but don't let it dry out. the flatted surface should be perfectly smooth and have a sheen finish.

I always use etch primer. Upol is good. (Never spray thick coats... Ever). 1 dust coat, 30 minutes then wet flat and leave for an hour. 2nd coat, 30 minutes then wet flat and leave for an hour. 3rd coat. No wet flatting, let the paint fully dry. The longer the better, over night is good.

4. Wet flat the primer and clean the body thoroughly. Leave to completely dry in a warm place.

5. Now you're ready to add the bass coat. Again, you want a light dusting and allow it to dry before the next coat. No need to wet flat just yet. Spray another coat, you should have the body covered in the color now. Wet flat then Leave it for 30 minutes and spray another coat. No wet flatting after this. Another 30 minutes give it a light dust coat.

This final dust coat gives the lacquer something to bond to. Spray the lacquer very finely, keeping the spray can on the move, spraying past the model and back again. You don't want any area getting too much on it.

It should all begin to look orange peel textured, stop there and leave it an hour. Don't get any dust on it, the paint will stay tacky for quite a while.

Nearly done....

Final coat of lacquer. This one is the most important. Again you want to spray finely, spraying past the body and back again. But this time you need to keep going until a glassy gloss finish. Once you see this finish, don't spray anymore over it, there's a risk of it running which will screw up everything.

While you're spraying you see any part of the body which doesn't get that glassy look, slow down the movement on that part to get the lacquer completely uniform.

It's a good idea to walk around the model as you are spraying. You are better off moving rather than having to move the model.

Now it's done. Leave it somewhere warm over night. Even the next day the paint won't be hard, you'll easily be able to mark it with a finger print if you press hard. Be careful.

Personally I would just leave it alone for a few days in the warm.

Then give it a really good polish to buff up the shine, still don't go too hard with it, the paint will need a few weeks to completely harden.

Hope that helps.

[izeman]

@neeley

thanks for your complete instructions. they surely are great for top of the notch paint, but my questions still remains unanswered.

do i need separate primer, or is tamiya paint specially made for their polistyrol bodies?

[bayareaaxial]

i use primer with tamiya paints on my hardbodies

[dubAron]

Originally Posted by izeman

does that mean, that i don't need primer if i use tamiya-ts paint? i just ordered several colors spray cans, but forgot to order primer.

If you want it to stick good you need primer but use that same brand of primer as the paint or you'll get a chemical reaction. On the first coat you don't have to cover all of the body completely that how you get runs in the paint. But when it's all said and done it's gonna get beat up on the rocks so just keep on practicing and you'll get the hang of it.

[k_r_a_c_k_e_r]

Thanks for the tips on painting!

[Pointman]

Originally Posted by Neeley

Just use auto paint.

Prime, bass coat and lacquer.

1. To get .........

Hope that helps.

Thank you for posting these detailed instructions Neeley! I really needed them.

[dusty husky]

So if I'm going to paint black trim details, should I paint them first and mask the dark colors then paint my main body color? Pactra rc lacquer, met. black & lime ice for body color, I've got a silver for primer in between? Never painted abs before? Thanks

[transambill]

If your talking trim details such as door seams window trim,etc it can be added later with a sharpie or paint marker.

[nickvig]

This is a great post, I will however, make a comment about the grade of sandpaper. 1200 grit is generally used for final polishing and is way too light to use when prepping the plastic for paint. Go with 320-400 grit sandpaper for prep work before priming. You don't want any scratches in the plastic, just a uniform, smooth surface. If you use 1200 grit, you may end up with a surface that is too smooth and the paint won't adhere well. Follow these directions below, but use 600 grit in between coats.

Originally Posted by Neeley

Just use auto paint.

Prime, bass coat and lacquer.

1. To get a top quality finish, use 1200 grade wet and dry paper to take all the shine off of the body first. keep the paper wet and use some soap with it.

2. Either use pre paint cleaner or some washing up liquid and plenty of water to get all the residue muck off. Then dry thoroughly and leave it in a place which is hot. Airing cupboard / next to a radiator. This will ensure the primer will bond well to the plastic.

3. Prime and wet flat with 1200 grade. When you wet flat you only need to take off the rough surface, not right through the primer. Allow the paper to become creamy but don't let it dry out. the flatted surface should be perfectly smooth and have a sheen finish.

I always use etch primer. Upol is good. (Never spray thick coats... Ever). 1 dust coat, 30 minutes then wet flat and leave for an hour. 2nd coat, 30 minutes then wet flat and leave for an hour. 3rd coat. No wet flatting, let the paint fully dry. The longer the better, over night is good.

4. Wet flat the primer and clean the body thoroughly. Leave to completely dry in a warm place.

5. Now you're ready to add the bass coat. Again, you want a light dusting and allow it to dry before the next coat. No need to wet flat just yet. Spray another coat, you should have the body covered in the color now. Wet flat then Leave it for 30 minutes and spray another coat. No wet flatting after this. Another 30 minutes give it a light dust coat.

This final dust coat gives the lacquer something to bond to. Spray the lacquer very finely, keeping the spray can on the move, spraying past the model and back again. You don't want any area getting too much on it.

It should all begin to look orange peel textured, stop there and leave it an hour. Don't get any dust on it, the paint will stay tacky for quite a while.

Nearly done....

Final coat of lacquer. This one is the most important. Again you want to spray finely, spraying past the body and back again. But this time you need to keep going until a glassy gloss finish. Once you see this finish, don't spray anymore over it, there's a risk of it running which will screw up everything.

While you're spraying you see any part of the body which doesn't get that glassy look, slow down the movement on that part to get the lacquer completely uniform.

It's a good idea to walk around the model as you are spraying. You are better off moving rather than having to move the model.

Now it's done. Leave it somewhere warm over night. Even the next day the paint won't be hard, you'll easily be able to mark it with a finger print if you press hard. Be careful.

Personally I would just leave it alone for a few days in the warm.

Then give it a really good polish to buff up the shine, still don't go too hard with it, the paint will need a few weeks to completely harden.

Hope that helps.

[rockrigcustoms]

if someone can chim in on this lmk. im doing a big hard body build, lots of styrene, hardbody and bondo, tons of hrs so i need this to not get bad reaction and wreck body. gonna be a shelf queen type tow rig so no scratches if possible

im using "Icing" for my bondo (real fine bondo stuff, expensive!)

can do the painting either of two ways!!

duplicolor primer
duplicolor bright red
duplicolor clear????

or

sikkens or HOC
automotive grade primer
" " base coat
" " clear coat

my friend is a professional painter so i know quality will b top knotch but will i notice the difference between the 2 paint contents?? which is the safest bet for this hardbody??? thanx guys. theres so many mixed answers i kinda dont want to take a chance.

[jwalker]

there will be a much better look with the automotive paint of course but the duplicolor will all depend if you use the spray cans or airbrush. you can do it with the cans but you will have lots of time in wet sanding it more than with the airbrush.

[rockrigcustoms]

so if i use the icing and sikkens primer, base coat clear coat i wont have any reactions?? call me chicken but im scared of a reaction and have to tear it all apart and start over. thanx jwalker!!

[jwalker]

never tried that stuff, i would try a test piece first.

[trialsallday]

When you say polish , can you give me an example of a product to use ? Are we talkn about using like a turtle wax or a Mothers auto polish.

Originally Posted by Neeley

Just use auto paint.

Prime, bass coat and lacquer.

1. To get a top quality finish, use 1200 grade wet and dry paper to take all the shine off of the body first. keep the paper wet and use some soap with it.

2. Either use pre paint cleaner or some washing up liquid and plenty of water to get all the residue muck off. Then dry thoroughly and leave it in a place which is hot. Airing cupboard / next to a radiator. This will ensure the primer will bond well to the plastic.

3. Prime and wet flat with 1200 grade. When you wet flat you only need to take off the rough surface, not right through the primer. Allow the paper to become creamy but don't let it dry out. the flatted surface should be perfectly smooth and have a sheen finish.

I always use etch primer. Upol is good. (Never spray thick coats... Ever). 1 dust coat, 30 minutes then wet flat and leave for an hour. 2nd coat, 30 minutes then wet flat and leave for an hour. 3rd coat. No wet flatting, let the paint fully dry. The longer the better, over night is good.

4. Wet flat the primer and clean the body thoroughly. Leave to completely dry in a warm place.

5. Now you're ready to add the bass coat. Again, you want a light dusting and allow it to dry before the next coat. No need to wet flat just yet. Spray another coat, you should have the body covered in the color now. Wet flat then Leave it for 30 minutes and spray another coat. No wet flatting after this. Another 30 minutes give it a light dust coat.

This final dust coat gives the lacquer something to bond to. Spray the lacquer very finely, keeping the spray can on the move, spraying past the model and back again. You don't want any area getting too much on it.

It should all begin to look orange peel textured, stop there and leave it an hour. Don't get any dust on it, the paint will stay tacky for quite a while.

Nearly done....

Final coat of lacquer. This one is the most important. Again you want to spray finely, spraying past the body and back again. But this time you need to keep going until a glassy gloss finish. Once you see this finish, don't spray anymore over it, there's a risk of it running which will screw up everything.

While you're spraying you see any part of the body which doesn't get that glassy look, slow down the movement on that part to get the lacquer completely uniform.

It's a good idea to walk around the model as you are spraying. You are better off moving rather than having to move the model.

Now it's done. Leave it somewhere warm over night. Even the next day the paint won't be hard, you'll easily be able to mark it with a finger print if you press hard. Be careful.

Personally I would just leave it alone for a few days in the warm.

Then give it a really good polish to buff up the shine, still don't go too hard with it, the paint will need a few weeks to completely harden.

Hope that helps.

[OllllO Fanatic]

Do any of you know if parma faskolor will work on ABS? I have a bunch of parma paint and I was hoping I wouldn't have to go buy more paint. If it doesn't work at all, like will just peel off I will buy more but I would prefer not to have to buy more paint. Thanks.