White

Johnnycrash · Post by **Johnnycrash** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:58 pm

OK. I hate white. Well, not the colour, but the paint. I can never get a good white paint job. I have a car that I am doing (for my dad), and it just HAD to be a damn white car. UGH!! I have painted and stripped it now three times.

So, how the hell do I get a good clean white paint job??

Pengbuzz · Post by **Pengbuzz** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 1:02 am

I usually use krylon flat white myself, misting it on as I go. But yeah, white is notorious for being a royal pain to work with.

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:21 am

Start with white primer. Do you use an airbrush or spraycans? In either case, Tamiya makes a great fine white primer, which sprays smooth and even right out of the can, or can be decanted and sprayed through an airbrush. It produces a smooth, very opaque finish.

What to do next depends on what you're comfortable with. There are some good gloss white paints available, in enamels or acrylics. I for one don't care much for gloss paints. Trying to get them to cover smoothly isn't a skill I've mastered yet. (I haven't had much practice, most everything I paint is flat or satin). If it were me, I'd polish the primer surface by wetsanding with fine paper, 3000 to 12000 grit. I might have to apply touch up coats, and polish those too. Then I'd apply several thin, satin white coats. I use enamels a lot, so I'd thin these with lacquer thinner, which causes the paint to go on very smoothly, and it dries quick. Further polishing, only with 6000 grit and higher. Follow this with two or three coats of Future, applied with a wide brush.

This is what I'd do, but like I said, I'm no expert when it comes to gloss finishes. Regular car modelers could give you better advice.

Johnnycrash · Post by **Johnnycrash** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:50 am

Yeah, white. Ugh!

The kit body is molded in white, and at one point was contemplating just polishing it. But that never looks right either.

I am using rattle cans for the moment. Been meaning to get my spray booth up and running. Another project on the to-do list.

I am using Tamiya TS-26.

As for gloss vs flat... No choice, it needs to be gloss. The car was in great shape, and my dad took care of it. So, no faded, rusted, dirty paint to hide the flaws.

Of course, he got rid of it shortly after getting it, and regrets it to this day. I caught him looking for one on Auto Trader a few weeks ago.

Oh, it's a '65 Impala, white with red interior, 283 auto.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:06 am

Spray, sand, spray. Repeat 'til smooth.

What flaws are you getting?

Johnnycrash · Post by **Johnnycrash** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:12 am

Blotchy colours. Well, I mean, there are areas that are more white than others, some less. And it's pulling away from the high points -- Fender ridge, wheel well lip, and the like. The car is currently stripped, I should have taken pics. Oops!

The problem may be my base coat. I started with a flat white primer. That hasn't/won't strip off. I wonder if it's the cause of all my trouble. Hmm... I have an untouched body (no primer or clean up on it at all). Maybe I should try to paint that and see what happens.

TimeScape · Post by **TimeScape** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:14 pm

Haven't you heard, Black is the new White!!

Believe it or not, I prime with MM Sand followed by gloss or semi-gloss white. Usually works well.

kenlilly106 · Post by **kenlilly106** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:46 pm

Gloss paints will typically pull away from sharp corners if the gloss coats are applied too heavily.

For these areas you have a couple of choices:

1 - lightly (and I do mean it) sand these areas with 1000-1500 grit, really just enough to scuff up the primer/basecoat enough so the gloss will stick. Sometimes the primer can be too smooth and the paint won't grab it, remember there's a lot of clear in gloss paint and it will just slide around on a smooth surface.

2 - prepaint these areas via airbrush with some gloss white that's compatible with the main body paint (you could decant some from the spraycan if you so choose), since you can apply airbrush paint exactly where you need it you can build up some glossy color on these areas then shoot the whole car via spraycan, since the spraycan paint goes on a little heavier it will help even out the airbrush job resulting in an even coat of gloss white.

Ken

Lt. Z0mBe · Post by **Lt. Z0mBe** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 12:21 am

Other suggestions are great. What I do since I am lazy is prime with white or very light gray and then color coat with a flat white airbrushed. The glosses seem to have a higher surface tension and want to - to use the technical term - "glob up" more than flats. Then if I need gloss, I gloss coat.

I hope this helps

Kenny

Mad-Modeler · Post by **Mad-Modeler** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 12:28 am

I found White, Red and Yellow tough colours to get right.

Working on an aoshima speed-racer kit, thinking of polishing the white body using a top-compound(2000-6000 Grit) and than covering it in a Urethane topcoat.

The topcoat will also need to be polished to a glass like finish.

Bellerophon · Post by **Bellerophon** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 1:22 am

White's the worst.

Somewhat OT 'cause you're talking about spraying gloss, but I recently had occasion to brush-paint flat white acrylic. I had the best results with Polly Scale. It went on smooth in a thin even coat that didn't show much of any brush marks. Tamiya and Testors were both giving me trouble--too thick, too much surface tension, poor adhesion to the substrate (Tamiya primer), and both curdled when thinned with a little distilled water. As if they were past their shelf lives, but they were pretty new jars of paint.

Mad-Modeler · Post by **Mad-Modeler** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 1:24 am

Tamiya acrylics don't brush well.

Go with GSI/Ceos or Gaianotes.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 10:47 am

Bellerophon wrote:White's the worst.

Somewhat OT 'cause you're talking about spraying gloss, but I recently had occasion to brush-paint flat white acrylic. I had the best results with Polly Scale. It went on smooth in a thin even coat that didn't show much of any brush marks. Tamiya and Testors were both giving me trouble--too thick, too much surface tension, poor adhesion to the substrate (Tamiya primer), and both curdled when thinned with a little distilled water. As if they were past their shelf lives, but they were pretty new jars of paint.

Tamiya thins best with their thinner or some isopropyl alcohol.

I use Vallejo for brush work. Stuff is amazingly smooth.

Bellerophon · Post by **Bellerophon** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 11:36 am

I keep forgetting that Tamiya doesn't brush well--especially flat white and flat black. Even on small parts like landing gear struts. I keep both distilled water and isopropyl rubbing alcohol handy for thinning acrylics--it's hard to remember which paint reacts best to which thinner. Maybe I should put notes on the bottles.

But Polly Scale does brush well, and it's possible to eliminate brush marks by laying down thin coats, almost like drybrushing.

I have yet to try Gunze or Vallejo, and never even heard of Gaianotes.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 12:30 pm

Bellerophon wrote:I keep forgetting that Tamiya doesn't brush well--especially flat white and flat black. Even on small parts like landing gear struts. I keep both distilled water and isopropyl rubbing alcohol handy for thinning acrylics--it's hard to remember which paint reacts best to which thinner. Maybe I should put notes on the bottles.

But Polly Scale does brush well, and it's possible to eliminate brush marks by laying down thin coats, almost like drybrushing.

I have yet to try Gunze or Vallejo, and never even heard of Gaianotes.

It gets even freakier when you learn you can also thin Tamiya with lacquer thinner.

Tankmodeler · Post by **Tankmodeler** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 1:58 pm

I think the key here is to not spray gloss white at all.

Spray thin coats of flat whilte, buff out the surface with 1200+ grit or automotive buffing compound to get a smooth surface and be prepared to do this a couple times. Don't be afraid to spot coat if you only need to hit a couple of areas.

Once the finish is down and smooth it will be satiny at that point. Then a couple coats with thinned Future to get the gloss back. Don't be afraid to buff the Future if it orange peels.

This has worked for me a couple times.

Enamal & Laquer paints work well for this as I find trhem to be harder than acrylics.

HTH

Paul

Wug · Post by **Wug** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 8:38 pm

If you want to use lacquer, Mark S. Gustavson and Robert A.Wick have a great guide here:

http://user.xmission.com/~msgsl/GSL/doc ... hicles.pdf

Mike

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 9:46 pm

Wug wrote:If you want to use lacquer, Mark S. Gustavson and Robert A.Wick have a great guide here:

http://user.xmission.com/~msgsl/GSL/doc ... hicles.pdf

Mike

Both Mr. Color & Gianotes are lacquer based. Tamiya and some Testors can be converted to lacquer based by thinning with lacquer thinner. Lacquers are great to airbrush provided you have enough ventilation. IIRC Tamiya rattle cans are lacquers.

Johnnycrash · Post by **Johnnycrash** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 10:07 pm

Some great ideas guys. Thank you. I only need to make two of these. One for my dad, and one for me. I will now make it a family rule that no one EVER buys a whit vehicle. Period.

The good news is that, all the other vehicles my dad has owned/owns, none are white. But three are metallic. But, I have the actual paint from the auto store (pint cans for airbrushing), and tests show it will scale OK.

But every one will need to be converted/modified into the right year/model. Ugh!!