[Epsiode 3] Proper Planning Part 3 – More Painting Prep

Build Flow

Having identified all the paint/treatment options in the Colour Table (see my last post or the Documentation page), there is just a little more prep to do for painting.

First off, here is the ‘Build Flow’. This set of diagrams describes how I plan to prepare and paint each part, by showng how the various layers of primer / paint / clear coats / decals / weathering / etc are to be built up. The general case looks like this:

The Build Flow also includes my thoughts on treating parts that get a carbon fibre look. The real parts tend to have a shiny surface on the mold side, where the weave is also visible. The other side is a flat dark grey or black and doesn’t show the weave (well, not at 1/12 scale). The cut edges are also a flat dark grey or black.

Consumables

With the Colour Table and Build Flow done, we now know what paints we need to buy – including primers, and also various thinners for the acrylic, enasmel and lacquer paints. We can also get all the other consumables – putty, glues, sanding and polishing materials, decal solutions, airbrush cleaner, masking tape, etc. Put all of the consumables together and it looks like this (!):

Well, for my second attempt it would look a bit different… I have moved away from Tamiya sprays, both for primers and colour coats. These days I prefer Mr Color Surfacer in Grey/Black/White and Mr Color lacquers. I’m also trying out some SMS lacquer paints.

Testers

In fact, paint prep isn’t quite done; there are a bunch of treatments I need to test out before I decide exactly how to model them. In future posts I will show you how all these worked out, and I will make updates that will be reflected on the Documentation page.

Most of these tests have been completed, successfully or otherwise, so I have included my results for them.

Test the coverage of the orange/green body colours: Will the green (Renown Green Lacquer) cover the white+orange (Renown Fluorescent Orange Lacquer), or vice versa? This will determine the order of painting/masking the body colours.	Previous tests showed that green over orange wasn’t perfect, but it was the most viable option – paint orange, mask, then green over. More useful was putting a base orange down before the fluro orange, unless you want to put down 6+ coats of fluro orange, plus green, plus clear on the body. I will be testing some new paints to find a good colour that doesn’t involve decanting Tamiya spray paints.
Check that the Mr Color Super Clear (Gloss Clear Lacquer) will go over the Zero Paints successfully.	It does! Mr Color clears go great over every lacquer I’ve tried.
Test whether Flat Black or Flat Grey Black is the better base colour for the carbon fibre decals. I also want to try out gloss versus semi-gloss topcoats for these treatments.	Black works better; there’s too much mucking about trying to do a grey ‘underside’ on complex shapes.
Test if the vacuum formed parts can be successfully clear-coated in Gloss Clear.	My experience suggests trying NOT to need to clearcoat these parts. That said, if they need to be painted, I have had much better results with lacquers as the acrylics tend to bead on the shiny surface.
Test the options for the black parts of the door windows (GFrit) – black decal film or black polycarbonate paint. I also want to see how these finishes work on the inside versus the outside of the vaccuum formed part.	My current plan is to paint these black, with lacquers. I am still working out if I can paint them on the inside or outside surface of the windows.
I could only source black or white ‘mesh hose’ (fibreglass silicon tube, actually), so I need to test if it can successfully be painted the correct grey.	Silicon tube can’t be painted, it’s silicon: the paint dries then falls off. I found that KA Models and others make mesh hose in black… so I bought that.
Test out making Bronze Metallic with a ‘medium coat’ over bare white metal.	The bronze was the wrong colour, but I had success with light coats of brown over bare metal.
Try out the Zero Paints texture paint for the seat and steering wheel (FFabric), and see how it works with Gloss Clear, a decal, and Flat Clear on top.	Zero Paints textured paint works great. I bought the charcoal colour, but it takes an acrylic colour coat over the top just fine.