discussion Advice on gloss paint.

[Jim R]

Hi all
I have never built a model which required a gloss finish. My SS100 Jaguar will need a gloss finish - British Racing Green. Many of you are experienced with gloss finishes on car builds so advice for this novice would be much appreciated. Do I paint matt and then gloss varnish? Do I just use a gloss paint? Do I paint gloss and also gloss varnish? Do I polish?
Thanks in advance
Yours very confused.
Jim

 

[Steve O]

Great question Jim i will follow this thread as it could help with my trucks, at the moment i use model air then when fully dry a rub over with Flory sander/polishers then two coats of Pledge clear, but you will require a much better finish, i have never used gloss either, looking in.


Steve.

 

[Guest]

I can't offer any advice Jim , but will tag along .
Sounds quite a complex finish, well within your skill .
John .

 

[Jim R]

Selfishly bumping this up the posts. Hope to attract a car builder
Jim

 

[Tim Marlow]

I have only built a couple, but used the following procedure.....
Build and prime as usual....
Polish smooth using very fine (6000) grit paper....reprime and repolish any rough spots.
Spray gloss paint....leave to degas and go really hard, about a week if you can wait that long.....Rub down and refinish any rough spots.
Once you have a hard smooth finish, polish the paint with Tamiya polishing compound.
Simples.....
By the way, polishing with Tamiya compound will make the clear parts really look like glass and is recommended....
Other builders may well have another simpler approach.
Cheers
Tim

 

[SimonT]

Hi Jim,
When I did an E Type for someone I used Halfords car paint

Misted coats over Halfords primer then built it up to gloss finish followed by T cut once paint had set

 

[Guest]

I have had a lot of success in gloss coating using Tamiya TS paints. They are in a spray can and come in a wide range of colours, flat and glossy. I used these for cars and, with care, got a very convincing smooth very glossy coat.

View attachment 307822

The rear right hand bumper shows a little rippling but his was my first attempt. It needed just a very slightly thicker final coat.

The advice is to apply a primer (I use any available grey primer), then a very light dusting coat of the gloss, then a thicker coat, then a very thick coat, as thick as you dare before running (experiment). I fixed a temporary handle to the part and rotated it as I sprayed the final coat and for 5 to 10 minutes as it dried. That minimises running.

I have never polished the result with polishing compound because the finish without it is so good, but there would be no harm in polishing it for, say, a large conspicuous area.

Although I prefer to use an airbrush because they are more controllable than a spray can, but I got very good results with the can.

http://www.hobbyco.net/scripts/oe11.3/cgiip.exe/WService=WSHobbyV3EcomLive/stk/productcatalogue.p?catSrch=TAMIYA TS SPRAYS&cType=Catalogue&cLevel=Bottom&iDataGrpId=278615&iCurPage=1&session=NNQobFEkpceEFnlSeahiknFiaijlLKKp

 

[Steve O]

I have had a lot of success in gloss coating using Tamiya TS paints. They are in a spray can and come in a wide range of colours, flat and glossy. I used these for cars and, with care, got a very convincing smooth very glossy coat.

View attachment 307822

The rear right hand bumper shows a little rippling but his was my first attempt. It needed just a very slightly thicker final coat.

The advice is to apply a primer (I use any available grey primer), then a very light dusting coat of the gloss, then a thicker coat, then a very thick coat, as thick as you dare before running (experiment). I fixed a temporary handle to the part and rotated it as I sprayed the final coat and for 5 to 10 minutes as it dried. That minimises running.

I have never polished the result with polishing compound because the finish without it is so good, but there would be no harm in polishing it for, say, a large conspicuous area.

Although I prefer to use an airbrush because they are more controllable than a spray can, but I got very good results with the can.

http:tongue-out3:/www.hobbyco.net/scripts/oe11.3/cgiip.exe/WService=WSHobbyV3EcomLive/stk/productcatalogue.p?catSrch=TAMIYA TS SPRAYS&cType=Catalogue&cLevel=Bottom&iDataGrpId=278615&iCurPage=1&session=NNQobFEkpceEFnlSeahiknFiaijlLKKp

Thanks Steve very interesting i will have to play and practice, your car looks great especially tbe colour.

Cheers Steve.

 

[Wouter]

Morning Jim!

Well most has been said so far I reckon. After all the polishing and clearing and more polishing, to really top things off and make it shine like hell you can add some car wax at the end. It will be very shiny, believe you me

Cheers

 

[Jim R]

Thanks guys - appreciate your advice. I'll have to do a bit of experimenting. The weather is still a bit too hot for airbrushing and the kit itself is taking a lot of time with clean up, filling and fettling.
Jim

 

[Guest]

Thanks guys - appreciate your advice. I'll have to do a bit of experimenting. The weather is still a bit too hot for airbrushing and the kit itself is taking a lot of time with clean up, filling and fettling.
Jim

Cleaning an airbrush also takes time. That is why I often use the spray can I mentioned. I find there are two features that need attention: the need for an almost running final coat as I mentioned; and if your model has a sunken surface (like between the engine and the front wing of a car), there is a danger of the non-sunken surroundig areas being over sprayed. For that particular problem I decanted some of the TS paint and used an airbrush (cleaning it out very thoroughly with cellulose thinners. (My airbrush is a good quality Harder and Stenbeck whose seals were not affected. A cheap AB might react adversely.