Recommendations for primer/topcoat

[ddmobley]

I am building the Estes D-Region Tomahawk, which as you all know has styrene fins and fin can. The nosecone appears to be blow-molded styrene. Both the nose cone and the fins/fin can have a lot excellent scale details in them that I don't want to fill up with the wrong primer. What recommendations can you offer for a styrene-safe primer that won't fill up the scale details?

Or do you even recommend priming the styrene? Perhaps using 600 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper on the styrene parts covered by the right topcoat would suffice? I don't have a problem priming the body tube separately, which I will do anyway. I just don't want the styrene to melt or the details to be filled up, but I do want the topcoat to adhere.

Is Krylon white too thick for a topcoat, or should I use spray Testor's on the airframe? I obviously don't want to pull the white topcoat off when I mask and shoot the red/black features as well. I imagine a thinner-applying feature color would help me out there as well.

[pantherjon]

I would use brush on Testors paint on those styrene parts.. That's what I did on the plastic pieces on my Nike-K rocket.It had an ORANGE colored fin can, plastic transition and plastic nose cone..The paint didn't fill the details on the transition..See here:
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t21/Pantherjon/Nike-K002.jpg

That is what I would do...Just brush it on..No primer..May take 2 coats and be steady with the brush :)

EDIT: I brush painted the fin can and transition..I remember now I sprayed the nose cone and upper tube as a single unit...

[dtomko]

If the styrene pieces are white, you could be able to get by without primer, but definitely use the 600 grit sandpaper to give the top coat something to grab onto. You could spray a light coat of Testors flat white as a primer as well. Just give light coats and it shouldn't hide the details. Krylon can be too "hot" for some styrene, so I would stick with Testors.

Drew

[ScaleNut]

an airbrush would do great also

[mrhemi1971]

If you can, definitely go the airbrush route. I've been a professional car model builder for many years, and I have been using laquer paints on styrene with incredible results. The enamels tend to be thick (either sprayed or brushed on) and you may lose some of the detail depending on how heavy your spraying finger is. Laquer paints use a thinner film and dont cover up details as much. BUT you HAVE to prime!

[Rocketking]

While I recommend using primer on plastic, is is for other reasons entirely.

Primer is intended to improve the bonding between the surface of the part(s) and the paint coat(s). For this reason alone, a primer is a good thing.

The second reason is that the Estes' white plastic is translucent, allowing light to pass through and making it look like the 'toy' that it is. The Grey Primer tends to block the light passage, making the PNCs and fins appear more 'solid'. A good thing for a scale model.

I like to keep the primer light, using a distance of at least 18" between the part and the spray nozzle. Use several light coats rather than one heavy one, and you should be able to still show the molded detail well.

Good luck with the build, and let us know how it finishes for you. And we always welcome pictures...

[ddmobley]

I have successfully completed the D-Region Tomahawk build and was pleased with the painting results. I went with Krylon top coats for all colors (white, black, red and brown) over Rustoleum Automotive primer for the styrene and plastic and Duplicolor for the airframe.

The best tip I tried was the "back-coloring" when I was applying the next secondary color: when painting the next color, use the previous color underneath for the first coat. Then apply the secondary color and it will leave a clean edge when you unmask it.

http://www.rocketryplanet.com/images/content/2051/401.jpg

See it all at: http://www.rocketryplanet.com/content/view/2051/38/

[tbzep]

The best tip I tried was the "back-coloring" when I was applying the next secondary color: when painting the next color, use the previous color underneath for the first coat. Then apply the secondary color and it will leave a clean edge when you unmask it.



The funny thing for me is that I've known about back-coloring for years, and have even used it successfully to keep colors from running under tape once or twice. However, I almost never think about it when I'm getting ready to paint. The only times I've used it is when I've been reminded about it by reading a post like this and happened to be painting that day. You'd think that something that works as well as it does would stick in my head a little better. :rolleyes:

Nice Tomahawk, btw. :)

[Ltvscout]

I have successfully completed the D-Region Tomahawk build and was pleased with the painting results. I went with Krylon top coats for all colors (white, black, red and brown) over Rustoleum Automotive primer for the styrene and plastic and Duplicolor for the airframe.
Looks great, Darrell!

[ddmobley]

The funny thing for me is that I've known about back-coloring for years, and have even used it successfully to keep colors from running under tape once or twice. However, I almost never think about it when I'm getting ready to paint. The only times I've used it is when I've been reminded about it by reading a post like this and happened to be painting that day. You'd think that something that works as well as it does would stick in my head a little better. :rolleyes: If I could only back-color my brain, I might remember this myself. I have heard about it (and Scotch Magic Tape) for years but this is the first time I've used it. And, I did it with regular masking tape, so even the Scotch Magic trick drifted out of my head. :D

Nice Tomahawk, btw. :)Mucho gracious!

Looks great, Darrell!Thanks!

[barone]

That looks great! You've convinced me to keep mine in the bag (because I'll never get it to look that good :o )

[Solomoriah]

Back coloring... why didn't I think of that?

I use cheapo Miracal (Dollar General) or Colorplace (Wal-Mart) primer; it is really thin, which means I have to use a lot of coats when I'm trying to fill imperfections. For your purposes, a single coat of same might be good, since it doesn't fill up the details very fast. However, if the details are very fine, I think I'd skip even this.