Author Topic: Need help painting on metal and plastic  (Read 3603 times)

Offline Wyrmshadow

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Need help painting on metal and plastic
« on: August 10, 2020, 10:47:12 AM »
Long time no post.

I'm in the middle of restoring an old toy and I need to start painting but I don't know what the best approach is yet.

One piece is pewter die-cast the other is common toy plastic. I'm going to paint them both white with blue in the middle of the flat part.

My tools will be primer, gloss white spray, blue spray and acrylic model paint.

Should I just pray the white directly on the metal, then blue on top once dry?

Should I prime first, then spray.

Should I prime before both colors. So it's prime, white, prime, blue?

Would acrylics run on plastic? On Primer? I would use the acrylic model paints if my blue spray is not quite the color I want.

Should I clean the metal and/or plastic with alcohol first?

Should I not spray the plastic white? Or should I to maintain color consistency?

How long should I wait between sprays?

Lots of questions I know, but I want to cover all my bases.

Offline Kerick

  • Reportedly finished with a stripper...
Re: Need help painting on metal and plastic
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2020, 12:12:35 PM »
Is there any corrosion on the metal part? Fine grain wet sand the will cure that of course. Cleaning with lacquer thinner or alcohol should help remove dust. Definitely prime metal first. The plastic is harder to say not knowing what type it is. Cleaning with alcohol would be good. Priming will probably help. I do feel there is no need to prime after the white before applying the blue. Acrylics, I’m afraid I’m not so much help on. From my limited experience with them so far I would say expect two coats to get coverage if brushing. Try to do this at a time of lower humidity as high humidity can do strange things to paint. It will also shorten dry time. Check the instructions for the suggested dry times for the paint you’re using. Will you be thinning the acrylics to spray with an airbrush? That’s another whole can of worms. Maybe others here can help with that. Hope this helps.

Offline Old Wombat

  • "We'll see when I've finished whether I'm showing off or simply embarrassing myself."
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Re: Need help painting on metal and plastic
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2020, 04:47:10 PM »
Best method is to prime both pieces (I'd recommend Tamiya Fine Surface Primer (Light Grey) - Item #87064) as this will allow paint to stick to all surfaces equally & any (very minimal) changes to detail will be the same for both surfaces & paints used.
« Last Edit: August 10, 2020, 04:55:50 PM by Old Wombat »
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Offline Wyrmshadow

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Re: Need help painting on metal and plastic
« Reply #3 on: August 11, 2020, 07:57:21 AM »
Best method is to prime both pieces (I'd recommend Tamiya Fine Surface Primer (Light Grey) - Item #87064) as this will allow paint to stick to all surfaces equally & any (very minimal) changes to detail will be the same for both surfaces & paints used.

I'm using Citadel Lt Grey as primer. Same as for my miniatures. I also have some industrial primer my dad has in his garage. I swear half his hardware says Kimball Midwest on it.

Offline Old Wombat

  • "We'll see when I've finished whether I'm showing off or simply embarrassing myself."
  • "Define 'interesting'?"
Re: Need help painting on metal and plastic
« Reply #4 on: August 11, 2020, 05:11:20 PM »
As long as your primer grips to both metal & plastic (which the Tamiya paint does), isn't so thick that you lose all your details & the paints you intend using will grip to the primer it should be fine.
"This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and, ah, explode."

Offline Wyrmshadow

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Re: Need help painting on metal and plastic
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2020, 06:49:16 AM »
Lesson learned: Don't use clear packing tape for Masking. Rips paint off when you peal.

Offline Old Wombat

  • "We'll see when I've finished whether I'm showing off or simply embarrassing myself."
  • "Define 'interesting'?"
Re: Need help painting on metal and plastic
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2020, 10:34:05 AM »
Yep, proper masking tape every time! ;)
"This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and, ah, explode."

Offline Robomog

  • ...had a very bad experience with [an] orange...
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Re: Need help painting on metal and plastic
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2020, 05:42:29 PM »
Or decorators masking tape, however much you press it down you will get breakthrough somewhere

As OW says proper modellers masking tape is best

Mog
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