Newbie's problems when airbrushing

[stona]

24 hours should be enough for the paint to dry, it will cure for longer, but you should be able to handle it after 12-24 hours with no problem. Enamels generally adhere well and give a tougher finish than acrylics, but the gap is rapidly closing.

I have had paint that never dried, a batch of Humbrol gloss black enamel. It may be that you have some dodgy paint. If it is not just one paint, then changing your thinner would be the next sensible thing to try. You can try the white spirits I described above or cellulose thinners. The latter do vary, they are not all the same, so some experimentation maybe required.

There are things that may be added to enamel paints to accelerate drying, but that's not something that is necessary, and not something that you should be looking at here. Don't be tempted. I never use them, and I've sprayed enamels for a long time now!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Thank you for suggestions. I will try to wait a bit more and see if it dries but it seems that other paints that I thinned in the same way dries faster. It is just that revell flat black which gives me problems.

I have also decided to strip the body to the bare plastic and start from scratch again. In addition I have tried to use same revell primer on a small piece from the kit and check how it goes. Here is the picture:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jupzwrzt4w4fyhq/IMG_20170812_160259.jpg?dl=0

It has three coats of primer with 10 minutes between the coats as instructions suggest. I do not know if you could see it but the surface is not flat but rather rough. I had same effect when I painted the body. I shook the can for 1 minute and was spraying from 20 cm distance so I do not think it is me. Do you also get this kind of surface after priming or is it usually very smooth? I suppose what could be done is sanding but which grit I should start with?

[Guest]

Well after waiting for two more days the paint still comes off quite easily. If you just rub with your finger it comes off as a bit sticky oily substance.

As for the priming I still do not understand it completely if it is my technique of applying it or the primer itself that causes this rough surface. Probably it could be sanded but then it is easy when you have car's body which surface is mostly flat to start with. But what about planes and other models when you have those small rivets all around. How do you sand it without touching those details?

[Guest]

It sounds like you might have a bad tin of that particular paint.
Go and get a Humbrol tin of the black.
I'd also recommend getting a jar of enamel thinners as well, not that white spirits or turpentine won't work but the thinners is designed to work with the paint, turpentine or white spirit is perfect for cleaning the airbrush after but the potential for variance in different brands and bottles is there and they might react differently.
As for the thinners, you should be able to get a relatively smooth surface spraying, if it's still rough and gritty something isn't right.
Is your airbrush spraying consistently and or spitting or stuttering at all?

[Guest]

I am using revell white primer from the can and spraying it from 10 cm. I shook the can before spraying but I am still getting rough surface as it could be seen from the photo.

[Guest]

It appears that oven/grill cleaner strips paint quite well but the primer was left intact. Therefore I wet sanded it with 2000 grit sandpaper and do not know what to do next. Should I just lay first coat of paint on the sanded primer since it looks smooth now. Or should I apply one more coat of primer (which will be rough again and will need sanding) and then apply paint? I know that main purpose of primer is show defects and increase paint adhesion and also make colour stand out a bit more if the primer is the same colour. But now I wondering if it was even necessary to prime as the plastic of the model was white already and did not have any defects. As for adhesion enamels adhere to the plastic quite well. In that way primer kind of looses its' purpose.

[Guest]

The primer serves 2 purposes, to give an even coat to allow to check for defects and a good base for the paint.
I've painted enamel straight onto plastic when I first started modelling and it sticks well enough so the answer is.
If you're happy that the surface is smooth and defect free go ahead and paint onto it.
Definitely go for a new tin of paint though, it sounds like your other one isn't right