Grainy textured paint

[Guest]

Hi guys.

I've recently sprayed a first coat of Tamiya X-11 (acrylic) Chrome Silver on my revell Mclaren F1 model, and it doesn't feel really smooth, I'm spraying it inside a cardboard box which probably doesn't help!

does anyone know where in the UK I can get a set of the really fine wet n dry paper or these really really fine grit cloths I hear about? The smallest I have is 2000 grit, and that'll still take a layer of paint off when wet pretty quick still.

or should I do a couple more coats before attempting to smooth out the paint???

And how many clear coats is recommended before putting decals on and how many after??

Many Thanks

[Guest]

Dibbley go to the John's shop at the top of the window.

Got all you need there & more.

I would wet & dry each coat. If you do not all you are doing is building up on not so smooth pieces.

I use Vallejo & put on a mist coat then a full coat all gloss before decals.

Laurie

[takeslousyphotos]

Hi guys.I've recently sprayed a first coat of Tamiya X-11 (acrylic) Chrome Silver on my revell Mclaren F1 model, and it doesn't feel really smooth, I'm spraying it inside a cardboard box which probably doesn't help!

does anyone know where in the UK I can get a set of the really fine wet n dry paper or these really really fine grit cloths I hear about? The smallest I have is 2000 grit, and that'll still take a layer of paint off when wet pretty quick still.

or should I do a couple more coats before attempting to smooth out the paint???

And how many clear coats is recommended before putting decals on and how many after??

Many Thanks

What grade do you want ?????

Peter

[Guest]

Hi Dibbley,

When I sprayed my McLaren with X-11 I found the paint has quite a large metallic fleck to it which may not help with the grainy finish. Could also be caused by spraying inside the box causing turbulence.

It could be you are also spraying too far away from the model and the paint is drying before hitting the surface. You could try holding the airbrush nearer, maybe thinning the paint a little more and slightly drop the pressure.

Could you give more details on your airbrush and paint settings?

[Guest]

I have sprayed a lot with Vallejo acrylic metallics for car bodies in various colors. I had the same issues due to the metal flakes drying in a raised position. Unfortunately the wet'n dry tended to change the hue, or color even, of metallic paints, but I found that laying down the coats quite wet helped a lot, but be careful with thinning, if a thin paint is put on wet you'll some times see the flakes follow the direction of gravity and start pooling, even without paint running, resulting in uneven "glimmers". I haven't been able to avoid all perpendicular flakes, entirely but instead of wet'n dry I used rough tissue paper to break of the flakes that were sticking out from the dry surface this by not affect the color. This gave me enough smoothness for laying down the clear coat. Also make sure the surface of the primer coat is absolutely smooth, your 2000 grit should suffice well enough for that.

/Daniel

[Guest]

Painting in a box is a bad idea, lots of paint particles floating around, drying and landing on your freshly painted model

[Guest]

I'm not sure what grade I need to be honest?? I used to just slap paint on with a brush, so this Is my first model with an airbrush.

As for kit, I have an expo tool gravity fed dual action brush to start me off, and an air compressor with tank off of Amazon. So I have a smooth delivery of air, even though its acylics, I'm using acryli thinners so I know I can narrow any problems to me or kit set up before playing with other types of alternative thinners, and pressure is running at 20 PSI.

didnt even think about the flakes falling back down onto the model!!!! Where do you guys spray your models? I have made my own turn table from a pulley and bearing on a shaft. But thought enclosing it would stop mess?

Thanks for the responses!!!!

[Guest]

A recent post mentioned:

How to Apply, Polish, and Wax Your Paint to Perfection

for a high gloss finish for cars, which I will be trying.