Paint 101

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Contact us: bracket500@live..com Page your on - Paint 101

Many of us can't paint a hard body car kit, this will be one of the many ways you can
learn how to paint your own model car kit, also known as a hard body.
There are many more variations of this procedure, this is my version.
Ask someone to help you. There are many different kits, so the work might vary.
If you're in a hurry to come up with a painted car I suggest get a styrene body to start with.
These methods might not be what every one agrees with but it's a start.
You will want to wash all the parts you use with a mild soap and water, before sarting.
I use some 320 grit sand paper while rinsing the body and parts.

Click on pictures to enlarge

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First thing to figure out is which parts you will be using, check with the instructions sheet, (pic1),

Next is to set a plan of attack to get the kit ready for glue, many things can be used to hold some parts together, you can use masking tape like I show (pic2) or rubber bands, or anything you have handy.

Now you see the body held in place with masking tape. (pic3)

Wait for the glue to dry and set up, I use Zap-A-Gap (I'll have a picture of it soon)
The reason the body is up of the surface is to ensure it doesn't stick to the surface in case the glue runs of the body. (pic4)

Now you have a surface to work with, there's some imperfections to be fixed, some of the pieces might have fit tight, so there will be gaps to fill, and make sure everything is to your linking. (pic5)

Time to fill the gaps, I use a glazing and spot putty by Bond, there are many other products you can use, I choose this product because it's easy for me to work with.
Fill in all the gaps and where ever you feel it should be filed. (pic6)

After a good sanding using a 320 grit wt/dry sand paper, this is how it should look, this might take a few times to get all the imperfections ready for priming. (pic7)

After the first coat of and automotive primer I run the spot putty to fill in all the spots I find, then I dry sand everything with a 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Then one more light coat of automotive primer and one more good light sanding with the same 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper and make sure you don't break through the primer you're ready for paint. (pic8)
Paint: there are many kinds of paints. You have enamels which take time to dry at least an over night dry period is required, then you have laquers, fast drying paints, most automotive touch up paints work well for painting your kit. Think of what you want you car to look like and choose the colors accordingly, I was going with a Dark Cherry color, so I sprayed the car first with a pink laquer finnish paint and let it sit for a few minutes then hit it with the finnish color, in the sun the color really shows well..
(pic 9-10)

So far I have four days into this project, due to waiting on some of the products to dry and set. This project is done with rattle spray cans.

Click on pictures to enlarge 11
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Chrome and other details:

To prepare the chrome to add to the body, you must remove some of the chrome and paint to make sure where you glue it's going to adhere, you can use your model knife, sand paper or any other tool to get this done.
(See Pictures 11-12)

Front bumper installed, this was two pieces, the grille and bumper are glued together to the body of the car. (pic 13)

Rear bumper glued to rear of car. (pic 14)

3 pieces windshield is installed with lexan clear glass.
Foil was used for mud and scratch guard on rear fender. (pic 15)

The final touch is a cloth canvas glued top, using rubber cement. (pic16)

The car body is done at this stage.

Coming up Interior build using scratch parts.

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