Testor Paint Problems

[Anonymous]

To anyone,
I am having the hardest time painting some of my Polystyrene buildings using testor paints, (I am not using any of their oil based paints). Some of the colors, particularly the dark ones, go on great. Two coats give me great coverage and I'm done. Others like reefer white and dirty white are like water. I have trimmed out my window panes with four coats and it still looks like I just primed them, the red Polystyrene shows right through. I have left the paint out overnight to try and let it thicken some, but that has not helped. Does anyone have any suggestions for thickening my paint?

Thanks,
Roy

[cwclark]

Get rid of the testors and use plain old cheap acrylic paint that you can get at hobby lobby or walmart in those little plastic bottles in the art supply section..They cost less than a buck a bottle...I had the same problem using testors light colored paints. They are for plastics but like you said..they don't cover worth a "hoot"... I have found those cheap acrylic paints do the job just fine...red is a hard color to cover on anything especially when you use a light color...try sanding the part a bit with very fine (350-500 grit paper) before painting...Chuck [:D]

[Anonymous]

Try pre painting the are with silver paint, then follow with the white. Some times it just to much to ask the white to cover red in a couple of coats. When I go from one color extreme to the other, I start out with silver first and then the final coat of white.

I use the silver in place of light gray primer because the light gray can have the same problem as the white. Silver has worked every time for me.

[BentnoseWillie]

Sounds like your paint isn't mixing properly - it could be that you have a couple of dud bottles, or perhaps they've gotten a bit old. Leaving them out overnight with the tops off will probably make things worse if anything. You may have to write off those bottles and try again.

In my experience, Testor acylics need especially through mixing - I stir them carefully with a popsicle stick or a bamboo skewer, carefully stirring right to the bottom of the bottle to agitate all the pigment. That's good policy for any paints, although I often get lazy and just shake Polly Scale. [:I]

I've also noticed that the lighter colours sometimes need the most mixing, especially Silver.

[Anonymous]

Whenever I use light colors on a dark background, I prime first with gray. Both Floquil and Polly S SP Lark Gray are good primers. I usually only need one coat of primer and two coats of a light color for good coverage.

Note: If you prime with acrylics and then use solvent based paints over the acrylic, make sure the acrylic is quite dry. I wait at least a week before I put Floquil over Polly S or Accuflex.