Painting plastic buildings with craft acrylics

[Anonymous]

Being a relative "newbee" to this hobby I can use some of your valuable experience.

I've begun assembling building kits from various manufacturers; Piko(also distributed under Con Cor & Model Power brand name), DPM, City Classics, Main Street Heritage, Bachman, Walthers, and Supply Line (Those are the manufactuer's kits I've tried todate).

I do not have an airbrush so I am hand painting all of the kits with a brushes. My better half has dabbled in painting so I have a nice supply of good artist brushes at my disposal. I have been using only "craft" acrylics, mainly the Americana brand carried locally by Michaels. I find that I usually have to thin these, and todate I've only used tap water.

I've been trying to absorb all of the great information posted on these forums about painting. . For example, I've definitely found that washing with warm water and detergent is a necessity before beginning the painting, regardless of the type of plastic and whether or not its a casting or an injection molded part. Don't wash and you never know what the outcome will be.

Right now I'm trying to focus in on whether or not to prime the part after cleaning/washing. And so far, this priming option has been a different learning curve from washing/cleaning!!

Using just an inexpensive enamel primer from Home Depot didn't work with every manufacturer's plastic. What it always did, however, was fill in all of the voids in the part and in many cases wipe out too much detail. The spray nozzle on these cans is just not fine enough, in my opinion, to maintain the brick detail, for example, especially on some of the older kits where the molds may be starting to show their age and the mortar joints are starting to wear away..

I then tried a can of Rust-Oleum Specialty Plastic Primer, again available from Home Depot but at a slighly elevated price. This definitely adheres to all of the plastics I've used it on much better that the regular can of spray primer. However, again the droplets/spray particles are large and tend to wipe out some of the detail as above. I've tried wiping before it completely dries, but with mixed results. I've also tried to lightly go over it with fine grade steel wool after it completely dries, again with mixed results, and a lot of extra effort..

So I'm back to the question again: prime or no prime when hand brushing craft acrylics on plastic building models from any of the suppliers of these kits. If I don't use any primer, I preserve the detail better but the paint does not flow as easily and doesn't always adhere as well. Use primer and I risk the loss of detail and/or make more work for myself.

George

[Anonymous]

I use the cheap flat white, black and primer red from Home Depot with great results on N Scale. I put on several, very thin coats.

[orsonroy]

I use Krylon gray, white and oxide red primers on my HO scale buildings without any problems. I've also used them on N scale DPM buildings with good results.

I think you're adding the paint too thickly. The key to getting good results with rattlecan paints is to make quick, even, light passes, and to only use as much as absolutely necessary. The absolutely best way to get good results with any paint is to add as little paint as necessary. Frankly, I'd just go ahead and spray paint your base brick colors, and leave the craft paints for detail work. Craft paints are even thicker than spray paint applied properly, and there's no way around their thickness. If you try to add craft paint thinned without any primer, you won't get good coverage for several coats. If you add them thick enough to adhere to bare plastic with one coat, you'll hide some detail.

[Anonymous]

The regular spray can paint pigment is not ground as finely as model spray paints. Floquil makes a nice line of spray cans, and the coverage is really good with a few thin coats. For brick buildings, you could get (for example) box car red, and use that to "prime" the building. Then go at it with the craft paints for weathering and so on.

You don't necessarily need to use sprays either - out of the bottle brush painted is good to. The key (I find) is to use a good, plastic compatible paint for the first coat. Then the craft paints stick much better.

Andrew

[bcammack]

I use the house-brand rattle cans from WalMart. Red Oxide primer and Flat Black. Then I use the acrylic craft paints for the window trim, doors and weathering. Light "misting" coats are certainly the key, IMO.

Good luck!

[CP5170]

I too use craft acrylics to paint my buildings. I do not wa***hem first because I like the variation that results. I tried priming one building but the brick came out very consistent not like the aged structures that I was trying to create.

Ken

[Anonymous]

Definitely sometihing learned again.

[code]Light "misting" coats are certainly the key, IMO.
[/code]
Everyybody in other terms mentioned this way of doing things;
gently apply the product with a little "touch", don't overdo!!.

If there was anything I hadn't practiced before that was it. More was better!!

I also found that I may be using the term "primer" too literaly . I thought of primer as I thought of sealing a structure such as my house before I put the "top coat" on. Several of you have mentioned using the primer as the base color for the structure and then finishing with an "acrylic" coat for a "finish". Definitely a way to go.

Can't thank you all enough. Definitely given me a better perspective on this topic.

George