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Frequently Asked Questions

What type of paint is best to use?

There are dozens of different paints on the market sold in hobby & craft stores, hardware stores, chain stores and almost everywhere else. There is no way we can cover them all in the space of this FAQ, but generally you want to try to stay with paint made specifically for plastic models, such as those made by Testors®, Tamiya® and many others.

Most hobby paints will be either:

• Enamel, which you will need to use paint thinner or turpentine to clean your brushes and equipment, or
• Acrylic, which is water based so just water will clean brushes and equipment.

You must clean the unpainted plastic parts prior to painting. This is to remove the oily mold release spray that is added to the plastic parts so they won't stick to the metal mold when manufactured. Paint may not adhere to the parts if not cleaned. To clean, simply put a few drops of a liquid dish or hand soap to an old toothbrush and give the parts a quick scrubbing, letting them air dry afterward. Many modelers like to use spray paints for the largest parts of their model, such as car bodies or aircraft fuselages as sprays will provide a better finish. Usually smaller detail parts are painted with a brush using bottled paints.

Some general guidelines when using sprays are:

• We strongly suggest the use of a coat of primer before spraying on your paint. Some paints may "craze" or attack the plastic surface depending on the paint's ingredients.
• Don't attempt to cover the part with one coat of paint. You want to spray several very light coats building up the coverage. Paint coats that are too heavy cause runs, cause the engraved detail to be lost and may craze the plastic. Follow the directions on the can but generally you'll want to wait 15-20 minutes between paint coats.
• It's best to stick with the same manufacturer for the different types of paints you use on the same model (primer, color and clear, if you use a clear coat). Putting one manufacturer's paints over another may cause them to react badly with each other.
• Let the paint dry completely before handling or trying to polish out the paint. Although it may seem dry on the surface, a good way to tell if the paint is fully cured is to hold the model up to your nose, if you can still smell the paint, it's probably not dry yet.