Dupli Color Paint Issue

[JMinn]

Hi everyone! This is my first time posting on a forum like this because I haven't built a model in years. I'm painting a 70 mustang in duplicolor because I want it to look just like his. I bought the perfect match primer , color and clear so I wouldn't have any problems but the color coat looks horrible. The primer coat went on perfect, I didn't even sand it because it was so smooth so the next day I went to the color coat. I've put about 5 coats on and they all went on smooth but the paint looks so dried out. Now I do live in Illinois where the highest it'll get temperature wise is about 40 so I made sure to keep the car inside at all times unless I went in the garage to paint it. What I can't understand is that the hood and tail end came out perfect but the body looks terrible. The only thing I can think of is that I painted the little parts first, put those aside and then painted the body so I could drag it back inside right away. Could the little parts being in the cold for a few minutes could have caused it to dry better? Thoughts?

[Egon]

Hi Josh I think it's the cold weather or humidity, but can't say.

[JunkGTZ]

My guess, having lived in Illinois (Geneva), if the temps are in the 40's then the air might be too damp especially if you have had rain rather than snow. You are better off either painting inside where it is dry, or waiting for a few days of 30 degree or high 20's and maybe put an electric heater in the garage while you paint. I live in Mississippi now and our winters are back and forth between 50's with occasional dips below freezing and the humidity is still very thick, and actually makes not so cold temps more bone chilling when it does get low because the air is still so full of moisture. Find a way to dry things out in your painting space while keeping the parts warm.

If not dampness, perhaps the primer needed a longer curing time?

[MODEL A MODEL]

Hello Josh!

It is most likely the temp and humidity. Painting is the hardest aspect of model making to learn, and the preparation to do it right can easily be hours for just a few minutes of actual spraying. There are so many variables. But to start off you need a very warm dry place. I have seen guys build phone booth sized spray booths, and or, the smaller of the "picnic" type tents, set up for a day, or two, in their garage just so they can control the environment.

Another thing is to spray it wet, not so much that you get drips and sags, but it need's to go on smooth. And resist the temptation to spray "just a little more" after the paint has started to dry.

Humidity can cause the paint to "blush" which is some of what you have showing. (the matte surfaces on top of your gloss)

It looks like you are going to have to wait for warmer and dryer weather. Sorry! Or, create a space, that is clean, very warm, and dry. This includes the paint. Your paint should not be cold! And while drying the model needs to stay in that nice warm place till it is dry.

A last note, and I say this after years of talking to hundreds of modelers, -Do you practice painting? Most people do not until they think about it. -It's not easy to learn, how fast you move your airbrush , or can, how close to the surface are you, -if your using an airbrush , how thick or thin is the paint, are you using the right solvent? did you pour the paint through a filter to get rid of any undissolved lumps, are you using the right tip to apply the right amount of paint? Its a lot! And professional painters do practice.


Think about it, you have put in dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of hours of work, your modeling techniques are perfect, your research, your choice of materials, modifications, scratch-building, what-ever! You have surfaced the model superbly, applied a flawless primer coat, -which must be thoroughly dry, and you lightly sanded it to give some "tooth" for the paint to grab,( 500 grit), -and the first thing that every one sees is the paint. (Actually the first thing they see is the surfacing under the paint. - A poorly surfaced body will not be hidden by the paint, and of course a poorly painted body . . .

Humidity and temperature!

Happy New Year!

-Don

[Roger Zimmermann]

The paint you choose is for real car isn't it? Or is the primer you used a sealing product to avoid the disastrous consequences while painting a plastic model with an inappropriate paint?
I painted once a '56 Eldo model with, like you, a Duplicolor paint. The end result was not good at all, maybe similar to your model. I don't remember how I half solved th situation but after that, I choose paint which are compatible with plastic models. Unfortunately, as you probably noted, the choice is much limited.