Well, That Didn't Work

[sigfan]

Hi, Everyone.

Well, I foolishly tried to brush the interior of my Firebird with acrylic Tamiya Desert Yellow, and it's a streaky mess. I see now that this piece was too big to brush. So how do you recommend I proceed?

Do I try to brush a second coat to even things out a bit? (I'm not leaning toward this option.)

Do I sand everything as best I can and then spray the color I want?

Do I strip the paint and then spray the color I want? What do you recommend I use to strip it?

Should I have primed this first? I think someone said that the Tamiya brushes on a little thin. This is my first experience with acrylic paint, and I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this.

I know this is the interior and it won't show too much, but I really am not happy with this, and if I can re-do it, I would like to.

It's been a loong time since I put a model together, and I have only become more anal since then. I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Sigfan

[sparc100]

Should be an easy fix, first idea came into my mind:
No need to strip it, air brush it with multiple thin layers, let dry between layers. Adjust your gun with more air & less paint.
If spray can is preferred, simply spray in longer distance than usual.
Regardless which method you choose( even stick to brushing ), "multiple thin layers" is always the key. My 2 cents...!

Kason

[Dino Scuderia]

A whole interior tub is a bit much to try to brush paint and get an acceptable result.

Dashes, seats and such smaller parts can be brushed with decent results.

The trick to brush painting acrylic with no brush marks is to paint quickly flowing the paint on good and wet. Make sure you replenish the paint in the brush quickly so you adjoin your previous brush strokes before they begin to dry.

Acrylic paint shrinks somewhere around 300% when it dries so if you think you're putting it on so thick that it is hiding any detail underneath...you probably aren't due to the shrink.

Windex or like cleaners with amonia washes Tamiya acrylics right off.

[DrBob]

I agree that the entire interior is a bit too much to brush paint.

However Dave Oswalt, who is a figure painter first and an armor painter second, paints an entire tank by brush with cheap Apple Barrel acrylics from Michaels and gets great results. Caution: tank guys use lots of washes and stains, so I dont know how the original looks, but I have had success with his basic method over limited areas.

1. Tape a square of freezer paper to a piece of backing board. I use blue tape (cheap). Freezer paper is expensive, but a roll will last a lifetime. It has a nice plastic surface.
2. Put a drop of distilled water on the paper.
3. Dip your brush in the Tamiya acrylic and put a blob of paint on the freezer paper near but not too near the water. Most Tamiya is a little thick for brushing.)
4. Dip the brush in the water and transfer it to the paint. Blend it in until it seems the right consistency for brushing. You may need to dip into the water twice.
5. Brush some on the blue tape. This lets you "unload the brush" and see if it brushes smoothly. Then paint the area. Note: always brush the tape before the part.

This reduces the streaking and brush marks for me. Again, for large areas I use an airbrush.
Blending water to get the right consistency takes some experience. The reason you dont put the water too near the paint is because if you nudge the board, the water all runs into the paint and you have to start all over.
I use distilled water because I have some for decals (no minerals to cause stains) and it is right there.

[sigfan]

Thanks for the ideas, guys.

Aside from the poor coverage, I was not happy with the color, so Dino's suggestion about using an ammonia-based cleaner was spot-on. I was able to get everything cleaned up, and now I'm back to square one. I'll spray it next time -- with a rattle can. It's so cold in the basement right now, I'm a little leery about trying it, though. I may need to rig up something so I can paint upstairs.

I did like how the acrylic paint cleaned up, though. I can see it being useful on smaller details.

sigfan