I received an E-mail asking how to get a good finish on a paint job and while I was typing out the reply, I thought it may be useful to more than the one, so I decided to hang it up here too.
I made a couple of changes to the original "one to one" reply to so it made more sense, but other than that, it`s "as was" :-)
Now, before you even THINK of going near the fuze with paint, there's a lot of work to be done. And when it's time to etch prime, it's done with MICRO FINE coats (2) rubbed down after each with nothing more severe than 1200. I usually use 3m Super-fine paper (used wet) for the "before paint" rubdown, which is almost smooth enough to wipe your arse with.
I start with 800 wet and dry used wet for the first of many rubbing sessions. After a complete rubdown and a "feel" all over for high spots and low spots, give it another rubdown with 1200, then super fine. All used wet.
Then the whole thing is given a wipe with "PANEL-WIPE" which is a mild form of thinners. This gets any missed fingerprints and any "silicones" that happen to be in the air. Silicones leave "fish-eye" looking holes in the paint and if you've EVER used either WD40 or wax polish in the area that you're spraying in, there'll be of silicones in the air.
Rub the fuze til it's as smooth as a baby's arse, then wipe it over with panel wipe. A quick once over with a tack-rag (to remove dust and flying cackies) and a blow over with the airline (if you have one)
Blow on one light coat of etch primer, allow to dry, and give the whole thing another all over light rubdown to get rid of any crap that landed on the heli while it was drying. Use 1500, or super-fine. Tack-rag it and give it another blow off with the airline. Run you hands (VERY CLEAN HANDS) all over the fuze feeling for any rough areas, and rub them out with the super-fine. If you have any rough area now and do nothing about them, you'll have 'em when you think you've finished the job.
Clobber it with another coat of etch and leave the spray area till the next day.
Another quick rub down with 1500 or super-fine and another pass with panel wipe. Remove the panel wipe too, using a clean cloth. It's a case of wipe on, wipe off. Do this quickly so as not to leave any marks from the cloth, or residue from the panel wipe.
Now you're ready for your paint. If you used etch primer, and you haven't "broken through" when you did the rubdowns, you can paint DIRECTLY onto etch primer. If you DID "break through" though, squirt a touch of etch over the area and rub it back after it dries, but THIS time, don't break through. :-)
I'm "assuming" a White, Red and Blue for this exercise.
Paint the areas you want white but don't go mad and paint the whole helicopter unless there'll be white bits showing all over the place in the chosen scheme. Use LIGHT coats and rub down between EACH one.
If you try and rush, you'll fuck up, so have patience, it's the ONLY way to get a glass-like finish.
When you're happy that the white is in the right place and it's uniform in colour throughout, it's time to mask out the white in readiness for the next colour. It's always easier to cover a light coat with a darker one by the way, so bear that in mind.
I use 3M fine-line tape for the "outline" I want. This is plastic tape, and gives a razor sharp edge as well as being "bendable" round corners, but it's expensive and needs to be backed up with normal masking tape (which is CRAP for line edges) and paper. Don't use newspaper either, as it's porous and paint gets through it too easily. Use brown paper or girlie mags. :-)
So now it's all masked for the next colour, but don't load up the gun (or get the can) with the new colour, load up with WHITE (or get the WHITE can)
Now spray a very light coat of WHITE all along the masking lines and leave the spray area for half an hour. Why white?? Because if there's ANY paint "creep" that gets under the masking tape, it's WHITE paint, and seeing as how the previous colour was white, you can't fucking well see it:-) Simple really.
After the white edge line shoot has dried, give the next colour area (the Red) a quick rub down to get rid of any overspray roughness and flying cack particles that landed on your work.
When you do this rubbing down, remember to use the wet and dry WET, but try not to get the masking tape/paper wet, as this will let the edges peel off and that's just another way of fucking the job up. A wash leather sitting in a bucket of HOT clean water is good for soaking up drips and runs when you're rubbing down, but also remember, you MUST take the leather OUT of the bucket first. It's been my experience that buckets are totally useless for fine detail work. Even NEW ones :-)
Now, dry it off, (The fuse NOT the bucket) panel wipe it, tack-rag it, blow it off, and blow the next colour on CAREFULLY and not HEAVILY, particularly at the line edges, or you'll get a step that big you'll need climbing ropes to get over.
Mask off first, then shoot one light coat of the previous colour all along the tape edge, then leave the spray area for half an hour. Now ANOTHER rub down of the next area to be sprayed to get rid of overspray roughness and flying cackies that get attracted to wet paint.
Do the panel wipe/tack-rag/blow job thing and blow on the final colour on using light coats. Make sure you mask off the previous colour though, or all the work is wasted :-)
If you've used 2 pack (isocyanate) paints, the finish is already fuel-proof, but may need "nibbing". That's a technical word for removing the flying cackies that WILL have landed on the job, and are likely to be all over the fucking place, regardless of how hard you tried to stop them.
This means a COMPLETE rubdown of the whole helicopter (all that lovely shiny paint being attacked by wet and dry. It hardly bears thinking about)
Use super-fine (NOTHING ROUGHER) and when you run your (still very clean) hands over the job, it should be a smooth as that baby's arse I mentioned earlier, but the shine won't be too impressive, so now comes the hard work.
First we need to finish the edges. Take a sanding block (A big rubber thing that's heavy) and wrap your super fine round it, and "LIGHTLY" rub the paint edges with the paper WET. Be CAREFUL not to break through, you just want to take the "sharpness" off the joint lines.
Now get out the "T-cut" and rub the heli like you've never rubbed anything before. When you think you've rubbed it enough, rub the thing some more (A LOT more)
Rub till you can see your face smiling (or sweating) back at you, then clean it off with a good wash. Now do the final polish using a GOOD quality car wax. I use Auto-Glym coz it's the BEST and it shines:-)
See!! Bollocks all to it :-)
For a look at the result of following this procedure, check the Airwolf.
On a final note, here's a little info and a few things to avoid....
Most etch primers contain Zinc Chromates which are not designed for "in-body" use, so if you want to avoid an "out-of-body" experience, use a mask when you're spraying it around.
The same thing applies to most 2 pack paints or clear laquers, as these contain isocyanates, which also like your body MUCH more than your body likes them. An air-fed full-face mask should be used EVERY time you spray with these chemicals.
Back to the job...Try to avoid handling your paint job as much as possible, as fingerprints and a good finish are not good partners, and fingerprints, being difficult to spot can ruin an otherwise perfect job.
Sprinkle some water around the spraying area to help keep any dust down, but don't go overboard, or the paint will bloom (get fogged) due to excessive moisture in the air.
Don't be tempted to "give it another coat" straight after the first one because it doesn't look EXACTLY right. Leave it for at least 15 minutes before the second coat.
Don't put 50 coats of paint on. Every coat is more weight, and weight gain isn't the object of the excercise.
When you've put your last coat of paint on, wait for half an hour before you remove the masking tape, but don't wait 'til the next day, as the paint needs to be a little on the "soft" side to avoid cracking and splitting when you pull the tape off. Remember though that the paint still IS soft, so handle with care and try not to touch the paint at all.
Now if anyone wants any more info on this part of the hobby, let ME know and I'll include it in a future update.
These pages are copyright © Beavis 1998