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Paint & Finish
For automotive paint and finishing topics.
Question on metallic paints
wildbill426
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Connecticut, United States
Joined: December 08, 2006
KitMaker: 403 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - 01:34 AM UTC
A question for the group. When I airbrush metallic paints, I have problems in getting the same color density on all panels. The biggest issue is the hood; to paint it best the hood should be painted separately; if painted in place you miss the engine bay panels and the edges of the hood. Yet when I do it that way, the hood is often a different shade than the rest of the body. Does anyone have some tips for me to improve my process? Thank you.
Dixon66
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New Hampshire, United States
Joined: December 12, 2002
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Posted: Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - 02:12 AM UTC
I paint in two stages, first all the underside of chassis, underside of hood and engine bay, etc. Then, once cured, I tape the hood in place from below and spray the entire exterior at once.

Joel_W
Staff MemberAssociate Editor
AUTOMODELER
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New York, United States
Joined: December 04, 2010
KitMaker: 11,666 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - 02:23 AM UTC
Bill,
agreed that separate panels can be an issue in color density and finish. So you need to use a standard painting procedure. For me it's driver's side, passenger's side, front, back, roof, trunk, engine hood. I never vary from that routine.

Next step is to standardize how you actually paint. I usually AB two tack coats, 2-6 wet coats, and one final wet coat that's thinned another 25%. The number of coats depends on how well the paint coverage is. Bright, light colors just take a lot more paint coats then darker colors. Then into the drying box.

If you have bumpers etc. just add them to the mix as another area.

Even if the hood was attached, any areas that you spent more time on with extra coats will be darker then the other areas. Just concentrate on consistent, smooth passes. Always start before the model section so that any spitting happens off the model and continue till you're past the end of the model.

Joel
wildbill426
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Connecticut, United States
Joined: December 08, 2006
KitMaker: 403 posts
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Posted: Thursday, October 01, 2020 - 06:55 AM UTC
That, sir, is a great idea.
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