Haloo Lad & Gent

i need ypur advices for build and paint my Nissan Z Car by tamiya.
i had a few questions that i cant answer, i hope you ghuys could help me here

1. when you paint the car, do you go straight with the colour shown from the manual book ?, or you do some prime colour first ( like when u build amour?)

2. what is the basic steps to paint the car ?

3. where i can get the upgrades kits, such as velg, tail, etc ? ( i checked hobbyeasy, but i cant find what i want)

thats all my Q's
thks guys:)

I would strongly suggest the use of a primer.
Gloss paints have a tendency to do what called creeping. They will creep away from all the sharp edges. The primer coat gives them something to grab on and prevents this.

In addition to what Dave said, you may want to wash the body with enamel thinner that shouldn't melt the plastic yet make the adhesion of primer even better.
That would be about the body, matt interior colors can be applied without the primer just as to the armor models.

Pedro

Even more so than with armor, you'll need to paint the car in nmultiple very light coats of paint to avoid orange peel. You should check youor LHS (or other dealr) for polishing pads, ultrafine sandpaper up to 16000 and 32000 grit. Ive seen some model car custom parts on Ebay.

Here are the steps you need to take to ensure a good shine:

1: Bodywork preparation ( mould parting lines removal and such )
2: sanding ( boring, I know, but absolutely necessary.)
3: Degrease and de-dust ( rinse with lots of water )
4: priming. deal with any and all humps/ pits
5: gradually build up the layers of paint. Some work better with an additional primer coat which is flat based, but roughly the same color of the top coat.
after every coat: allow it to dry for at least 24 hours in a dust free environment ( your microwave oven perhaps )
6: after the final coat, you may either finish it with a clear gloss coat, or polish the topcoat with polishing agents and modelling wax.

as for aftermarket parts: rims and belts are readily available by pegasus hobbies or fujimi for instance, but for wings, body kits and such, you need to do some searching. They are there though.

hth,

Snowhand

Kalmbach has a couple of books that really show how to finish a car. I think they are by Pat Covert. Of course this would be in addition to what has already been said!
capnjock