Cursed Projects

[newmagrathea]

My MPC x-wing was cursed or at least I cursed at it a lot. Many of the parts were warped and wouldn't fit together without major modifications and I used tons of putty on it to fill gaps I couldn't get to go away. I used so much on the gun housing the outside of the housings started to warp and melt. And the later I had the x-wing fully assembled and mounted on a tube that was clamped into a vice (this vice has a suction cup on the bottom to keep it in place) the suction cup failed sending the x-wing to the floor and the vice landing on top of it, breaking 3 of the guns off and all of the engine nozzles off. I put it all back together and then realized I glued the engine nozzles on wrong and had to break them off to remount them correctly... again. I chalk a lot of my problem up to inexperience, it was the first model I'd built in probably 20 years. I think it turned out pretty well though.

Lessons learned:
Use Aves for any sculpting or substantial putty work.
Never trust a suction cup mounted vice
Old model kits are a pain in the rear

 

[PHArchivist]

My MPC x-wing was cursed or at least I cursed at it a lot. Many of the parts were warped and wouldn't fit together without major modifications and I used tons of putty on it to fill gaps I couldn't get to go away. I used so much on the gun housing the outside of the housings started to warp and melt. And the later I had the x-wing fully assembled and mounted on a tube that was clamped into a vice (this vice has a suction cup on the bottom to keep it in place) the suction cup failed sending the x-wing to the floor and the vice landing on top of it, breaking 3 of the guns off and all of the engine nozzles off. I put it all back together and then realized I glued the engine nozzles on wrong and had to break them off to remount them correctly... again. I chalk a lot of my problem up to inexperience, it was the first model I'd built in probably 20 years. I think it turned out pretty well though.

Lessons learned:
Use Aves for any sculpting or substantial putty work.
Never trust a suction cup mounted vice
Old model kits are a pain in the rear

Yeah I'd say that fits the theme!

 

[adinelt]

Here is my artwork by the way...

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Just curious, why not use a different brand of paint then Rustoleum? Seems like a lot of folks have problems with it.

 

[PHArchivist]

Just curious, why not use a different brand of paint then Rustoleum? Seems like a lot of folks have problems with it.

I actually did consider staying within the Tamiya family and picking up a can of Tamiya red. But Tamiya is not cheap paint, and the Rust-O-Leum I used has a very nice color and lays down well. I'll probably use the same red, then dip the full body into a vat of Future.

 

[PHArchivist]

Re-sprayed. Now time to unmask... :confused

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Since you are in the US, you should go with Testors / Model Masters paints. Never ever had any issues with those.

 

[JediMichael]

I always hate taking the tape off, you just never know if it will be good or not.
I've also been using Testors and have had pretty good results.

 

[PHArchivist]

Lots of paint leaks...

Most cleaned up off the cured undercoat ok with thinner but some areas I'm just gonna have to sa "ef it" and brush on some white. My sanding of the damaged red paint helped, but I was lazy and didn't sand perfectly. I'd say an overall 60%-75% improvement, which is good enough for me for this project.

 

[korben44]

I use Tamiya acrylics and some Testors enamels. The testors for small parts only, never in large areas. And I'm just now getting into Mr. Hobby Surfacing Finishers and using them as primers. I stupidly threw in some Mr. Finisher 1500 black in my airbrush and tried thinning it with acrylic thinner, only to have it clump up less than a minute into airbrushing... Lesson learned there... I had to order some Mr Hobby Finishing thinner just for it and I'm waiting for that to come in.

I'll buy Tamiya in lots off ebay. I just got in an order of 10 40ml bottles for $37 shipped. It's really not that bad, but Testors can be had for 1/3 of the cost, albeit a much smaller bottle. I like how the Tamiya paints go on and think it's definitely worth the extra money spent. Mr. Hobby paints are insanely expensive.

-Kris

 

[newmagrathea]

I use Tamiya acrylics and some Testors enamels. The testors for small parts only, never in large areas. And I'm just now getting into Mr. Hobby Surfacing Finishers and using them as primers. I stupidly threw in some Mr. Finisher 1500 black in my airbrush and tried thinning it with acrylic thinner, only to have it clump up less than a minute into airbrushing... Lesson learned there... I had to order some Mr Hobby Finishing thinner just for it and I'm waiting for that to come in.

I'll buy Tamiya in lots off ebay. I just got in an order of 10 40ml bottles for $37 shipped. It's really not that bad, but Testors can be had for 1/3 of the cost, albeit a much smaller bottle. I like how the Tamiya paints go on and think it's definitely worth the extra money spent. Mr. Hobby paints are insanely expensive.

-Kris

I've done the exact same thing. Get Mr. Hobby Leveling Thinner, it's the only thinner I use any more.

 

[newmagrathea]

I always pull my masks right after painting, I do this because I was researching painting walls of my house and that is what pro painters do. They say it makes a better edge because the paint is still wet and wrinkles in tape can create a capillary suction. I also should mention that I don't use cans, I only airbrush. Since doing that I've had no bleeding.

 

[JediMichael]

Yeah, pulling the tape off a few mins after painting is much better. If its dry, it can actually crack and tear the paint.
I found to help with the bleeding is first put a VERY light coat. Give it a few mins then another pretty light coat, few more mins, then a heavier coat. Doing that so far I've really had no problem. The edge might not be perfectly smooth, but thats surely better than a bunch of bleeding.

 

[korben44]

I've done the exact same thing. Get Mr. Hobby Leveling Thinner, it's the only thinner I use any more.

I have some Mr. Hobby Leveling thinner on the way. As soon as I did that I ordered some. You live and learn...lol I only airbrush now, too. Well, I use a can of spray primer I have for certain things until that's gone, but other than that, I airbrush. What's nice is that I had a 55% off coupon to A.C. Moore, so I picked up a Badger Renegade Krome airbrush for that much off. Plus an additional 15% off for being a Veteran. It retails for $199.99 there, and I paid around $80 for it when all was said and done.

What do you guys use for masking? I'm going to need to do a lot of that on my Slave 1's and MPC Falcon.

-Kris

 

[PHArchivist]

I always pull my masks right after painting, I do this because I was researching painting walls of my house and that is what pro painters do. They say it makes a better edge because the paint is still wet and wrinkles in tape can create a capillary suction. I also should mention that I don't use cans, I only airbrush. Since doing that I've had no bleeding.

Yup - same here...

 

[Orbital Drydock]

...... All was going well after HOURS of masking off the stripes, then hit it with Tamiya Clear which attacked the red Rust-o-leum stripes, essentially ruining the model and requiring yet a third car, plus multiple more cans of paint.....

One issue I've run into with rustoleum (Which there have been a lot) is your exact problem. Out of the can rustoleum isn't a very HOT enamel. Hence the easy runs, sags, weird drying times, etc. Tamiya products out of the can are very HOT lacquers & between %40-%60 petroleum based propellants. Dimethyl ether & butane being the big paint eaters. Along with a high level of Butyl Acetate, which is a quick flash solvent. Chances are the HOT Tamiya lacquer ate the enamel. Look towards acrylics for top coats when using rattle cans for base paint.

Side note ALL Tamiya products in can ARE lacquer. There are NO acrylics in Tamiya cans.

One of my best resources in the world is MSDS sheets. You can look a 2 product sheets side by side & if the components match up in type & quantity. You're good to go!
For modeling products this link has almost all products in existences MSDS's http://www.stanbridges.com/safety-data-sheets. THen check the other off the shelf manufacturer for their MSDS sheets. A word of warning, after reading some of these. You may want to use their product as little as possible. Contrary to belief this can be one of the most toxic hobbies out there.

I always pull my masks right after painting, I do this because I was researching painting walls of my house and that is what pro painters do. They say it makes a better edge because the paint is still wet and wrinkles in tape can create a capillary suction. I also should mention that I don't use cans, I only airbrush. Since doing that I've had no bleeding.

There is a reason for this in the wall painting world. Big one is the use of latex paint. Latex doesn't really chemically bond, only mechanical & basically just forms a skin. That's why it's so easy to peel off everything. So, we pull the tape about 10 min after spraying/rolling to let a very thin surface film form & then pull tape. That way its dry enough to hold the tape line, & not wet enough to splatter paint as the tape comes up. it doesn't have to do with paint seepage under the tape edge. If that happens, it happened as soon as paint was laid down & the tape wasn't sealed well, or wrong tape adhesive for the paint.

 

[Orbital Drydock]

Another quickie DITCH Blue Tape, try Frogtape yellow. I have never had a peeling, edge, or bleeding issue with it. Check out my vids, you'll see it's almost all it use. Sometimes you will see blue tape in there. It's only used to tape on top of other tape. Never on a painted surface or for edge/line work.

 

[korben44]

I'll be sure to pick some of that Frogtape up this weekend. Thanks for the tip!

-Kris

 

[PHArchivist]

Excellent post...

One issue I've run into with rustoleum (Which there have been a lot) is your exact problem. Out of the can rustoleum isn't a very HOT enamel. Hence the easy runs, sags, weird drying times, etc. Tamiya products out of the can are very HOT lacquers & between %40-%60 petroleum based propellants. Dimethyl ether & butane being the big paint eaters. Along with a high level of Butyl Acetate, which is a quick flash solvent. Chances are the HOT Tamiya lacquer ate the enamel. Look towards acrylics for top coats when using rattle cans for base paint.

Side note ALL Tamiya products in can ARE lacquer. There are NO acrylics in Tamiya cans.

One of my best resources in the world is MSDS sheets. You can look a 2 product sheets side by side & if the components match up in type & quantity. You're good to go!
For modeling products this link has almost all products in existences MSDS's http://www.stanbridges.com/safety-data-sheets. THen check the other off the shelf manufacturer for their MSDS sheets. A word of warning, after reading some of these. You may want to use their product as little as possible. Contrary to belief this can be one of the most toxic hobbies out there.




There is a reason for this in the wall painting world. Big one is the use of latex paint. Latex doesn't really chemically bond, only mechanical & basically just forms a skin. That's why it's so easy to peel off everything. So, we pull the tape about 10 min after spraying/rolling to let a very thin surface film form & then pull tape. That way its dry enough to hold the tape line, & not wet enough to splatter paint as the tape comes up. it doesn't have to do with paint seepage under the tape edge. If that happens, it happened as soon as paint was laid down & the tape wasn't sealed well, or wrong tape adhesive for the paint.

 

[Alex1138]

Glad to know that I'm not the only one fighting a cursed model right now- my Revell/FineMolds 1/48 X-Wing is fighting me every step of the way!

 

[joberg]

No cursed models for me since everything I do is scratch built. I use my sleeping hours to go over the challenges of the build, to try to find solutions to those said challenges (works very well, btw)