Hi ladies and gents,

While I'm getting some things together to start building plastic kits again, I've been thinking of how I'm actually going to handle a kit while painting it.

This might sound a little stupid to some (or most) people , but my past experience with a silver spray can left me looking like the Tinman from the Wizard of Oz and there were fingerprints all over the kit from me holding it by the tail while painting it.

So, how do you handle a kit while primering it and then airbrushing it?

Thanks for looking

Hi Dean , try the cheap disposable rubber gloves from the supermarket or bunnings , get the ones that dont have talcum powder on them as the powder will get on your models .
Did you get your AB and compressor ?

Get a cheap lazy susan from walmart no touching envolved except when you flip it over.




Build On,
Justin

I've been practising really hard at psychokinesis and levitation, but since I can't multi-task as soon as I pick up the airbrush the kit hits the deck

Seiously Dean, I find that there is usually a gap or a hole somewhere where you can stick a piece of sprue or a wooden shaft, than use that to hold and rotate the kit.

Cheers, D

@ Brian; uh, yeah, that idea sort of slipped my mind at the time . The airbrush is still on its way to me from the US, and I haven't had the time lately to have a look for a compressor due to university assignments.

@ Justin: yeah, that's a good idea actually. I'll have to go to a craft shop and get one because I think there is only one Walmart store in Australia and the people who shop there are scary

@ Damian: Hey, you've gotten further than I have. I've been trying to use psychokinesis for years and I can never get it to work. I must be doing something wrong

I tried the "plane on a stick" method with an ICM P-51 but at the time I couldn't quite get it to work, so I ended up holding it by the tail (and therefore spraying silver all over myself).

When applying primer, do you have to get the entire model covered in one go, or could you do the top of the model, wait for it to dry, and then flip it over to do the bottom?

Hey Dean , yeah go the patience way . Dont touch wet paint or you end up with annoying fingerprints on your model , thats why I suggested the disposable gloves .

Dean,

Hi. You can prime parts of the model, let them dry, flip it over, prime some more etc til it is all covered. The key is letting it dry between sprays because you don't want to touch the wet paint while repositioning for the next area to spray. The same applies for the top coat - do it in sections but make sure it dries before you flip it over.

I use scraps of wood as "handles", attaching the parts with a loop or two of masking tape rolled "sticky-side out" so when I press the loop onto the wood I get a flat sticky tape surface to press the model on to. It won't hold much weight, so don't hold it upside down or your model might fall off, but it will act like a base to let you set it down on a workbench or even the ground for spraying and you can then pick it up by the wood without touching your model! I have saved all manner of scraps of wood - mainly 2x1" battens - for this purpose so I can set up all the assemblies of a kit for painting in one session.

The same technique applies whether you use a rattle can or an airbrush - the goal is to keep fingers off the model. (All skin has oils on it, no matter how much you wash your hands, and paint doesn't like oil...) There are bespoke handles, turntables, etc on the market for painting, but the scrap-wood method is essentially free...

Hope this helps,

Tom

@ Brian; Yeah, my dad pinched some beaut purple ( ) rubber gloves from his work which are pretty good. I'll use a pair of them.

@ Tom; Hmm, that might work, but I think for my purposes a cheap lazy susan will be quite suitable. I noticed that you have a lot of tanks in your gallery. They will usually have a flat underside which you can stick the hull of the tank to. Most warbirds don't have flat undersides which could make sticking them to a wood batten a bit tricky. I'll probably use that method of yours if I make some tanks or other AFV's for my younger brother, though.


I just want to be absolutely certain I can primer the top of the model, wait for it to dry, and then flip it over and do the underside without any negative consequences? Sorry for sounding a little thick, I'm a bit OC when it comes to this sort of stuff

Dean,

That's ok - I do a lot of tanks these days, but I have also done trains and aircraft in the past. Finding a flat-ish surface to stick the tape on is always a problem with anything that is rounded, hence my comment about it not being a very firm grip. (To get more grip try to get tape under multiple areas that touch your base. On a plane you might get the fuselage and one wing to make contact...) However, even with a turntable you will want a little tape under the model to keep the spray pressure from pushing it off! Been there, done that, sanded and repainted... As with most things in life there is no single answer to fit all models, so just eyeball it and good luck!

And as I often have to turn my own kits over to paint both sides, I can assure you that you can prime in two sessions without trouble regardless of the subject.

Hope this helps!

Tom

Yeah, too true man. Thanks for that

It's a shame I now have to wait for 4 weeks till I can start making some kits again. They just had to spread my university exams out, didn't they?

Thanks a lot for the advice gents