Mostly All Better

This Roco T54 tank looks pretty good.  Except for the massive mold flaw in the port side upper rear hull.

You can see it here.

So far I have not used this hull, but harvested the parts for other vehicles and the hull is in the parts bin.

So far I have used four cans of this paint.

I use a bit of paper towel to wipe the paint nozzle after about 5 sprays.  

It really helps the nozzle stay clean and not clog.

The X can is the short number version, which seems to be a little greener than the other.

I have been using the long number version for this project.

Mostly because I don't want two different paints on the same model.
 

Painting Tricks

While I have an airbrush, I much prefer a rattle can for spray painting.  I use the airbrush mostly for aircraft, and only for tanks or ground vehicles when I need a color I can't approximate with a spray can.  Sometimes I want to spray the same vehicle as soon as possible.  Some paints are ready for a second coat immediately, some in 15 minutes and others in an hour or more.

Rather than bother to look at the clock and try to remember what 15 minutes after 2:37 is, while the spray paint is drying, I just got a little timer.  I found it in the kitchen gadget section of Walmart, but I am sure similar timers are in many places in many stores.  Twist the knob and it makes a noisy buzzer when time is up.  So if I am distracted with a phone call, Internet, building a kit, watching a TV show, my trusty timer is on the job.

Did you know that Rust-Oleum sells paint by the same name with different stock numbers?  I have found the DEEP FRST GRN with this number and a shorter number.  I suspect different numbers refer to different retailers, rather than actual paint differences, but I am not sure.  They seem to be the same, or at least within the margin of error.

I am using this color on my Cold War Soviet vehicles.  Here some SDV stuff gets painted.  Note the black circle on the spray can lid.  That is an indication the paint can has been used.  It helps me to find the open can, and helps me with inventory control.  Just a quick circle with a marker pen.

The paper towel I use to wipe off the nozzle after every few sprays.  It helps keep it from clogging.  I keep a paper towel on the can lid of every open paint can so it is handy when needed.

I spray paint most of my stuff on a wooden board, or sometimes on poster board, or even cardboard.  Cardboard is nice because I just take an old Amazon box, cut it up and use it a couple times and toss it out.  Less flammable material laying around.  Same with poster board.  My wooden boards are just scrap lumber from previous projects.  In this case you can see there are Popsicle sticks white glued around the perimeter of the wood.  That helps keep wheeled vehicles from rolling off.  There are also holes drilled in the wood so I can put the Roco turret pins into the holes and paint the turret as it sits flat on the board.  It also keeps the turret from being blown around by the paint.

The cardboard box from Sam's Club is there because this day had intermittent rain.  So I would rush out, paint a couple vehicles and sneak back inside.  If we started to get a few drops of rain, the vehicles would be covered enough by the box to prevent rain getting on them.  Rain and spray paint is a bad mix.  You can get little water blisters of spray paint on the tanks.  Voice of experience.  It means paint stripper and starting over!  The glass brick is square and heavy so it keeps the box in place.  Having the box open allows more air flow to prevent too many fumes.

Comment below if you have a spray painting tip to share!
 

Painting the Samovar

I had to paint this two colors, after using white primer.  I used Scotch Blue Tape.  High quality, good stuff.

After the white primer I painted the silver color.

The masking tape worked perfectly.

The I had to use this Extreme Lacquer to paint the rest of the model.

Rust-Oleum is a great product.

Here is an unpainted next to a partial painted version.

The brass one is painted except for the touch up.

It turned out pretty well I think.
 

Painting Trucks and Tanks

Still painting the little Christmas trucks.

And a Paul Heiser M46 tank.

Two more Christmas trucks, this time in Air Force blue.  Pick up trucks were all over the Cold War US military.

Painting the olive drab over the gray primer.  Since I had to strip the paint off the trucks and the Heiser Models are resin, both do well with a primer paint first.

Rust-Oleum Gloss Deep Blue is the color for the Air Force trucks.  I think I was moving when I took this fuzzy photo.

More olive drab for the trucks.  I constructed beds for about a third of the trucks.

They look much better with the beds but it is a lot of work.

I always paint the top and bottom of my vehicles.
 

Spray Painting Techniques

For most projects that need a spray primer, this is what I use.  Note the little bit of paper towel under the rim of the can.

I use it to wipe off the spray nozzle after every few sprays.  Keeps it clear and open.  Note also the black circle around the edge of the can.  It's marked that way to indicate the can has been used, that it is open.  My spray cans are stored upright in a box and I view them mostly from the top, so this is helpful so I don't open a second or third can!

Here is the result of cleaning the tip as I spray paint.

The clean tip.  I don't use a solvent, just wipe it after a few passes when the paint is still wet.

When I get packages in the mail they often get cut up to be used for hobby purposes.  Here are two that are being used to carry items that are being spray painted.

This bit of cardboard is elevated off the table so it is easier to paint the edge of the bottle cap.

Sometimes the boards can be used to tilt the subject of the paint, as in this case.  It helps paint inside the cap.

A better view showing how the inside in more visible and easier to paint that if the bottle cap were just sitting flat.

Two small bamboo skewers to hold the cap off the surface.  This prevents possibly still wet primer from adhering to the cardboard.

Clean clay is also useful for holding items in good positions for painting.  This red clay has been used a few times.  Just ball it up and mix it a bit and use it over and over.

Like this speckled example.

Note the skewer is stuck into the cardboard which is laying like a bridge over two pieces of wood.  It allows me to make a fence that can prevent small items from being blown away as I paint them.

Clay can also be made into a little wall to hold items in place or sometimes I stick the item being painted into the clay and paint each half at a time.
 

Painting the Crane

Close up of the serrations on the bucket, cut from the Boley Concrete Breaker.

Cleaning up the bucket.

The model disassembled before painting.  I returned the screw to it's location and covered it with tape to keep the threads clear of paint.

This is the "window glass" for the cab.  To remove just push the little pin on the top straight down and it pops right out.  The cut off concrete breaker pin will be saved for some other project, maybe.

Ready for paint.  I paint my models with a spray can, outdoors on bits of thin wood, or even foam core board or cardboard.  Toothpicks, and BBQ skewers are useful to minimize contact with the painting surface so the models don't stick.

I put this skewer inside this little part so it would not blow away under the spray paint pressure.

Typically, I paint one side, wait until this side is dry and then paint the other side.  It has been rainy, hot, and humid recently I have been waiting at least 24 to 48 hours before I flip the models and paint them to make sure they are dry.

Painted by spray paint and ready for touch up, detail painting, and reassembly.

Now it's time for the white crane.

I did them separately because this one will be Testors Olive Drab and the other one was Rust-Oleum Deep Forest Green.  I use the Olive Drab for WWII and the Deep Forest Green for early to mid-Cold War US Army.

Neither of them required primer painting since the colors are very dark and opaque.