Mask

After decades of spray painting without a mask I finally got one.

I did a minuscule amount of research and this one seems good.

The OV thing seems important.

And the P95 part too.

But mostly I am just winging it and have no idea.  So do your own research and get your own mask.

It is pretty comfy, does not block my view, the price at Home Depot was reasonable, and the filters seem to last a while.  It works okay even with my glasses.  Much nicer than the one I had in the Army, but this one probably does not protect well against everything the Army one did.

 

More Painting of Soviet Vehicles

Often I paint on cardboard so that I can toss it in the trash after they have been painted on, to get rid of the flammable material.

This is may base color for most of my Cold War Soviet Union vehicles.

This can has a circle on the top of the cap, indicating is has been open.

My paper towel for wiping the nozzle after every few sprays.

My spray can spinning shaking device, to make sure the paint cans are fully mixed.

Here are a few armed vehicles ready for paint.

Hole in the top of the chassis.

Pin on the bottom of the turret, and a hole in the cardboard to insert the pin and hold the turret upright while it is painted.

 

Tank and Rocket Launcher

Soviet Union IT-1 rocket launcher by SDV Models and Petner Panzer T62 tank.

The Soviet Union only made about 30 of these, but they are pretty neat looking.

Big rocket and only a few fit in the turret.  Discontinued in service after only a few years.

Russian truck shadows.

Working on spray painting the trucks.

Way over 100 of them to do, did primer work on over 70 of them in one day, did the flip side a couple days later.
 

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!
 

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.
 

Trying New Paints

Dupli-Color Trim & Bumper Paint.  For years I have heard that if you want to paint soft plastic figures go to an auto parts store and buy bumper paint.  It is made to go on plastic bumpers and it should adhere just fine.  So I got a can of this paint and tried it on this soft plastic armored knight figure, he is about 45mm.

Paint went on very smooth with great coverage, as you can see from the photo it is a nice panzer gray color, very flat.

Sadly after drying for two days, it would come off simply by an easy scratch with my fingernail.  So this is a fail.  I will try it again for Heroclix figures, perhaps it works better on them.

Another problem I have been having is some paints reacting to some plastics.  I painted this robot black and he never dried.  After a couple months he was still very sticky.

So, into the paint remover he went and now I am trying Rust-Oleum Lacquer, Ultra Smooth, High Shine.

Worked perfectly.  Figure dried fast, one coat coverage dry as a bone in only a few minutes.

This counts as a win.  So I am going to look for other colors of lacquer and see what I can do with it.