Paint Your Wagon

[GNRi1959]

Can someone advise me on a suitable aerosol that would finish plasticard and similar scratchbuild wagons. Don't want to buy into an airbrush just yet so it's cans only. Is a great primer suitable?

[flange lubricator]

Any aerosol I think the best way is to practice on something not too important first, your local motor factor could make you up most colours if he doesn't have one off the shelf I have used RAL2011 (I.E. orange )in water based with the advantage of no overpowering smell . The secret is spray very light coats let them dry and spray again don't try to completely cover the model in one coat .

[Newtoncork]

Hi Tony, I always find Vinny Byrne to be very good and if you buy two aerosol cans, postage is free. They also supply any RAL colour you would like. Only thing is it is an expensive way of doing it. Oh and Halfords grey or white primer is great too! I went down this road but have now just invested in a Iwata airbrush. It's cheaper in the long run.

[Noel]

Hi Tony. Pinch of salt here, as a relative newbie to spray painting I found rattle can aerosol paints such Halfords plastic grey primer superb for priming, almost needs to be used outdoors but you need to hold it at least 12 inches from the subject and keep it moving cause its like a fire extinguisher its so powerful. Also happy with Humbrol rattle can sprays for matt and gloss acrylic varnishes - outdoors or in well ventilated garden shed. However rattle cans give you no flow control, so hand movements back and forth past the subject to be painted needed, hence I'd guess at least 50% of the paint is wasted. Rattle cans seem to work well, once you get the distance right and keep them moving, but there is a lot of waste. Personally I'm glad I went through the 'pain' and 'reservations' barrier I had about using an airbrush, as it uses hardly any paint, and allows precision and indoor use (i.e. cause you can regulate the flow of paint with these double action airbrushes). There have been some fab jobs shown on the forum by folks who've painted stock with rattle cans. Noel

[GNRi1959]

Noel, I'm quite happy to look at airbrush also, maybe you can recommend a set up. At the moment, everything is on hold. I've still not started building my shed - I had a bedroom to do with insulated plasterboard and that got me side-tracked, waiting for plaster to dry before painting. I'm waiting my summer holidays at the end of June and a good dry day to get the shed started. In the meantime, I'm exploring!