Paint

[Quillen Racing]

fastracing said:

dqracing said:

F.A.S.T.,

At least you have proved you have paint and design skills, my cars are yet to be proved at P.D.D.R. If they are not fast, I guess I'll have to learn how to paint, or become the laughing stock of the board. ;D

No one I know on this board will laugh
at you. Just do your best

[/b] (hey isn't that the cub scout motto??)
and learn from your mistakes

If a Dumb Ol' Redneck like me can do it, then I KNOW
a sharp young whipper-snapper like you can too!! [/quote]

Thanks for the compliment F.A.S.T., I haven't been called a "young whipper-snapper" in 40 years! How old are you anyway? ;D ;D

[Scruffy21 Racing]

Is there a standard ratio of paint to thinner when using an airbrush? I am just starting to airbrush and would like to at least get the pint into the bottle properly so that it has a nice flow to it.

[bjracing]

Your question is a little vague or general because not knowing what airbrush you have or what paint you are spraying. There is no standard ratio of thinner to paint for airbrush paints but what you want is the paint to have a consistancy of skim milk or even thinner than that depending on what size needle you have in your airbrush. Some paint manufacturers have a recommendation for the amount of reducer (thinner).

Trial and error is the best thing that you can do. Mix up the color you want and spray. If it is not flowing smoothly, you either need to add more reducer or more air pressure.

[Scruffy21 Racing]

Thanks bjracing for the reply. I just have a little starter kit. It is a Badger model 350. I was going to look into the HOK paints since that seems to be the way to go. I am all new to this so I am sorry if I am not offering up all the information. I figured some of it was trial and error but I figured I would find a starting point. I will need to practice quite a bit before moving onto an actual car...

[Hillbilly Kustoms]

A great starting point is mixing the paint 1:1 see how it sprays and then add more reducer as needed. There is a fine balance between too thick and too thin. Typically I have my HOK stuff reduced about another whole part so it's closer to 1:2 by the time I get it where I like it.

[Scruffy21 Racing]

I am looking to get some of the HOK paints and was looking at a starter kit that seemed to have it all from www.tcpglobal.com/. Would the 2 oz bottles be enough to get me going or should I just get the 4 oz bottles?

[bjracing]

The 2 ounce kit will be more than enough to last for at least a year or so. One thing that I might tell you is that the kit you are looking into comes pre-reduced so basically you are paying for paint that is thinned out rather than buying from someone like Coast Airbrush which sells the same thing un-reduced, which means you get more in the long run for your money since the reducer is the cheapest part of the system.

J

[Scruffy21 Racing]

I went to the Coast Airbrush website at your suggestion and it is a bit overwhelming with all the different kinds of paint to get. What would the pros recommend for a first timer trying to get the hang of painting a derby car? What is the process for getting a car from bare wood to a painted beauty? What is the best primer to get? How many types of paint do I need from a base coat to a finished coat, etc? I am a desk jockey but have dabbled with wood most of my life. I think I will get the car design part down, it is getting the car to look nice in the end that I am concerned about....

[bjracing]

For Primer: Duplicolor High build filler primer Part #FP101
Base coat: HOK base coat - This can be any of the color that have a BC in the product code. (KBC = Kandy base coat, MBC = Metallic Base coat, etc.)
Top coat: Clear coat by HOK would be the UC-35 with reducer and hardener.

HOK recommends that you use their clear with their base coats.

[Scruffy21 Racing]

Thanks for all the help. I looked at all the stuff you suggested. One question about the Top Coat. It said "Quart Requires: 2 Half Pints KU150 Catalyst & 16oz's RU Reducer
RATIO: 2:1:1" I assume I need to get this also?

[bjracing]

RU-310 is the Fast reducer.
KU150 is the reducer which you will need also.
The clear has a pot life of 2 hours so only mix up what you would need to cover which would be around 2 FL oz., if that.
There might be a Kit out that would include all you need. Look around on the internet.

Also the tech manual for HOK paint is located here: www.houseofkolor.com/hok/PDF/TechData/English/2007/HOK_Tech_07.pdf

Page 33 gives you info on the clear.
Page 38 - info on the reducer.

[Hillbilly Kustoms]

2:1 is a standard mix for high solids clear, reduction is optional usually and really depends on your gun, air source and technique of spraying. It's usually mixed at 2:1:10% more reducer than that and you risk getting solvent pop (trapped solvent under the surface that causes pinholes in the finish)

[Scruffy21 Racing]

Quick question, is it better to prime my car prior to weighting it or does it really matter?

[King Of Hearts]

scruffington said:

Quick question, is it better to prime my car prior to weighting it or does it really matter?

I am hardly an expert but what we do is weight and bodywork first,then we paint.The trick is leaving yourself enough weight off the car for the paint job.Some on the boards do the weight after all the paint is done.There are a couple of threads on this subject.

KOH

[F.A.S.T Racing]

scruffington said:

Quick question, is it better to prime my car prior to weighting it or does it really matter?

Can't speak for others .....but
what works for me is this. I do all the cutting and rough
sanding till it looks like I want it to.

I use lead for weight. Maximum allowed weight is
142 grams. Pure Stock wheels & axles average about
18 grams a set of 4. Then weigh the shaped and sanded
block add cut pieces of old wheel weights till you get to
124 grams.

Melt up the wheel weights and pour into your
pre-formed cavity. You are gonna loose about
4 or 5 grams of lead that sticks to the pot/spoon/ladle.

What I like to end up with is a body that weighs
122 grams before any paint work. Now I like my
cars very smooth and shiny. So I then cover the
entire car with Evercoat Metal Glaze polyester
finishing & blending putty. Sand that smooth as
a baby's bottom. ;D ;D

Then 3 coats of primer,sanding between coats.
Three or 4 coats of color,wet sanding
between coats. Then 2 or 3 coats of catalyzed clear,
2500-3000 wet sand between coats.

Weigh it all again,with wheels & axles. If you are a
little over 142 grams,flip the car over & drill out
a little of the lead from the bottom till you get it
where you want it.

Others may do it differently than me, but this
method has worked well for me. ;D

Glad to have you as a member
on the PDDR board.