strange things with paint and primer

not sure where to put this or even if it's a relevant post but here goes anyway.
for a long time now, i've been aware of red coming through white primer as it's happened to me in the past (revell 911 turbo) but yesterday, for the first time, white primer has been showing up some red even though it was applied over two coats of grey primer, has this happened to anyone else?

also, is it just me or does tamiya TS black not polish up to as black as it is when it is freshly sprayed?
anyone have any suggestions?

Sounds like white primer was applied too thick. Wet primer will dissolve the underlying paint, so if that's your case, reduce the amount of primer that hits your model by holding your model a little farther away and move the can a little faster. Wait a minute or two to let the solvent evaporate and apply another.

As for TS colors, I believe all gloss solid colors can be polished.

Yep, that irks me as well. The problem I have with applying the primer further away and passing over the subject faster is that the primer then dries a lot rougher, and not as smooth as if I could pass it a little slower and cover in two coats, instead of many light coats.

Solution is to simply sand it smooth, which I mostly do anyhow, but if the surface is already rougher then normal, it just means the sanding is more intensive and you risk cutting into grey primer.

also, is it just me or does tamiya TS black not polish up to as black as it is when it is freshly sprayed?
anyone have any suggestions?

It does but it's a b***ch to work with IMHO. I consider black paint as being one of the hardest colors to work with as it seems to show up flaws and scratches more than other colors. But maybe that's just me?

For what it"s worth here's my black Boxster (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=425050) which was just polished (Tamiya compound) and waxed (Maguire's). It came up pretty well I think although there are some swirl marks that you can't see in the photos.

I think that next time I will try putting a clear coat over a good TS wet coat and polish the clear instead.

this is the second time i've noticed it happening with the black.
the first time, i did get a perfectly swirl free finish (the black lambo diablo you might remember from a way back...) but the colour still wasn't as black as fresh spray was. Like you, i did the usual sanding then compound then wax.

the model i'm on now has just been painted and i've started to work on it with compound (tamiya fine, then superfine, then autoglym resin polish which usually takes away all remaining swirls) but while most orange peel has gone, it is still rather dull and has swirls. Like you said, i'm tempted to clear over the top and work on that instead. I've got to go to the office now but when i get home, maybe i'll try and shoot some clear over the hood/bonnet clamshell and post here to see what you guys think.

What type of primer and what type of kit? Automotive primers sprayed over Revell colored plastics are the usual suspects. Tamiya primers tend to not cause the problem as badly, and Japanese plastics don't seem to bleed like Revell plastic. Revell reds and yellows are notorious for bleeding, but I've sprayed many Japanese kits molded in red with no bleeding. Cheap white primer over cheap red plastic is a great way to end up with a pink primer job :icon16: Either use a milder primer/paint, or a sealer in addition to primer.

As for black, it won't matter if you clearcoat and then do the same level of polishing-you simply can see every minute scratch left from sanding and polishing in black paint, clearcoated or not. Any manufacturer's black requires more work to get a perfect finish because it's so reflective. Lighter colors may look perfect with far less effort, but that's more an illusion as you don't have the same reflectivity as a solid black, and Tamiya black is about as black as you can get (Testors looks grayish brown by comparison). If you want black to look perfect-or as good as the other colors by comparison, you have to work 2-3 times as hard in the sanding/polishing/waxing of it. You also have to pay more attention to every step along the way so that the black paint itself is applied cleanly over the smoothest plastic or primered surface-every flaw is magnified by the black's reflectivity. You have to polish with the cleanest/softest cloth that won't itself add tiny scratches to the surface. Instead of just polish and a quick go-over w/Tamiya wax, you need to have leveled the paint with polishing cloths, every grit from 3200-12000 (or the softest/finest wet or dry sandpapers), polish with a couple levels of liquid compound, then graduate to a cleaner/wax, and then finish off with Tamiya wax. The results are worth it. This is painted in Tamiya black with no clearcoat, and it's a mirror-finish that is better in person than even these pictures depict:

http://images2.fotki.com/v18/photos/1/10258/17860/PhantomFinished1-vi.jpg
http://images2.fotki.com/v19/photos/1/10258/17860/PhantomFinished3-vi.jpg

ZoomZoom, can you point me in the direction of a thread for that build? It rings some bells for me but I can't remember where - I just remember that I love that car and want to look at it again :)

ZoomZoom, can you point me in the direction of a thread for that build? It rings some bells for me but I can't remember where - I just remember that I love that car and want to look at it again :)

It's a Scale Kraft Phantom Corsair. Glad I got it when Scale Kraft was still in business. They're gone now, they did some neat stuff.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=89915

It's a Scale Kraft Phantom Corsair. Glad I got it when Scale Kraft was still in business. They're gone now, they did some neat stuff.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=89915

:thumbsup: - many thanks.
I originally saw it browsing Scale Krafts web site last year. A real shame about them - I hope the former owner is doing well.
Any news that someone finally bought their molds and would re-start production?
Love the photochop in your thread !:lol: