Is the enamel paint the right type of paint to use with a paint brush on a resin shell if you want a non spray paint.
You should prep the resin parts with a wash of soap and water, then with rubbing alcohol rinse before painting for the paint to stick.
Some use auto primer spray paint on it first to give it a “tooth” before painting.
Some use enamels, some use acrylics.
I see nothing wrong with applying with a brush, though an airbrush will give you a better finish. If you are going for a paint job that LOOKS like it was painted with a brush {such as a patch paint job}, then go for it.
Let me rephrase what I said right above. I left it as an uncomplete paragraph. I also left something out.
If you WANT a paint job to look like it was brush applied, then go for it. {such as a patch paint job}
If you just want to apply paint with a brush, then go for it.
With acyrlic, you can get a bottle of Acrylic Medium that is a thinner, and will stretch the “working time”, and totally reduce/eliminate brush strokes.
With enamel there are plenty of the same thinners as for acrylics.
Prep and prime as posted. Modelflex,if properly thinned has very few brush marks.
Properly thinned paint doesn’t leave brush marks… it’s self-leveling.
I’ve never done any resin painting, but I agree that washing whatever you intend to paint first is always a good idea. I don’t use primer on styrene, just on metal castings, for which I use ModelMaster rattle can primer from Testors. On wood, I use a (brush on) acrylic wood sealer.
As far as painting goes, I’m an acrylic guy. I prefer the lower VOC content and the water clean up. But enamels work fine, too.
I just painted some detail parts for my new SD45s, and I used floquil properly thinned, and you can’t see any brush marks.
This is generally true w/ slightly thinned solvent based, however, not always the case w/ acrylics. Even though you may not have brush marking some paints can be too transparent requiring succesive coats for coverage. One paint that brushes extremely well is Tamyia.
I like to leave the brush painting for details and streaking for weathering. Clean flat good coverage, especially on an overall job, is done by proper airbrushing.
Thanks Michael, I have 733 resin parts laying around that need painting, well maybe not that many but a lot! I’ll try the thinned floquil as you recommended,
Wayne
You can use Floquil, a solvent based lacquer, that comes in railroad colors (Pennsy this, B&O that) and dries flat. Floquil used right out of the bottle (unthinned) will cover well and self level. You can brush paint and it will dry without brushmarks. You clean the brush with lacquer thinner.
Or you can use water based Polly Scale acrylic paints. They also come in railroad colors and dry flat. Sometimes you want to thin acrylic paints with water to get a nice thin coat.
Or I have had excellent results with craft acrylic paints from Michaels and Walmart. They have a lot of colors, and dry semigloss.
The word “enamel” to me means a paint that dries by some sort of irreversible chemical reaction. Once dried, the thinner or solvent will not dissolve the paint. Lacquer on the other hand dries by solvent evaporation, once the solvent evaporates the paint film is hard. Lacquer thinner will always dissolve dried lacquer. By this classification Floquil is a lacquer and Polly Scale is an enamel.
I mix a flow medium with acrylic paint and it never leaves brush marks.