Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Modding: Laser Prime Repaint - Well that's just Primer!

Last time we removed the paint apps. from the bonnet of the truck using isopropyl alcohol. Next we're going to work on some of the smaller parts by prepping them for painting and applying a base coat of spray paint.



The first step is to wash all the parts in lightly soapy water to remove dirt, grease and Chinese factory worker's fingerprints. Once this is done, rinse the part thoroughly and either let it air-dry or dry it with a soft, clean cloth. This will aid the paint in adhering to the pieces and give a smooth, clean finish.

When spraypainting, make sure you follow these guidelines:
Never paint near a naked flame.
Always paint in a well ventilated room or outside.
Make sure it is not too humid.
Shake the can vigorously for at least a minute between sprayings and also during long spray runs.
Begin your spray run before you reach the piece you are painting and finish the run once you have passed the piece.
Use several light coats and allow each to dry. Rushing things will cause you to swamp the detail, leave drips and runs and cause an "orange peel" texture to flat areas.

I used Tamiya Gunship Grey for the body and skeleton and NATO Black for the forearms and rear truck mudguards. These colours are matt finish and will be a good base for painting detail and metallics. The NATO black is a very good extra-dark grey, sort of a Stealth Jet look, so if anyone is brave enough to repaint Mindwipe, this is your colour!

The results so far after 5 or 6 passes with the spray cans:

Just to give a bit of context to this, here's the newly-repainted mudguards in situ...
...and the reassembled torso.

-Mattersmasher

4 comments:

SharkNinjaBlueStar said...

lookin good so far, man, can't wait to see the end result

Jessie said...

This is looking nice! I might do the same when I find 2 G2 Laser Optimus's.

PS - I'm heading to Botcon next week. Which reminds me: I gotta finish packing.

Mattersmasher said...

Oh I'm not jealous, not at all. Nope. I'm not going to go and cry, not me!

*mutter mutter Botcon mutter* :P

Have a good time :) Are you planning on picking anything up?

exillionXLR said...

Smoother than a porn stars junk my friend! :D

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