Sorry bro, as I mentioned I am new to this and not fully understanding all the techniques and terminologies of modelling. Semoga tuan dapat bersabar mengajar budak baru ye.

Hey man, was searching around for some info and saw your post. What do you use to replace canned top coats? They're very expensive IMO.

Also for primer,

1) I figured I should get lacquer based primer right? Since lacquer is the strongest type of paint layer.
2) And the primer from ACE do you have a name or something?
3) Do you always prime grey? I think I've seen some videos stating that different colored primes give different results.

Top coat buy the Mr.Hobby Bottle ones called Clear or Flat Clear, then mix with thinner.

There is also a Flat Base gel type where you mix with Clear + thinner. must mix with Clear. recommend Flat Base (1): Clear (5): Thinner (3) but you have to trial error since Clear will become thick after opened.

Because right now Flat Clear is difficult to get.

For Gloss you can use Pledge Future Floor Care + Brush. Big flat area would be difficult. curvy/small area good effect. But is acrylic so cannot withstand other chemical compounds (polisher/Wax/alcohol).

For Ace Primer called "NOW". around rm16. Ace calls it primer. No idea it's acrylic or lacquer based.

I only Prime Grey for colorful paint. Light colors like White & Yellow would need thicker coat to cover the Grey. Same as Black, you try not to use White Primer if you plan to paint it Black. Since there is no White primer in Ace, i just buy the Now Flat White Paint and use as primer. For shiny metallic look you want to apply Gloss Black before applying the Metallic paint.

What what you said I think acrylic is just terrible as the base coat since it's so vulnerable to so many different compounds?

Also, thank you very much even though I hate avocado...

I don't care. i just want a cheap solution for primer. i just need the paint to stick.

even if i use acrylic primer and lacquer paint, as long as i mist coat a layer 1st before spraying thicker coats it should not eat the primers because the mist coat already formed a protection layer.

for paint layer i usually use airbrush so i can control the paint more than spray cans.

i have had cracks using spray can for 2nd layer, 1st layer was the exact same paint from the same can, dried, applied 2nd layer, cracks. quite common for cheap canned paints. so usually i only use cans on primer & 1st layer (usually white coz lazy use airbrush 2 times). since i only putty seam lines after 1st coat (coz some areas hard to reach once you assemble), i use spray cans on 1st layer, after putty & sanding partially assembled i will use airbrush for 2nd layer onwards, since White are white i don't worry about color issues since airbrush layer will cover most of the 1st layer. I never had paint cracking using airbrush yet.

i'm guessing for spray paint, you can't control the solvent, you can't control the pressure, so it increases chance of paint eating/cracking.

that is why i only use spray cans on primer & 1st coat.

even top coat i stopped using cans because the effect is not good esp Flat coat will have alot of misting issue & uneven surface. worst thing is running out of top coat when you are nearly done.

Thanks for the info man. Yeah, I guess I should just get an airbrush set.....

for primers mixing is more critical compared to paints.

reason i choose canned primer & 1st coat is save the time for cleaning the airbrush. it's a choir to clean them, every session i only plan to airbrush 1 color at a time. so for small parts i try to use canned paint instead because time taken to clean the airbrush is way longer than actual spraying.

if you have multiple airbrush which many pros do, then you can use airbrush 100% in 1 long seating, then clean the airbrush altogether during house keeping. but airbrush ain't cheap like normal brush.

if you plan on airbrushing few colors with 1 AB in 1 seating, suggest you start from light color to dark ones, because no matter how hard you clean it there's bound to have minor residue from previous paint.

So basically,

1. Primer - can be cheap as long as paint sticks
2. 1st coat - mist coat (basically very thin layer of paint?) which acts like a protection layer? If this is the case, this layer cannot be acrylic right?
3. Paint - If this is lacquer/enamel, it'll eat through the "1st coat - if acrylic" right?

I think I can understand why AB multiple colors in 1 seating can be bad. But I think I'll mostly AB 1 color > clean > setup another color > clean > vice versa ?

can be any type. as long as you mist coat, if you worry, do 2 mist coat 1st. the problem eating is the solvent, so too went too much solvent will eat, even same type of paint it might eat, coz the same solvent is used to dissolve Lacquer is the same solvent you spray on new layers.

like i said, if you do the mist coat right, you can cover acrylic with stronger paint also no issue.

Primer should be decent, no need super expensive, but at least give even result & actually dries.

some parts like rubber the paint will always wet because the rubber absorbed the solvent leaving the paint wet all the time. that is why Krylon paint are designed for Plastic.

also on the AB, i dunno others, but for me takes at least 15 mins to quick wash an AB. it's a mess coz you need to spray & splash the cleaning agents. if you got a space to spray, another to clean, ok lo.

thing is for Gunpla. if you putty & seamline, 1 part, need to respray for 2 times at least. you can't just let the AB sit there until 2nd spray, it will get clogged, paint will dry up also.

how to avoid peel off first layer of paint when i remove masking tape for 2nd layer paint. i try prime but it still peel off. it is ok if i topcoat after first layer then masking to do 2nd layer to avoid this problem?

use Masking Tape purposely designed for such purpose, not your general Mr.DIY masking Tape.

i use Yellow Tamiya Masking tape, + white blutac to cover some areas hard to mask. they hare less sticky and can be removed easily without leaving adhesives.

also make sure wait for 24 hours after paint before taping. when you start painting always start mist coat, multiple light coats not straight away wet coat. only do wet coat if you plan on getting glossy finish.

top coating every layer will cost you alot of paint & time.

also if it's rubber surface without primer the paint may not dry up at all.

So I found pledge and it's 60 bucks. Is it actually cheaper than Mr hobby? Lol

yes if you looking for gloss finish.

but this is much more wattery than gloss paint, so not recommended for large flat surfaces because hard to achieve even finish. for large flat surface best is use a fiber cloth and dip a bit but not too much and gentle & quickly wipe it across the surface so it looks smooth. but this way the gloss won't be as high as normal wet brush but at least you won't get build ups.

Problem with Floor care is you can't really polish it afterwards. if any mistake, you have to redo and you can't polish/wax because it's acrylic and on the mild side. it's also not as durable as lacquer.

Also not sure if they changed the formula, but last time some people say it can turn yellowish, so if you have white or light color paint it might change the color after few years.

Anyway i've used this to restore some diecast toys that has loss it's gloss. Just becareful with the joints.

also forgot, Pledge not suitable with water slide decals because it's wet.

so if you want to apply on water slide decals, you should spray a clear coat 1st.

the thing about Pledge, is it's so thin, that any uneven surface on the paint layer is hard to hide using Pledge. Also you paint needs to be "wet finish" so it's smooth, if you Airbrush like normal where you can see the "dot" texture on the surface, the Gloss finish will not be mirror like, because the Pledge will sip into the "holes", so you get semi-gloss finish only.

you can try sanding the paint until smooth before applying pledge, but i haven't tried before.

Sounds like it's a lot more troublesome than other alternatives......... Thanks for the in depth information man, really appreciated.

trouble? no. This is for lazy people who just want to brush & leave as it is.

only not suitable direct on water decal & flat & wide surface.

If i were to apply the gloss with airbrush? Would it be a lot easier?

Airbrush need to mix, spray & clean.

Floor care just dip brush then brush on, wash brush with tap water.

Hi, has anyone successfully bought paints/inks from taobao using their official courier service? Want to order some vallejo acrylic paints