Wednesday, October 28, 2009
1/100 Rick Dias Quatro Bajeena MG Assembly: Problem with the Red
Continuing where I left off. In a perfect modelling world, paint is not supposed to come off from a model kit when it lightly scratches off another part from the model. I'm not used to modelling paint coming off my models like it did with the Master Grade Rick Dias that I am working on right now. Then again, my previous model kits never had any moving parts in them that rubbed against each other, because as a young lad I mostly built planes and ships.
That was the problem I had with the commercial red paint I used for the Rick Dias. I used Fire Red from Pylox that isn't specifically made for model kits, but due to the unavailability of suitable modelling paints in my region, I have to make due with. I didn't have any problem with the other colored paints from Pylox coming off, so I wonder why this Fire Red rubs off easily? Could it be because of the plastic that it is clinging too? I'm starting to regret not washing this kits plates with detergent before starting the build, as well as adding a base coat of Future prior to painting. Then again, you never learn anything without experimenting. The lesson learned here is to always wash the plates before assembly and to always apply a base coat (in my case, Future floorwax) so that the paint will bond right away with the model kit.
The countermeasure I did was to cover immediately with a top coat of Future floor wax the red parts of the model kit. This I did with a brush. Looks very shiny right now and evenly distributed. Hope this works and doesn't come off.
In other developments, the kit is now standing up with the leg assembly partially finished. And I'm really impressed with the Metallic Graphite color from Pylox that I used to spray the internal parts of the Rick Dias with. Compared to the Fire Red, this doesn't rub off so easily. It is a bit thick though, so any posts that had itself covered with this paint had to be filed off so that it could fit into its accompanying hole. The brown parts I had also repainted to black in order to match the Rick Dias in the TV series. I ran out of glossy black so I had to second coat it with Flat black, luckily the countermeasure top coat of Future floorwax gave it that glossy look that I was looking for.
I think this kit will be finished by tomorrow, Assembly that is. Decaling is another thing though.