Model Railway Forum

Hi everyone I have just retired and decided to have a go at modelling .I have a simple question what is the best paint to use on the plastic buildings. Do you have to put any substance on first so the paint sticks to the surface at the moment it takes at least 5 or 6 coats of paint and it still looks patchy.
Thanks

Hello Weefie. Try putting your question in the scenery section rather than the welcome section - I'm sure you'll then get lots of replies.

Welcome to the forum. I tend to work with resin and with resin it is recommended to wash the parts in soapy water before painting. Regarding plastic, it could be the paint. About six months to a year ago I purchased a small tin of humbrol green paint which had a lovely shade of green. However, when I tried it even after much mixing it came out so watery that I wiped the paint off the model and used another colour instead. It would have taken me many coats just to let the green colour cover the model.
Another thought. Some glues may prevent paint from adhering to the model.

Hello and welcome weefie to the forum look foreword to hearing what your up to with the layout....................john

About this patchy paint. I take it you are using tinlets of Humbrol or something similar. There are quite a lot of different paints on the market.
Fist thing to do is before opening the paint make sure it is mixed be give it a shake. Often the paint inside will have settled into a solid lump and believe me it takes some shaking followed by stirring to mix ready to use. So before you use it open it and give it a good stir and often you will find that in spite of the fact you have been shaking it for a minute or two most of it is still a lump on bottom of the tinlet. Rule is stir it well......John

Agree about stirring. Get yourself one of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Trumpeter-Pain ... 1723346553

I find that end of of small paint brush handle easy enough Terry. Some people have to have a gadget for just about everything.

Just for a laugh Terry I say to my wife when she goes shopping that she is a shop keepers dream. ............john

footplate1947 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 24, 2019 11:34 am I find that end of of small paint brush handle easy enough Terry. Some people have to have a gadget for just about everything.

This will do it more thoroughly and much quicker, trust me John. Got mine at a tool stand at a show.

I have to agree about the electric mixer, a godsend to make sure all the pigments are back in suspension.
Personally I like to make sure I use a primer, grey spray primer from Halfords is good but I will also use red and white primers depending on the final top colour - a light shade won’t look good over a dark base.