Priming Plastic

Gizzy

Gizzy

A gentleman, a scholar, and a railway modeller....
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Some of you may remember, I bashed a road/rail digger from the Bruder model supplied with some LGB Freight Starter sets.

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The plastic used is a very waxy material, and my original paintwork using Humbrol Acrylic Spray is starting to come adrift. I didn't use a primer at the time, as my local model shop couldn't recommend anything suitable.

I'm about to bash another Bruder/LGB model that I brought at G-Rail; the green Unimog, as another road/rail vehicle. I'd like to do a better paint job for this one, as well as re-finishing the other Bruder models on my railway.

So can anyone suggest or recommend a suitable primer that etches or sticks to this waxy plastic please....
 
I've used Halfords etching primer for just about everything, however...........


carn't vouch for waxy type plastic.

otherwise, an undercoat heavily thinned, might just eat ito the plastic surface a tinsy winsy bit?
 
a good scratch up with sandpaper sounds a good start.
 
i'd try the plastic primer halfords do for car bumpers, that works on fairly shinny plastic
 
sparky230 said:
i'd try the plastic primer halfords do for car bumpers, that works on fairly shinny plastic
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That has worked for me on a variety of plastics. It now comes in two or three colours.
 
Identify the type of plastic by triyng a bit of normal glue in an inconspicuous place. If the glue wont stick then it may be one of the polypropolenes which is not going to be paintable anyway. Its more likeley Styrene or ABS in which case the Taymiya plastic/metal primer would be the go. Still you need to remove any of the mold release before painting so a good wash with say white spirit would be my starting point....
 
Well, I've been out to Halfords today, and brought a spray tinny of their white primer, as well as one of their aerosol tinnys of 'Machine Yellow' overcoat.

When I get a nice day, I'll make a start on the Unimog project, and I'll also refresh the paintwork on the Bruder Road/Rail Digger and Front End Loader.

Many thanks for your suggestions....
 
I don't want to be doom and gloom but if this is one of the Toytrain loads (I have a bulldozer & a Unimog) then Trevor is right, they are polypropolene and can't be painted with any success. This is why they are moulded in colour. They are toys to be played with and not, ahem, accurate scale models :nerd:
 
pugwash said:
I don't want to be doom and gloom but if this is one of the Toytrain loads (I have a bulldozer & a Unimog) then Trevor is right, they are polypropolene and can't be painted with any success. This is why they are moulded in colour. They are toys to be played with and not, ahem, accurate scale models :nerd:
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They're the ones Puggy?

I've painted them successfully with Humbrol Acrylic Aerosol, but over time, some of the paint has come off! Because they are just cheap toys, I've left them in the garden in all weathers, and this is why the some of the paint has come adrift.

Found some tips by Googling 'Painting Polypropolene' which may also be helpful....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTiCWp0unjs
 
I've made a start on painting these Bruder models, using Halfords Enamel primer, followed by a coat of Halfords 'Machine Yellow'.

The yellow turned out to be far too pale and lemony, and I really needed a more orangey yellow, which Halfords don't do.

So I brought some Tamiya paint of the correct shade of yellow, which is pretty close compared to some Britain's JCB models that they had. Tamiya do make a paint suitable for Polycarbonate which might have been better, but the one I've brought can be sprayed over Enamel or Acylic.

I'll post pix when I've repainted my Bruder models....
 
I've been looking for some vehicles for some time and on the wonderland models website is a JCB of 1:16 scale. Do you all think this scale would look good next to LGB?
 
Kevin said:
I've been looking for some vehicles for some time and on the wonderland models website is a JCB of 1:16 scale. Do you all think this scale would look good next to LGB?
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Might look a bit too big Kev. The best scale would be around 1:24 ish. I've seen a VW Camper at 1:18 which to my eyes looks too big?

Have a look at the Dickies range of vehicles at Toymasters....
 
Kevin said:
I've been looking for some vehicles for some time and on the wonderland models website is a JCB of 1:16 scale. Do you all think this scale would look good next to LGB?
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Agree with Gizzy Kev, 1:16 is WAY too big. For those who model in 16mm (which is around 1:19th scale), 1:18th scale vehicles are pretty ideal, but for LGB (around 1:22.5 scale) 1:24th is about the closest that's readily available.
 
Yep, echoing Mel and Giz, 1/16 is much too large to look right. A great shame, because there are so many lovely pieces of agricultural and industrial machinery in 1/16 - the two popular scales for Model Tractor collectors seem to 1/32 and 1/16. Finding stuff in 1/24 or 1/25 is more difficult - there are some diecast cars (though far fewer than the 1/18 ranges) and the Bruder and Dickie toys which can be hard to find sometimes - though TK Maxx's toy dept is worth a regular check.

Jon.
 
I have 1:24 vehicles including a fire engine with 1:24 Preiser self assembly firemen (pull yourself together man :@) which look great if set slightly apart from the 1:22.5 Preiser or LGB figures and the actual railway. The toytrain jobs are usually put at the back so the distance doesn't make the scale error so glaringly obvious, I say usually as they sometimes get borrowed by kiddies. I find that grouping the accessories by scale rather than plonking them all next to each other works best.
 
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