Paint compatiblity: pactra Racing Finish ACRYL-Lexan

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

macboss

Active Member
Messages
38
Reaction score
0
Location
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA
I just started painting the body of my MCD Monster truck and after washing and lightly sanding the inside of the body to remove any mold release; the paint severely crawled. I first painted the inside of the side covers and one side cover was much worse than the other. I switched to Model Masters enamel and had no problem.

I did first spray a test sample of the pactra on a small lexan sheet and it looked OK.
 
been using pactra for years, haven't had many issues. i found that it works best if you scuff the inside of the body first, and once it looks dull wash the body with dish soap to remove any grease. be very carfull not to touch the body with your fingers when masking, oils from your hands will cause problems (even consider non powdered latex gloves). finally, make sure the body and paint is at room temp, shake it very well, and spray light coats. if you do get fish eye or runs, wait a couple hours and sand them out with scotch brite, clean the dush out and paint it again. the beauty of painting the ijnside of the body is the final product really doesn't show paint flaws.
 
The worse problem was with the side that covers the gear train. This area has a very deep draw angle. I'm wondering if this may be related to the effect on the lexan in that specific area.

I'll do a test section on the body. I did a very small section with my gold color and it seems to be ok. This may only be an issue with the under shields.

Here is a picture:
 

Attachments

  • crawl fisheye.webp
    crawl fisheye.webp
    31.1 KB · Views: 29
Success:

I believe the thinner I used is not the right one for the pactra ACRYL paint.

I used the pactra lacquer thinner RC95. The label on the paint bottle says to use RC thinner #RC5800. When I use the lacquer thinner, the mix just did not look right to me: the color seemed to "swirl" not be a homogenous mix.

I did not have the RC5800 so I used my Sig paint thinner and the first coat looks good. I ran out of paint so I need to get another bottle.

Worked good through my airbrush. This is the first time I have used a dual action airbrush. I have used the old style where you put your finger over the bleed hole to spray.
 
Al.
A couple of inside shots. Have a coupe of bubbles but not bad. I let this coat harden, wet sand it lightly, and give a final coat (after I get more paint tomorrow). Candy Apple Red on upper portion of truck and a Pearl Gold on the loser portion. The windows are masked off. They will be clear but I'll probably use the window decals that came with the kit.
 

Attachments

  • inside shop 1.webp
    inside shop 1.webp
    16.7 KB · Views: 23
  • inside shop 2.webp
    inside shop 2.webp
    20.2 KB · Views: 20
Great colour, but don't forget, it's translucent - you'll see through it.
J-Revo (I think) has just used a similar colour and backed it with silver - I prefer speckled silver for effect in bright sunlight - that way you'll get a really bright red.

I quite like painting, but to be honest, with bodies this expensive, instead of the 1/10, I pay the extra and get a professional in to paint a design or something.

I've had 2 done so far, the Blue Thunder-look MT and the Gulf McLaren F1 GTR - fantastic jobs I couldn't consider approaching.

Looking OK so far and I hope it turns out fine for you.
Al.
 
Al.

Thanks for comments.

I was going to use a pearl white to back up but I think I'll get silver, too.

This may be the only body I'll ever do but I want to see how the airbrush worked. I bought it used. Looks like it will be OK.
Ed
 
Brave man Ed !!

I spoke sincerely, not to fath you off!
Let's see the finished article when you're happy with it.

That's the way I think. Smaller ones I don't mind getting a little adventurous, but when $$$ loom their ugly head I start thinking a little more!

Al.
 
i personally use automotive laquer or pactra polycarbonate for lexan and enamels for stryrene ( i don't like waterbased paints). the acryl is waterbased and a laquer thinner wont work, as far as thinning waterbased paints i have heaar of some using nothing more than plain water or a mix of windex and water ;)
 
macboss said:
lordraptor 1

Thank you for the info.

I had to order more candy apple. The bottles have been discontinued so I had to order the rattle can.

Ed
Click to expand...

if you used teh laquere based pactra paints the candy red is still available in jars. my baja is candy red with a silver bssecoat, there are numerous ways to get numerous shades of red ranging from a dark red to an orangish color.

to get darker red use more coats of candy red the darker you wish to go silver back for more red or gold for a more orangish color but keep in ind number and or thickness of coats of candy will play part of teh role in how dark your final result will be ;)
 
one more thing macboss waterbased dries really fast nd you may wish to consider a retarder of some type (especially if using an airbrush). i tried teh waterbased paints once but after them drying in my 250.00 airbrush and ruining it i went back to laquer.

i still use acrylics for plastic model kits however but only whe i am using a paintbrush and detailing/weathering over a laquer basecoat.
 
raptor-looks like the hobby shop guy really did not know much about paint. I was after candy apple red and all he really knew is he had that color in the Acryl paint.

I researched airbrush use and how to mask off the inside of the body but did not go my homework on paint.

Thank for the pointers.

Ed
 
macboss said:
raptor-looks like the hobby shop guy really did not know much about paint. I was after candy apple red and all he really knew is he had that color in the Acryl paint.

I researched airbrush use and how to mask off the inside of the body but did not go my homework on paint.

Thank for the pointers.

Ed
Click to expand...

no problems bud, glad i could assist ;)
 
Back
Top