Create a Great Paint Job From Spray Cans

Have you every tried to use spray cans to paint your model only to have dripping runs or that 'orange peel' look? We've pooled together our collective knowledge to share some of our favourite tips and ideas.

There are many modelers think spray cans are amateurish and not very precise, and that the only way to build a show quality model is to use an airbrush. That's so untrue! There are a lot of good reasons to use aerosol spray paint.

Currently, there are so many excellent aerosol paints available for model builders, they all have their great qualities. Testors is the front runner with an excellent selection of both stock and custom colors in enamels, and Tamiya's lacquers have fantastic pigments. Some others (not all available at your local hobby shop) add to the huge array of commercially available paints such as Krylon, Dupli-Color, Plasti-kote, and there are more. It may sound odd, but I rarely use an airbrush!

Each of these lines are available in gloss, semigloss, and flat varieties, and can be used to vary the surfaces of flat, semigloss, and metallic paints, adding even more variety to the mix. You can use these differences to your advantage to add more visual interest to your model. 

The first thing anyone is going to notice about your model is the paint job, so read on to learn how to paint, prepare and finish that model on your hobby table.

1. Select the colours for your model kit. Also, check out your local hobby shop or bookstore for awesome reference and idea books. (Remember that for military kits flat colour are best, but if you need to use semi-gloss or gloss for the colour you like to can use a flat finish at the end to make it all uniform flat)

2. On any kit your going to need to remove the molding seams and flashing left by the molding process. These can be hard to spot on some kits, a credit to the manufacturer's attention to detail. Be certain to look closely to find the seams. Sand the large body pieces a bit with 400-grit sandpaper and....
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