Repainting diecast cars

[flags_of_war]

Does anyone have any good tips for painting diecast cars? The enamel look doesn't really look good on the table 

Iain

[gamer Mac]

Hi Iain
Never had any problem painting vehicles
I just undercoated them with GW Black
Some pictures

[Andrew Rae]

My tip: don't strip 'em! The thick enamel hides all manner of mould lines and grinder marks.

Made that mistake and then couldn't be bothered to try and fix what had previously been hidden.

[Dr Mathias]

Some pictures

Those are great. I love the light on the roof.

[zemjw]

As I posted in another thread recently,  my toy car weathering approach is:

- take the thing apart if possible
- matt varnish the outside. This will frost the windows if they're still in the car, and is the main reason I dismantle it first. The other big reason is that it lets me get at the wheels and wheel wells more easily
- use washes to tone things back and force some shadows, then cheap craft paints and sponge to weather the crap out of everything
- put the car back together. I also glue the wheels in place, but that's as much to stop them rolling about in storage as anything

For repainting, I've sprayed them with Humbrol acrylic paints and worked up from there. I have stripped them back to the bare metal, but getting the original paint off is a pain, and, as Andrew said, it's not really worth the effort.

Pretty much anything that takes the toy car shine away will make a huge difference

[Orctrader]

They look great.   

Useful to know.  I have a few vehicles I was going to strip to the bare metal.  Reading these tips I don't think I will now.  Will certainly save a lot of time.

[snitcythedog]

I did an article quite a while ago on how to strip and repaint a die cast car.  Might be useful.  Article is on page fourteen on the first edition of the Zombiville post.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/g9p2dufc2vky39b/Zombieville+Post+-+Issue+One.pdf
The toot was on how to create a rusted out car but the same teachniques can be used for a straight repaint.
Hope that helps.
Snitchy sends.

[OSHIROmodels]

I've got some Tomica cars that I liberally washed in GW brown ink and then removed most of it (when it was dry) with meths and a cotton bud. Seemed to do the trick if you want to keep the original colour and want them a bit dirty.

cheers

James

[LeadAsbestos]

I'll give them a matte varnish, then drybrush my weathering on, or primer black and go from there. Just Matchbox size, mind you, but it seems like it would work for bigger scales.

[flags_of_war]

Cheers guys. Some good advice. Got a few 70's cars im going try and dirty up for Street Wars NYC.

[Geudens]

When you are not looking for a different colour scheme (pressed into service civilian vehicles): just matt spray varnish, allow to dry and dry brush in al lighter tone if you want, add some weathering and dirt.  Matt varnish again.

[Andym]

Matt varnished and weathered after it dried......



Taken to bits, sprayed GW Chaos Black and painted.....

[CarlLeyland]

I strip my vehicles down by drilling out the rivets then remove the paint using caustic soda added to hot water. Next I just undercoat matt black or white

http://solowargamingintheuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/civilian-trucks-in-20mm-and-vw.html

Lesney can be useful for 20mil stuff and the larger Corgi usually work for 28mm, car boots are your friend.

[dijit]

Like others have said I've just generally taken them to pieces and then undercoated and repainted on top of the existing paintwork.

Not the best picture in the world, but here's one that got converted too:

[gary42]

Ya know... It never occurred to me to strip em'.  SO I just paint, wash, then do the make-up sponge trick.  Matte finish after except metal painted bits.