Tamiya unpaintable plastic !

[paddy]

Run into a problem tonight on my latest build, just cant get paint to stick to(some)Tamiya plastic !!

I have tried everything i know with cleaners primers etc but the paint beads on touching the surface. I looked at it under a magnifying glass and its like oil on water, the paint is sitting in droplets on the plastic. If you put a heavier coat on it looks ok but it dries in a "crackle " finish.
I am using gloss black and its a colour i have had this trouble with before. I have tried Tamiya and humbrol acrylic and also an acrylic car touch up paint and all are the same.
I simply can't afford to scrap another kit because the production quality is crap.
I know what this is, its the result of recycling the plastic wastage from the moulds that already has releasing agent on it. Its mixed in with the next batch and then more releasing agent applied and then salvaged and then more release agent and so on and you end up with unpaintable plastic. Or so i was told by an Airfix employee.....
I think this is the problem Moon Pup had with his recent P51 build. It wasn't his alclad at fault but the black base coat not sticking to the Tamiya plastic i would hazard a guess.

To cap off a pretty awful weekend i knocked my Nikon DSLR Camera over while it was on the tripod and smashed both it and its Nikon lens. another £2000 waisted. Roll on 20012 !!

Could be a delay now in my Bike build on the civil forum as i cant take pictures... or paint the frame black

 

[kryptosdaddy]

Run into a problem tonight on my latest build, just cant get paint to stick to(some)Tamiya plastic !!
I know what this is, its the result of recycling the plastic wastage from the moulds that already has releasing agent on it. Its mixed in with the next batch and then more releasing agent applied and then salvaged and then more release agent and so on and you end up with unpaintable plastic. Or so i was told by an Airfix employee.....

We have been running into something similar with copper fittings for years. Instant blue and rolling solder as soon as heat is applied- Today we live in a recyclable world Paddy.

 

[paddy]

Another factor that convinces me its a plastic fault is now i am stripping the paint back the assembled parts are coming apart with just general handling and the Humbrol Poly Cement i have used has not stuck at all !!

 

[kryptosdaddy]

Damn! What kit was this?

 

[paddy]

Your problem with solder is one of two things
1/ The new solders are lead free and simply dont work. Sony have documented huge problems with electrical joints failing (going dry) on Play stations after a year or so. In my last job we used PSB mounted motor speed controllers and even new from the factory we had to remake half the soldered joints using old lead stock solder we had because the failure rate otb was probably 10%.due to dry joints.
2/ Fluxes have become so "SAFE" now they no longer work on a lot of metals. In a quest to make the fumes non toxic and the flux itself non corrosive they took all the active ingredients out of over the counter flux, try and find some plumbers flux at a DIY store, that still works.

Another factor is lead free solders have a higher melting point so its very easy to over heat and oxidise small pieces before the solder will melt and flow.

 

[paddy]

Tamiya's Honda 166 GP race bike.

 

[kryptosdaddy]

So that Honda is a new release- and I did learn the basics of soldering problems. There are issues with mid sized fittings, 3/4 - 1 inch especially.

 

[moon puppy]

I think this is the problem Moon Pup had with his recent P51 build. It wasn't his alclad at fault but the black base coat not sticking to the Tamiya plastic i would hazard a guess.

I didn't see beading of the paint, just the slightest masking would pull it back off. Even striping and cleaning with alcohol didn't fix the problem.

To cap off a pretty awful weekend i knocked my Nikon DSLR Camera over while it was on the tripod and smashed both it and its Nikon lens. another £2000 waisted. Roll on 20012 !!

I don't know how you're posting..I'd be beyond help.

 

[kryptosdaddy]

I missed the note about the camera too- I could not think if that happened to me.

 

[chukw]

Modeler's Alliance- at t he forefront of Quality Control Testing! Sorry to hear about this Paddy- a real shame about the camera.

I really do wonder at how many are discovering the effect of Tamiya's unpaintability. I'd send pics, Paddy- maybe you can get a replacement kit out of it- and help them recognize and fix this problem.

 

[paddy]

Problem solved for me Chuk
A good soak in rubbing alcohol and clean off. a few new coats of Semi gloss rather than gloss. Because of the problem this then dries as matt ! Once dry a buff with a polishing cloth and you get a shiny semi gloss which is better than full gloss on this scale anyway. so..no worries with the kit as long as the larget panels that need finish painting like the petrol tank are good but as they are on a different spru it should be ok. Last time i had this problem it was just one spru.

Tried taking a picture with the phone !! not a lot of good TBH Mr Nokia...

One exploded very expensive Nikon Macro lens

 

[paddy]

Getting better........ :laugh:

 

[Sharkmouth]

Regards,

 

[moon puppy]

Regards,

What he said...

But good picture...

 

[reconron]

Sorry to hear all of that,Paddy.
I hope if Tamiya gets more complains they will try to do something about it.
No good advertisement if that's happening a lot and destroying our fine builds.

Greetings,Ron.