Slot Car Painting Techniques: Modular Pit Garage Kit Using Vallejo Acrylics

10 September, 2014 0 comments Leave a comment

 To paint the garage with reddish bricks, you'll need these Vallejo Model Color acrylic paints;

•  70.951 White.
• 70.950 Black.
• 70.790 Silver.
• 70.850 Medium Olive.
• 70.992 Neutral Grey.
• 62.018 Sepia.
• 62.017 Raw Sienna.
• 62.016 Dark Ochre.
• 74.601 Grey Surface Primer.
• 70.520 Matte Varnish ( Clear coat ).
• 70.596 Glaze Medium.
• P15999 Starter Set Toray brushes ( 3 pack ).

  From a hardware store you'll need;

• Tremclad Grey Primer spray paint ( If you don't want to use Vallejo Primer).
• Small - pore sponges, or ScotchBrite cleaning pads.
• 1/8" or 1/4" wide masking tape.

 You'll also need;

• Paper towels.
• Artist palette with cupped areas for mixing paint.
• Popsicle sticks for mixing paint.
• Tap water for cleaning brushes and keeping brushes moist while painting.

 To paint the garage with brown bricks, use all of the above, but replace the Sepia, Raw Sienna, and Dark Ochre with;

• 70.941 Burnt Umber.
• 70.311 New Wood.
• 70.310 Old Wood.

Painting The Pit Garage

 Soak the parts in warm water with a bit of dish soap for 30 minutes, then wash the parts with dish soap under warm running water. This will eliminate any mold release agent left from the casting process. If this doesn't work, brush acetone onto the parts, then wash with dish soap under warm running water.

 If you plan on using a light to illuminate the inside of the garage or V.I.P. Lounge, only use LED lights because they don't generate heat. You can order the flat LED light and battery holder kit directly from my website, or add your own lighting system.

 Spray paint the inside and outside of all the garage parts with Vallejo Grey Surface Primer, or Tremclad Grey Primer if you don't want to use the Vallejo primer. If you purchased the Pit Garage Expansion Kit (s), the painting technique is the same. This will be a base coat for the other paints, as well as giving you the proper color for the inside walls, outside concrete areas, and brick mortar. Let the garage dry for 24 hours, then lightly sand off any dust bumps, and coat the concrete areas with 70.520 Matte Varnish.

 Start the interior by painting the garage doors, light switches, and wires with 70.790 Silver. Paint the main power box with 70.850 Medium Olive, and the light switch faces 70.951 White.

 Paint all of the window frames, the outside and inside of the Paddock garage door, frames, rails, and the Pit door rails 70.790 Silver. Also paint the ribbed areas on the front cross pieces, Paddock balcony, and Paddock stair structure 70.790 Silver. 

 To paint the red bricks, you will be using a sponge technique. Start by ripping some pieces of sponge or ScotchBrite unevenly into 1 inch pieces. Then use masking tape to cover the edge of the concrete areas only, leaving the trim and bricks ready for painting. The mortar is already the correct color from the primer coat, so start by placing a few drops of 62.018 Sepia onto your artist palette. Dip the sponge into the paint slightly, then blot a bit of the excess onto a paper towel. With the sponge slightly wet with paint, dab the tops of the bricks in a random pattern, covering only about 1/3rd of the brick area. With a new piece of sponge, do the same in a random pattern with the 62.017 Raw Sienna covering only about 1/3rd of the brick area, then with the 62.016 Dark Ochre. Keep alternately dabbing these three colors until all of the bricks on the sides and back of the garage are covered. Let dry for 24 hours. Try not to cover the mortar between the bricks while doing this. If the mortar gets filled with the sponged paints, make a wash with 70.992 Neutral Grey and water, about 60 / 40, then flow it into the mortar. Wipe off any excess right away. Let the bricks dry for 12 hours, then make a glaze by using 1 drop of 70.992 Neutral Grey and 12 drops of 70.596 Glaze Medium and mix the two. A glaze is a transparent coat that lets the underlying colors show through, and tones down the colors a bit to make them appear more natural. Apply the glaze thinly over the entire bricks. If the glaze is too thick, add a few more drops of the glaze medium, or a bit of water. If you apply too much glaze and everything becomes grey, add some water with a brush onto the area, and wipe off the glaze. Try again, this time with a thinner coat. The result should be a faded look to the bricks. Next, paint the trim pieces between the bricks and concrete 70.790 Silver. Remove the masking tape, and let all of this dry for 12 hours. Then coat the bricks with 70.52 Matte Varnish.  The stucco areas can be painted any of the brown colors, or a color of your choice. After drying for 24 hours, the garage will be finished.

 Follow the same painting process as above for the Paddock stair structure.

 To paint the bricks brown, replace the 62.018 Sepia, 62.017 Raw Sienna, and 62.016 Dark Ochre with 70.941 Burnt Umber, 70.311 New Wood, and 70.310 Old Wood.

Painting The Garage Ceilings, Floor, and Roof

 The garage ceilings, floor, and roof can be spray painted with Vallejo Grey Surface Primer, Black, Tremclad Grey Primer, or can be left bare grey plastic. Paint the air conditioner, and roof vent 70.790 Silver, then apply a thin black wash for the air conditioner grills. Paint the power box on the side of the air conditioner with 70.850 Medium Olive.

 When everything is painted, scrape the paint off of all the areas that will be glued together so that the glue will bond to the pieces properly.

 The techniques written here may seem a bit long to follow, but trust me when I say it's easy, and you'll get excellent results. If you have the Modular Pit Garage Kit, and the Pit Garage Expansion Kit(s), paint everything assembly line style. It'll go a lot faster.

 Happy slotting!

David Gurinskas / Owner of Full Circle Hobbies