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Or any color you like, for that matter. If you think black looks good, how about a color matching your car? Or gold? Or you can first paint the caps a solid color, then get someone who's good with a brush to paint the pony a stand-out color.
The bottom line is that you're in a lot better position than you thought you were. Clean the caps with an SOS pad, and while they're drying, run down to the hobby shop for some Testors' spray primer and model paint.
In theory yes the model paint will work, I would probably go with enamel paint though. I have painted my pony grabber blue using testors spray paint. The BIGGEST thing you need to do with model paint is clear it using automotive clear gloss or other types of clear. I used craft clear gloss, and it began chipping from rocks etc the next day. I would imagine the wheels would be worse. I repainted and applied like 6 coats of auto clear, and that did the trick. I would only recommend model paint for the pony, not the whole cap itself
Testors IS enamel, it's just in itty-bitty bottles and spray cans. The clear-coat is a great idea.
The wheel caps are polystyrene, and from what I can tell, the resin used is closely related to the resin used in models. That means that the solvent carrier/thinner in a lot of automotive paints will eat them alive. Auto paints are designed to chew down into whatever surface they are applied to. Model paints are designed to stick to styrene without attacking it. Using the matching primer will help it stick. Put the clear coat on top of it and it should last a nice long time.
If you have a spare cap, you can mask it off and paint, say, a 1/2" stripe in a paint that you might want to try, then leave it outside. If there's no damage after a couple of days, you're probably okay using that. But it's a lot less trouble just to make the trip to a hobby shop.
Not all testers paint is enamel. Or at least it wasnt a few years ago. Either way it will work.
Also, be careful with the clear as some of the testors paint reacts badly to some clears. I've had to redo several model bodies because it caused the paint to crack and spiderweb all over.
I sit corrected. I forgot that they also made acrylic paint, I've only ever used their enamel. Do their model paints even still come in glass jars, or all plastic now?
That's the problem with being so damn old sometimes.
Well guys, you have me sold! After work tonight I snagged a pack of rubber gloves and a box of generic brillo pads. After an hour or so of scrubbing, (not to mention about killing my hand lol) the one rear cap that had some of the worst corrosion looks great! A major improvement to what it looked like before! I was really expecting to have to find replacements. But if the other three look as good as this one, I think I've just saved the extra cash for new rims and caps.
You're right, they do look like they may be aluminum. If so, the anodizing was poorly done and has failed, so he still needs to clear coat them, if nothing else.
02-15-2015, 10:55 AM
