Painting a bright red cape...

[Mulanzo]

I've been trying to paint a resin cast of a sculpture I'm working on and every red paint I've tried gives a dark, watery and splotchy result even with 10 coats. Is there a very vibrant red enamel or acrylic I can use to get a very vibrant red with good coverage with only a couple layers? Thanks

I'm trying to mimic the red capes in the DC direct line of Superman statues and my red ends up looking like water with a little red food coloring... Ugh! I was thinking of trying a red primer like The Army Painter pure red primer but I haven't seen many people speak about how good it is... Anyone?

[riderV3]

No don't use red primer.

Use white primer.
Give it a solid layer of white primer and try Model Master acrylic Guard Red, throw a tiny bit of yellow in it.

And mske sure you don't dilute the paint too much.
Red is one of the primary color with good color intensity, if you dilute it right red can top over many colors.

[Mulanzo]

Sweet ..thanks..ill give that a try. Is that a spray or for airbrush or does it workout with a brush?

And when I painted my cape I didn't dilute at all. I use Tamiya acrylic and I also tried Testors enamel. One of my reservations about using the acrylic and the reason I tried out the enamel is that I heard color fastness in acrylics was iffy after a long time and enamels tend to be durable. Should I seal it afterwards with a matte sealer of some sort?

Ill give the one you suggested a shot and report back.

This is from a while ago before I finished the sculpt and cast it. The cape hadn't been sculpted yet.

[moore_000]

Originally Posted by Mulanzo

Sweet ..thanks..ill give that a try. Is that a spray or for airbrush or does it workout with a brush?

And when I painted my cape I didn't dilute at all. I use Tamiya acrylic and I also tried Testors enamel. One of my reservations about using the acrylic and the reason I tried out the enamel is that I heard color fastness in acrylics was iffy after a long time and enamels tend to be durable. Should I seal it afterwards with a matte sealer of some sort?

Ill give the one you suggested a shot and report back.

This is from a while ago before I finished the sculpt and cast it. The cape hadn't been sculpted yet.

The "Gloss Red" from Testor should have produced the red you want. If you wan to go for a lighter Ferrari type of red, I would suggest the "Italian Red" from Model Master. Both are enamel paints if you want to stay with enamel paints. To take off any gloss, use Testor's Dullcoat.

[Danno]

Colors like Red (and yellow and white and orange)
simply do not cover well. Many times a painter
will add an additional pigment to the red to help it
cover better.

Now, what works for some may not work for others.
I prefer using a red primer as my base. I find that it
helps me get to the red color faster than using white.
There are many that use white, and it does work
but I prefer the red primer (personally).

Duplicolor Red Filler Primer is lighter in tone than the
Duplicolor sandable primer (but it is also much more
orange/burnt sienna-ish in color)

As for red itself, I find that the Vallejo reds cover
better than any other that I have used. Just
buy the RED colors you like and thin them with
Liquitex airbrush medium and spray away. They cover
faster (using less coats) and provides richer and more
solid coverage.

I hope this helps.

[moore_000]

Originally Posted by Danno

Colors like Red (and yellow and white and orange)
simply do not cover well. Many times a painter
will add an additional pigment to the red to help it
cover better.

Now, what works for some may not work for others.
I prefer using a red primer as my base. I find that it
helps me get to the red color faster than using white.
There are many that use white, and it does work
but I prefer the red primer (personally).

Duplicolor Red Filler Primer is lighter in tone than the
Duplicolor sandable primer (but it is also much more
orange/burnt sienna-ish in color)

As for red itself, I find that the Vallejo reds cover
better than any other that I have used. Just
buy the RED colors you like and thin them with
Liquitex airbrush medium and spray away. They cover
faster (using less coats) and provides richer and more
solid coverage.

I hope this helps.

I have been diluting my acrylic paint with water for air brushing. But I have recently switched to using Liquitex airbrush medium with my Huntress project and I can attest to what Danno is saying. What a difference with paint application and worth every penny:
http://www.statueforum.com/showthread.php?t=87572

[Mulanzo]

Thats awesome.. Thanks for the tips everyone! I need to buy a compressor first before I can airbrush, but I'm jotting all this down.

When you did the airbrushing did you do all the facial details with the airbrush as well or did you freehand the eyes and lips etc?

[HereBeMonsters]

The reds for this Superman were airbrushed with Goldens Napthol Red and the cape was painted with Design Masters Holiday Red straight from the rattle can. I added a little Liquitex burnt sienna to the Goldens red for the shadows. Primer was Duplicolor white primer.

[logan25]

Not sure why but i allways find that Tamya light grey primer is the best to use for red, i start with a slightly darker red and then gradually lighten to a nice bright red. red covers better than on any other primer i have used

[Jesse321]

White Primer, layers of Liquitex Scarlet Red cut with water or Windex work for me.