Grab irons, to pre-paint or nein

[diezmon]

What say you? 

I've tried painting wire grabs before, and after installing.   When I paint before, i tend to damage the paint anyway when i install the little suckers.   

Painting after works great, unless your grab is a different color than the body it's attached to, and my shaky fat fingers slip. 

What's yer preferred method, hmmm?

[SP-Wolf]

I like to paint after installation. However,  I can see your point about pre-painting in some circumstances.

Wolf

[Steveruger45]

Well this is timely. I’m about to embark on installing grabs for the first time myself.
I was thinking of maybe applying a liquid masking solution to the shell in the area of the grabs first and later remove it.
Not sure though if this a good idea/worth it though.  Maybe it’s just better to be super careful with painting the grabs after install, or paint before install and touch up after install.
Thanks guys

[mmagliaro]

Are they black?  If so, I go with metal blackening (assuming these are wire grabs).  Then they never chip.
For anything else, I paint with a tiny brush after putting them on.

[diezmon]

Well this is timely. I’m about to embark on installing grabs for the first time myself.
I was thinking of maybe applying a liquid masking solution to the shell in the area of the grabs first and later remove it.
Not sure though if this a good idea/worth it though.  Maybe it’s just better to be super careful with painting the grabs after install, or paint before install and touch up after install.
Thanks guys

pretty good idea.  Let me know if it works out. 

[diezmon]

Are they black?  If so, I go with metal blackening (assuming these are wire grabs).  Then they never chip.
For anything else, I paint with a tiny brush after putting them on.

black, green, orange, yellow     Is there  metal yellowing chem?   

[Steveruger45]

Hobbico MasterMask Liquid Masking Film, 3 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000X4KRLU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_xsjWCbM592XPJ

I was thinking maybe use this stuff.  There is alway micromask as well but that is water soluble so would have to use a non water based paint.  I plan on using enamel paint anyway.

[cv_acr]

black, green, orange, yellow     Is there  metal yellowing chem?   

Electro-plate with gold?

 

[ednadolski]

I never pre-paint wire grabs, stirrups, stanchions, etc.  I just use a really fine brush and add a bit of water (solvent) to the paint to help it flow better and avoid too thick a coating.  I may prime the parts with a light gray tone over the bare metal, if I am doing a light color.

Ed

[randgust]

Always after.

The secret is that you need a 00 brush that cost more than the car you are painting, and you take excellent care of it to keep the bristles clean and preserve the point.   Get excellent light, wrist supports, and some kind of cradle support for the model so that the only thing moving here is your fingers and the brush ends.  The most consistent application will be from the edge of the bristles about 1/3 up the brush, working edgewise.

Next thing is to pay a lot of attention to the paint, and do some test applications first on scrap wire or another junk car.  Too thick and you'll make blobs, too thin and it will travel down the grab and onto the car body.

Plan for touchups anyway, and when you are done, put on some dullcote or other product to seal the paint in and get a little more durability.

My consistent challenge is BLMA drop grabs on my CF7 kits, always a contrasting color to the body by FRA regulation, so it's worth the work.

[diezmon]

I've used a sharpened toothpick in the past, and recently tried those 'micro-brushes', but i think the fine tip brush is probably best, eh?