Having trouble painting my Tamiya bike model

[apple tango]

This is the first model i've ever built, so like a newbie i'm having issues.

I'm trying to paint some parts using black enamel paint with a brush. It's not working properly though. When applying the paint, it looks kind of watery on the shiny plastic part.

https://s13.postimage.org/uczm957lj/11012012196.jpg
image hosting gif

Am i meant to sand the part down first with sand paper?

Or am i meant to use a primer or something?
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CBR125 -> Bandit GSF600 '99 -> SV650 02

[-Savage-]

Have you mixed up the paint properly? the paints settle easily, and need mixed either by shaking, or if stood for a while they will need stirred to re suspend the pigments.
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My Bikes - - - Royal Enfield 500 with sidecar, VFR800, CBR600FX,
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Have you washed the parts in warn soapy water first, the release agent they use to get them out of the mould can give some weird effects sometimes.

Also consider that you'll probably need to do a couple of thin coats rather than one thick one, even more so if you're brush painting.
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[apple tango]

[apple tango]

[stinkwheel]

#33 matt black humbrol enamel is one of the best covering ones out. The #21 gloss black is much harder to work with. If I wanted gloss black I always used to use #33 then paint over it with clear gloss.

Buy a packet of cocktail sticks to stirr the paints with. They DO need to be stirred as has already been pointed out.

While you have the black out, undercoat any parts that are going to be painted with metallic paint using it too. Matt black makes an excellent undercoat for a very realistic metallic finish if you use a "drybrush" technique with the metallic colour. I used to use #11 for pretty much all metallic finishes and just drybrushed it on more or less over the black to achieve different effects.

Picture related. It's a 1:72 scale airfix model I made.
https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f216/stinkwheel/mustang1.png
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[ninja_butler]

Extra tip: Most enamel paints need to be thinned before application; build up the layers to full opacity rather than try to do it it one hit.

[D O G]

[Frost]

I always used to use Black/White/Grey undercoat before using any other colours depending on what range of colours the final thing was going to be. Metallic paint often needs stirring AND a good shaking.

[Visitor Q]

Spray painted base coats are also very helpful.
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