Painting clear parts

[Ian-364932]

Might be a daft question but i’m getting to the part of my model which requires me to insert a clear plastic instrument panel into the cockpit. This will need painting black & then decals applied after for the instruments.

My question is, do i need to prime the clear plastic part first as per the rest of the kit or is it best to just airbrush the black colour straight on ?

I will be using Humbrol Acrylics.

Thx

[peebeep]

It depends how much you expect to handle the part. I have little faith in aqueous acrylic being able to have good adhesion onto bare plastic, especially a transparency, so I would prime. If you use a black primer you can kill two birds with one stone.

[Ratch]

I usually paint the interior colour on the framing, then over-paint with the exterior colour. That way, if the frame is viewed through one side it should appear to be the right colour.