Hello Armor Painting experts,
I'm making the Tamiya 1/25 Tiger 1, which includes very nice shiny vinyl hoses for the exhaust system. I have assembled and placed all and will be ready to paint soon.
First...CAN I actually paint these hoses? If so, HOW?
Do I prime first and if so, with WHAT? If I choose to NOT paint the hoses themselves, do I need to worry if any Acryllic paint gets on them? Will the disintegrate or degenerate somehow? If I paint the model and then want to weather, what, if any, material CAN I weather with and, if so, What materials and processes should I use or avoid.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
ASLmodeler

Vinyl it's pretty hard to ruin. You'd really have to hit it hard with solvents to ruin it.

Conversely, any paint you put on will flake off if you move the hoses.

Gaz

Good luck.

Joseph,
You might consider getting rid of the vinyl tubing Tamiya provided and using something else, like heavy gauge solder, bent to shape. Almost anything you can find to manufacture replacement hoses will hold pain better than the original vinyl tubes.

But if that's not an option, lightly sanding the tubes before you install them will roughen up the surface and help whatever paint you use adhere better. Follow that with a coat of good primer, like automotive primer.

Good luck!

C[ ]

Thanks! I'm hopeful.

Thanks! I appreciate the advice.

Having just built that kit a few months ago, I can chime in.
I first primed with Vallejo black primer, then painted with Vallejo Dunkelgelb. No problem with flaking or chipping even after I had to remove one side and reinstall for some reason or another.
Of course, if you are using enamels, my advice doesn't help much.
One more thing, I always had trouble using Testors Model Masters enamels when painting vinyl tracks... never seemed to cure and would rub/flake off. Didn't have that problem with the acrylics.

Joseph,

I built this model 40+ years ago and painted the hoses with Testors PlaNamel. The hoses haven't turned to goo but they did flake. If I have time I can dig them out and send you a photo.

I feel dumb to ask, but what were the real things made of?

I forgot to add that here is a site by NAME: Piotr Kubiak for 1/24-25 armor: http://shop.1-25saf.com

He also recently posted this: List of 1-25 scale models with accessories

JPTRR, thank You very much

Thanks very much! I appreciate the advice.

I would think a primer for plastic car bumper covers might work.

There are also adhesion promoters that can be applied as a primer to help a subsequent paint layer stay on; this is one of the recommended practices for model railroading when dealing with the nitrile plastic often used for handrails.

Not dumb at all.
They were made of metal; a thin ridged strip wound around dozens of times. If you ever see a Tiger engine hatch blasted off, the Feifel tubes unravel like springs.

David
P.s. they were not round in section. They had 12 sides.