Batman TDK Cowl - First Project - Help Please!

Hi guys,

really looking for some advice, as this is my first project and looking to do it right.

I have bought a polyurethane resin Batman cowl cast, and as it being a raw casting obviously needs some filling, sanding, priming and spraying.

Heres the cowl below.



Now, when it comes to filling, am I right to presume that a good car body filler would be good to fill in the dents and uneven surfaces? If anyone is in the UK and can recommend a brand, that would be fantastic!

Now after the filling, I would have to sand it down, starting with quite a corse grit working my way down to a finer grit to get it super smooth.

After that, I should prime the cowl, covering it in a few even coats of prime (grey?) and then again sand this down with a fine grit paper to get a smooth finish.

To finish I would spray with an even coat of matt black, and would I still need to sand the final layer? or would a pasti-dip spray be better?

Any advice would be amazing, as I want to get this perfect and hopefully it will be the start of many many projects.

Thanks everybody!

Hi Bolger! Welcome to the RPF.

Personally, the first thing I would do is give it one coat of primer (after you've taped up the inside to prevent spray dust accumulation). Most casts are white, this one being no exception, and some times the white plastic hides some of the smaller pinholes that need to be filled. It sucks to do all the body filler, think you are done with that, only to spray your first coat of primer and have unseen pinholes reveal themselves. The other thing an initial coat of primer will show you is just how much filling you are going to need to do, and you can decide whether to buy actual body filler or just a spot putty. (Body filler is usually better for large jobs, while spot putty is useful for smaller area treatments because it is easier to apply in small amounts, and dries quickly.) I can only recommend Bondo brand, but I do not know if that is available in the UK or not.

For sanding, I would not use anything coarser than 220 grit, especially on the first layers. On the early stages, if you use a coarse sand paper, you can end up sanding through the paint and wearing away at the actual resin, thus wearing down the details. Use 200+ and always wet sand. It might take a bit a longer, but you'll be able to more easily control how much you sand away.

On the same note: buy two different colors of primer and alternate between them. Doing so enables you to tell if you are sanding too far into the underlying layer while wet sanding the fresh coat.

Generally I don't sand my final coat of paint, since it can sometimes end up uneven. See what your final coat looks like. If it still looks a bit too shiny for you (I think it will look fine in matte), you can purchase 2000 grit paper from an auto parts store and wet-sand it. That will dull the finish without sanding through the paint layer (provided you apply light pressure). I don't recommend Plastidip, but that is just me. Depending on what you have to spend and how much it is, you could always purchase a can of the Plastidip, and just test both on some scrap wood/cardboard/etc. to see which finish you like better.

All of the above is my experience, based on going through my helmet project which I just wrapped up. Your experience may vary, and others may have different suggestions, but those are my thoughts. Best of luck!

Hi Bolger.

In the UK the best stuff or equivalent is "P38 auto body filler" from HALFORDS. It will be next to all the other supplies you need. Davids fastglass resin, fibre matt and tissue and the sandpaper is usually kept next to it also.

Currently doing a pep TDK, was having issues with what bet grit to use on the P38/Bondo, ive worn down a few time to the resin and card which is a bit bum, but its my first project so not too bad, need to do another layer and will now use something 200+ thanks to Vox!!-cheers dude for the info.

Best of luck.