I'm working on a Dragon Bismarck in 1:700 and the rubber parts are giving me alot of issues. My biggest problem is painting them. Enamels don't seem to dry on the parts. I've cleaned them up. Is there anything I can do to get these painted?

Hi AJ,

I have the Dragon 1/700 Bismarck kit and I have searched through it trying to find some rubber parts but came up dry. What are these parts for?

In the past, I have run across rubberized parts that required painting. I have used rubbing alcohol to clean them with to get rid of any oils that may be left over from the manufacturing process. that may be what is interfering with your paint job. I have also gone to an auto parts store and found some Blechleys' Bleach White used to clean tires for the same purpose, use gloves if you go this route, the stuff is hard on the hide, tends to leach out all the oils in your skin.

hello Anthony,
i agree with Joseph about cleaning the parts with rubbing alcohol,and then i prime it with a surface primer such as Mr.Surfacer or any paint primer.i let it dry for at least 24 hours before i do any painting.
hope this helps,and welcome to MSW.
cheers,
Bruce

The hanger houses, two large bridge pieces, radar towers and rangefinders are all rubber in my kit. This is NOT the premium version of this kit. I 'm begining to think that the premium version has plastic parts for these as your comment has been quite common from others.

Thank you for your replies, I will give the alcohol and primer a try on a few smaller pieces to see if it works.

Well the alcohol and primer didn't work. Four days later the primer feels like it went on an half hour ago.

I experimented and found a solution. I brushed on a coat of straight liquid superglue over all the parts. Once dry I had no trouble with painting the rubber parts.