I’m new to modelling and need some help! I applied decals over a coat of MM Gloss with no silvering. To finish my Phanton 4, I applied an airbrush coat of Model Mater Flat Acryl, only enough to dull the gloss. The finish then had a white haze, especially the darker colors. I removed the flat clear acryl with alcohol/water solution and now need help for a final flat coat. Can I spray a clear flat like Tamiya clear laquer over a hard gloss coat (MM clear gloss) with “alligatoring” the underlying paint or finish? Tamiya does not recommend their clear laquer over decals due to the butylcellosolve damaging decals. All recommendations appreciated; thank you, Rusty
Too much humidity…too much pressure…to thickly applied are some of the possible explanations.
Take a polishing stick to the surface and lightly polish away the haze. Or clear coat with a gloss and leave it to cure for several days before trying the flat again.
Rusty
How long did you wait between applying the gloss, the decals, and the MM Flat? I had this problem once and realize it was caused by me not giving the gloss coat enough time to dry adequetely. In subsequent builds, I’ve given the gloss (even if I use Future) at least 48 to 72 hours to dry before I do anything else to it.
As far as other flat coats… I’ve used a bunch of different ones - the Model Master one and Testor’s Dullcoat are my favorites.
Hope this is helpful. Good luck.
We now have extremely low hunidity; I sprayed at 20 psi. Must have been too much acryl flat. Thank you all for suggestions. I’ll give it a try; it’s my 1st plane and paint surface & decals are still OK. Will try suggestions; thank you again.
Acryl Flat has become my favorite in my last builds. Very hard to tell, but one thing is for sure. Acryl flat is very thick and requires a lot more thinning. I use regular alcohol to thin them all, flat, gloss and SG wiith no problems at all either over acrylic or enamel finish.
Actually before the acryl flats came out I used to use Testors laquer flat coat over their enamels with no decal damage, so if you were to go for a laquer flat, I would seek to stick with Testors products to ensure compatibility.
As for decal damage, I have had MM acryl semi-gloss cause a decal to smear before, so there you go.[:S]
As for my personal preference, I never use use MM’s flat, but semi-gloss only since it has less of the white stuff in it that can haze a nice finish.
Tom T [cwby]
just make sure the body color is completely dry before the clear coat apply, to me few days is never enough unless you use a device to dry it. and I agree with T-Terrific, I use tamiya clear laquer over decals over tamiya acrylic, or even nail polish over tamiya decals over tamiya acrylic without problems, but have to make sure each clear coat is thin and dry. just make sure the paints are compatible like the same brand and be patient. I usually let the body color for weeks before any other applications.