ok guys i have really made a rookie mistake with my m-107sp gun and for got to put down either a gloss coat or a flat coat. but i was able to save it by just addin a little futre in certain arears for the decals, and i have all ready done the wash and drybrushing so now how do you guys go about the finale step to protect what you have done. do you either put a flat coat on or just leave it as is. this is the really frist model i have really washed weatherd and dry brushed. the only thing i have left to do is the road wheels and the tracks and my supplies will get here on friday finally.
You should always flat-coat after the decals. It seals them on so they don’t eventually dry up and come off. It also prevents them from yellowing.
Humm…I wonder if that is my problem…when I was young, I was never sprayed with flat. now I’m yellowing and falling apart…[:-^]
Be that as it may…my younger brother gives good advice. As far as the problem, you learn by you mistakes. You learn even more when you fix your mistakes. This is what makes us better modelers.
Can’t wait to see how you are doing.
Rounds Complete!!
Usually what I do is a gloss coat for decals, then after they are applied apply a second coat mainly over the decals to seal them and protect them from anything else. Then I do washes and weathering, followed by a final flat coat to seal all the pastels and weathering in. Some people dont do an overall flat coat if they use pastels, be because a flat coat somewhat dulls the look of the pastels, but I like to so that I know that nothing will brush or rub off, and that the look of that tank is sealed that way forever. However that is not the only way to do it, as some people like doog for example dont use any type of gloss coat.
[#ditto] I do exactly what he does.
-Jesse
I am definitely the exception here; I neither apply a gloss coat before decalling, nor do I seal them afterwards unless they’re really, really glossy. I have found that the weathering steps I use pretty much flatten them effectively.
I don’t seal pastels, either–it tends to destroy them. Just drop some thinner over them, and that sticks 'em pretty well. As soon as a model is finished, it goes in the display case, and is not really handled so that the pastels don’t get worn off.
However, on my “Nomad junker” which I did over in “Auto’s”, I DID use a ridiculous amount of pastels on the roof to achieve a specific effect, and I DID seal those with acrylic flat airbrushed on. But that was going for specifically a rust-corroded appearance, not a subtle weathering effect.
Maybe sparying it with Mig Pigment Fixer should do the trick. It is design to fixed the pigment permanently without destroying the final effect.
Ben