When airbrushing non-clear paints, I’m good at spraying the right amount.
When airbrushing a clear coat (Future, acrylic satin or matte top coats), however, I always end up with overspraying because it’s difficult to see how much clear coat is hitting the surface.
How do you gentlemen avoid overspraying when shooting a clear coat?
Excellent question!. I had the same problem when I was experimenting with airbrushing recently. I had pretty much given up on spraying Future, but if I could get the technique right, I’d love to be able to. I did watch a video of Dr. Cranky A/B-ing Future on a car model, and it looked like he was getting a lot of overspray too. I’m still not sure if spraying it is even necessary. I’ve seen a lot of pics of hand-brushing it that look amazing. I don’t know though, so I’m watching this thread intently
Make sure you have a good light source when you’re applying clearcoats. Additionally, try to have a backlight of some sort so you can see the reflection off the surface you’re clearcoating. This can help you judge the depth & area of coverage.
Future is very thin, almost water like. I don’t spray it as I have the same problem. Lots of practice I suppose will help but life’s too short. I only brush future.
I start at center of model, keep the spray moving as I reach the tips, tail, etc. Don’t let the spray stop anywhere on model, don’t terminate or start spray on a previously sprayed area if possible.
I’ve found bright light to be the key to getting a decent finish with Future, laying down a wet (heavy) final coat with as low a pressure as possible & keeping a wet edge as you work also helps.
I’ll experiment with the location of a light source to see it changes the visibility of the reflection off the surface.