It sounds like something went wrong with your grey paint to cause that white/glossy spot. I’m wondering if another coat, super-carefully stirred and thinned, may solve the problem.
I think I my be misunderstanding some of what you’re describing. When you talk about sealing the paint, are you saying you’re going to spray over the paint with a clear finish? If so, why? Assuming the paint is already flat, it shouldn’t need to have anything sprayed on top of it. Clear top coats don’t make paint stick better to the plastic. High-quality modern hobby paints are formulated to stick directly to styrene. The only thing a primer really accomplishes is to provide a consistent color, so the colored coat doesn’t have to be as thick. (Styrene isn’t like metal, which often needs a layer of primer that sticks to the metal - and that the finish paint can stick to.)
I’m a big fan of acrylics, but the modeler needs to remember one big characteristic of them. They dry from the outside in. A coat of acrylic paint may be dry to the touch a minute or two after it’s applied, but it won’t actually grab the plastic for a day or so. (Enamels work the other way - they grab the plastic right away, and take some time to dry on the surface.)
I’ve never worked much with Tamiya paints, but I’ve read lots of complaints about them. My own favorite is Polyscale. Now that it’s been discontinued, I’m trying to get used to Vallejo.
Thanks for the info. I’ll not seal the paint - I’ll just let it cure for a few more days before I do more masking and painting.
I used Polly Scale acrylics for the three ships I’ve built in the last 4 years but I like the way Tamiya spays through my airbrush. I guess I’ll just have to see how it all works out.
I have enough Polly Scale Caboose and Oxide Red paint left to mix up what I think the hull red should look like on my Dreadnought but I always have problems figuring out how to thin that paint for my airbrush. I may give it a go with PS anyway.
I usually put a coat of clear flat over the paint to protect it. Maybe it’s overkill, maybe it’s unnecessary, or maybe I got into that habit because it has to be done to seal decals. As for the paint issue, I’m going to give it another thinned coat and keep my fingers crossed.
I got hold of a ArtWox wood deck for the 1/700 scale Fujimi Yamato done up in a sort of black color over to wood how would I go about painting it in wood color paint mainly MM enamel wood?
Sounds like an idea worth trying warshipguy. I ruined my Pontos teak deck for my Tamiya Circa 1991 1/350 Missouri by following their lackluster instructions. I took the added precaution of wiping down the deck with alcohol prior to installing for better adhesion. Pontos recommends a thin coat of lacquer clear coat to seal and preserve the post deck installation. DON’T do it! Mine buckled badly and I put such a thin layer of clear lacquer out of fear to begin with. Your idea of a dull coat application to the kit deck prior to laying down the wooden deck seems like the better way to go. Did you rough up the kit decks with steel wool or other means prior to laying down your wooden deck?
I’m working with an ArtWox wood deck right now. I’m applying it early in the build and adding the superstructure, turrets, etc on top of it, following my usual “bottom up/inside out” assembly plan.
I was worried when I saw the comment about DullCote, so I just took a portion of scrap and really hosed it down with DullCote, way more than I would use on the actual model. The good news is, once dry, I saw no darkening or other change to the appearance of the wood grain. So my plan’s going to be to apply DullCote as one of the very final steps in the build, as usual, and not worry about it getting on to the wood. No need to really focus it there anyway, of course, as the natural finish of the wood is already dull.
I have followed your work for many years. Terrific stuff. Glad to see you back here. Your Racing Yawl inspired me to build one as my first sailing ship with rigging. (I placed the kits main mast a bit lower in the hull though.) I absolutely love all your models. You have as many built as most of us still have in the “Stash”. Thanks for the inspirations.
Back to Decks…
The Dulcote usually referred to is Testors. It does a nice job. No darkening noticed. But, I have used several other brands and Yep, those have left a terrible darkening of the wood. These were Acrylic sealers. Two in particular: ModPodge matte and something called “Plaid” Clear acrylic sealer. I know the acrylics will cause these thin wood veneer decks to warp but with the deck firmly glued no warping occurred just a darker deck. Still learning.