Same here. I’m not usually a fan of the Internet being a permanenet place for people’s musings, but in this case it’s totally appreciated.
I’m new to modeling as well. I know this is an old post, but it has a lot of good information.
So, according to this chart, I should mostly never base coat with an Acrylic since you should’t put anything but Acrylic over it? In general is this true?
What is a good process of paint type layer order that you normaly use?
Do you start with a Base of Enamel, then put Enamel/Acrylic over that? Then if you used Acrylic and you want a Gloss Coat you should only put Clear Acrylic over that?
Just trying to understand ‘Best Practices’… I recently started a new model, and when I pulled off some masking tape it pulled up some of the paint. It was a black flat acrylic paint with no clear coat. So I thnk being flat I should have put a gloss coat on it to help the tape from pulling it up?? or maybe I should have used an Enamel??
Thanks for any responses,
Snacko
I can hardly wait to hear what others have to say, but in my opinion whomever created that chart is full of beans. (no disrepect intended)
No. I’m afraid I cannot speak for enamels as I use them so infrequently, but I routinely put laquers over acrylics.
I subscrbe to the theory that one can paint almost anything over almost anything so long as the latter is completely cured. There are probably exceptions that I’m not aware of or have forgotten.
I put multi layers of acrylic down all the time. It more depends what you’re doing with it, like weathering over acrylic I use oil wash or stains. But recently I did up a car with stynylrez primer ( acrylic poly), rose gold craft paint ( acrylic) and top coated with 3 full wet coats of Tamiya clear red and blue mixed to a kind of burgundy red. That sucker shines and I haven’t polished it. But the point being it’s all acrylic over acrylic but different brands. Then did the chrome strips and chrome around the windows with a Molotow pen which is some kind of alcohol paint (reluctantly thinking the alcohol might get to the Tamiya top coat), but it too went well. I did the engine with craft paint, then a light oil wash just added some depth, not so much for dirt. The fire wall too. Next will be a quick shot of Model Master metalizer sealer ( lacquer) over the wash parts and I think the paint is done except maybe a little buffing on the body and wheel detail. The interior is craft paint over stynylrez. The under pinnings is black stynylrez. I’m getting there, gotta get some kind of magnesium paint on the wheel spokes and I can put it together ( 1949 Ford I’m sort of duplicating from a build I did nearly 60 years ago).
Just sayin.
Edit: just happened to think, I’ve put clear lacquer over acrylic many times with no issue and various types of lacquer. I would be leery of lacquer over fresh enamel, I’ve seen that go bonkers in 1/1.
The problem with the linked chart is that ‘acrylics’ is a bit too generalized. Normally when acrylics is mentioned, we tend to think it’s water based - but no, you can have Lacquer acrylic, Enamel acrylic, etc. Acrylic really just indicates one of the four main components of paint, that being the Binder (Pigment, Additive and Solvent being the other three).
If you plan on using tape over paint, preparation is key. The usual process of washing the plastic in mild soap, and avoid skin contact as oils will transfer to the model surface.
The type of paint (or primer) you choose to first hit the plastic is important. I’m not familiar with enamels, but lacquers will etch themselves into the plastic, making them quite resilient to lifting. Water based acylics are the worst, as they essentially just sit on top of the plastic. Adding a clear protective coat won’t help in the matter - if that first layer isn’t anchored down into the plastic, chances are, it will lift. It would be like trying to peel a piece of tape off of another, both will come off.
regards,
Jack