i read in a previous post that a member here uses krylon matte clear finish to seal his models. well since i dont have an airbrush here i picked some up and tried using it. i had weathered my build pretty well with pastels but now i cant even tell. i put on decals, then put another layer of pastels on. sealed it again. cant tell. pastels again. sealed again. same story. anyone got any advice??? am i spraying it wrong (if thats possible…) thanks!
Don’t apply the pastels until after you have put on the matte coat. The top coat makes them nearly invisible.
I agree with Stikpusher, having just learned that lesson. I used pastels on a Centurion and had it looking quite good, but then applied a matt coat to seal it and most of the effect simply disappeared from view so i had to apply the pastels again, this time as the final coat. Of course in accordance with Murphy’s Law it didn’t come out as well the second time around.
You never stop learning in this hobby do you?
Having a pastel coat disappear under a flat coat is a common experience when trying to “seal” them. Unfortunately the nature of most flat coats is that they are lacquer-based and so when applied wet they absorb the pastels and when they dry, the pastels are trapped under that layer, dramatically muting or eliminating their effect entirely. Flat coats achieve a “flat” look by including their own talc or similar fine particles dissolved in them that diffuses light away from the surface, these too will “bind” with the pastel powder causing them to disappear as well. The advice about applying them after a flat coat and then minimizing handling is the usual approach.
[#ditto][#ditto][#ditto]
I have used Krylon matte clear finish, most recently to seal my M-30 Howitzer. And you don’t have to worry about how your spraying it, the clear finsh covers up most of the pastels, making them pretty much invisible.