Gloss coat application problems.

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

I have been working on an M1 for about 6 months or so and have gotten the paint and shading to a point that I am very satisfied with it. Last night I started applying a gloss coat for the decal and pin wash work. I painted the model with MM flat enamel and am glossing it with MM gloss lacquer.

The issue that I seem to have is that the porosity of the flat coat is absorbing the gloss coat pretty aggressively. I applied the first gloss coat fairly generously and the result is that while the gloss level has gone up overall, I have a very blotchy appearance. Some areas are fairly glossy and others aren’t.

That raises some questions for me.

  1. Is this normal?

  2. Have a done a poor job in laying down the color coat? Using magnification I can see that the color coats have a somewhat textured surface. Should I be doing some surface prep between paint and gloss? Maybe a very high grit wet sanding?

  3. How much gloss should the model have to be sufficient for decals and washes?

  4. I assume that the gloss coat gets thinned to a milky consistency as does the paints?

Thanx for your time.

John

2
  1. John, I wouldn’t say normal, as in it always happens, but it has certainly happened to me on numerous occasions …

I think it has more to do with the color coat thickness than it does the clear…This is assuming your good with A/Bing your clears & not going over some parts of the surface too fast ??You might have gone over an area more times with your flat paint so its a little more pourous there.?? I am no expert thats for sure!!

You can try sanding lightly & reapply just in those duller areas & it may even out for you!

.

  1. Textured hmm?? Hard to comment on the paint without a pic but, going back to #1 resanding & reapplying clear to just those areas & then maybe a final clear coat over all, could enhance the look??

  2. I have succesfully decalled & applied washes on a semi gloss surface, usally Mr Color semi gloss paints. If I have a good shine showing, not neccesarily super glossy, I proceed. I also, usually just run my wet finger over the surface & if it feels glass smooth all is good so I proceed with decals…pretty scientific huh?? LOL!!

  3. Depends on the gloss coat brand & to some degree you A/B nozzle size… ie… Future I spray directly from the bottle… Floquil & M/M enamels I use a thinner.

I have recently switched to using Tamiya or Gunze clears in a spray can. It comes out like a" fire hose" but clings to the surface like “grim death” & levels out tight…

Hope some of this helps :slight_smile:

3

I forgot to mention that if you use a Tamiya/Gunze clears over your enamels just make sure your enamels are fully cured (can’t smell em anymore) & not just dry to the touch or they could krinkle. Thats bad!!

4

The second coat done last night has brought the shine up. Now that its try I looked at it and have noticed that the surface is course to the touch, almost like a fine sandpaper. This is confirmed with the shine showing a ‘pebbly’ surface. I am beginning to think that this is a flaw in the color coats being uneven and likely pebbly themselves preventing the gloss from flowing.

I’m still a newb and am trying to learn how to evenly and correctly apply color coats. I have had problems in the past with holding the brush too far away when doing large areas and causing the color coat to dry in flight. I thought I had knocked some of this down, guess its not enough.

Does this theory make sense to you guys?

i really only need this good enough to do decals and try some washing to bring out details. After that I’ll apply a flat lacquer again to knock the shine down. Each one of these is coming out better and yet at the same time is a learning experience.

John