I have just finished my latest built which is a Marder III ausf M. I have almost finished weathering it as well using a tamiya weather master. I just went to my local hobby shop and look for something to seal the weathering. Unfortunately, we don’t have anything local that could seal the job except for mr hobby’s top coat. My question is would it work with it and would there be any other possible alternative to sealing it?
Thanks for the help in advance.
Roy
can anybody help me out?
Use Testors Clear Dullcoat. You may have to put the weathering on a little thick or use multiple applications as a clear coat may fade the weathering.
Krylon also puts out a matte or dull clear coat. However, I think you will find most users on here will agree the Testors does a far superior job. One hint on the Testors is you “MUST” shake it up well or it will come out more matte than dull. It wouldn’t hurt to let the can sit in a bowl of warm (not hot) water right before you use it.
I could give a testimonial as to what may happen if you use hot water![:|]
Try plain old future? Start with a light misting and build it up?
I have always used Tamiya weathering stuff as the final touch and not sealed any of them. They are just fine without sealing in my experience.
I’ll overcoat 'em with one of Alclad II’s clear top coats. Just a few light passes works fine and does not diminish the effect of the Tamiya product.
Thanks for the info guys but none of those products are available here. The saleslady suggested top coat by mr color. Do you think it will work?
If not I guess I’ll just follow what stikpusher said.
The rule of thumb is that one does not seal weathering effects. A coat, matte or glossy, will diminish the effects.
I’m confused. Been using some Tamiya weathering stuff for a bit now, in my experience they come right off on a fingertip. Since I use acrylics, I have overcoated with both Testors acrylic matte and Vallejo matte varnish with no ill effects.
I recall back in my HO days I sealed with Testors rattle can dullcoat, and as mitsdude said, it did diminish the weathering and it (the weathering) did have to go on a bit heavy. I haven’t notice that so much with the two aforementioned acrylic clear matte products.
Just my 2 cents, I’m still just a weathering newbie.
I’m with Stik and Chris-K on this. I don’t seal over Tamiya weathering either. It stays on fine by itself.
@greg, Yes it does happen with me as well. Some of the weathering applied to the model does stick.
@stik and chris-k, I guess a single coat won’t diminish the weathering that much since I do apply a thick amount of Tamiya weathering. Will give you update when I have time to buy and apply the coat.
Thank you for your help and responses
According to Michael Rinaldi, author of the Tank Art series of books, Tamiya’s acrylic thinner is an excellent sealer for weathering powders. I’ve also read people use mineral spirits, which might behave the same way if sprayed on afterwards?
regards,
Jack
@jgeratic Tamiya’s acrylic thinner (or other thinners such as mineral spirits) is an excellent pigment fixer. It does not seal them at all.
@evo Please give us update. I use only the Vallejo matte varnish. If a light matte coat doesn’t diminish the effect of weathering too much, I’d rather seal my models.
Now I am confused as well. Please forgive me for this question. I am a newbie and would like to know what is the difference of a sealer from a fixer. From the way I understand it, their purpose is the same. Right?
@jgeratic. Thanks for the Info. This Tamiya acrylic thinner is the only product suggested here in the thread that is available here in the Philippines. I hope this works.
I was glad that someone suggested this.I would rather choose my build to be sealed than not at all.My only concern is if I seal it with a light coat of the Tamiya Acrylic paint thiner over my model’s acrylic paint coat as suggested by Jgeratic. Would it ruin my paint job? OR do I just seal it over the parts of the model that is weathered?
I highly appreciate your suggestions guys. Thanks for the time.
I have not used Tamiya brand weathering powders, but have used other brands of powders, and chalks, and mineral spirits did nothing to “fix” them; as soon as the mineral spirits evaporated, the powder would rub off as it would when applied dry. Mineral spirits can be used to get the powder to flow into areas. I have never used a fixer produced by the manufacturer of the weathering powder, so maybe they are more effective.
I have yet to find a method of sealing that did not diminish the weathering powder, and have had it completely disappear with a dull coat over it. With extra powder applied, and a very light sealing coat, it can be done. I have taken stikpusher’s advice, and just leave the powder unsealed.
Not sure about thinner over the paint job, but I would be a little nervous about that also.
I experiment a lot on CD cases. I prime them as I would my models, usually a generic brand rattle-can primer, then paint, weather, whatever, and see what affect I get. I also have many kits that have been demoted to “test” kits to experiment on.
Good luck!
That’s odd. I’ve used pastel chalks, AK & Vallejo pigments along with Mona Lisa odorless spirits, MIG fixer, Tamiya thinner, IPA & water as fixers. Once fixers dry, most (more than 90%) pigments stay and won’t rub off.
Did you apply pigments on a matte finish? If not, they will rub off easily.
Very interesting. I will have to go back and try again. I tried with mineral spirits, but have never tried alcohol. I did apply over a dullcoat. I thought alcohol would attack the paint/clear coat, but I enjoy experimenting.
I forgot to mention that I mix pigments and a fixer and then apply the mixture with a paintbrush over a Vallejo matte varnish.
I did an experiment on a junk model. I applied Tamiya weathering powers heavily and then sprayed a Vallejo matte top coat. I’d say more than 60-70% of the weathering effects disappeared. All the subtle effects were completely gone.
Yes, Chrisk is right. If you want to seal in your weathering powders you need a fixer. Mineral spirits (I use Humbrol thinners) work great. Then you can seal over them with a clear coat and not loose as much of the effect.