In an effort to keep the smell of paint in the house under control, and for ease of cleanup, I’ve been transitioning myself over to Tamiya acrylics for airbrushing. (Not having the success I’d hoped with brush painting though).
I’ve got a question though.
I picked up a bottle of “flat base” and applied it to some cockpit surfaces expecting this to behave like a dull-coat/clear-coat. NOT! As soon as it started frosting over I pulled out an old brush with some thinner & removed it as quickly as I could - disaster mostly averted! Is this stuff not supposed to dry clear? Should I revert to my Model Master rattle cans of dullcoat?
Flat base does do what you expected, but just not in the way you expected. Flat Base is an addative which can be added to Tamiya acrylic gloss paints, or even Future to alter the finish from Gloss down to matt. It gives you some control over how gloss or matt your finish will be, the more you add - the more matt it will become.
I use it with Future to acheive the finish required in the final coat. Swannys models has a usefull article on Future, which also includes suggested ratio’s of Flat Base to Future - I imagine these ratio’s would also be “in the realm” for most other Gloss paints;
To put it simply, Tamiya Flat Base is not a flat clear coat. Instead, it’s an additive which is mixed with their gloss colours (including clear/transparent colours) to make them flat.
It should never be applied directly or it will, as you discovered, create a frosty white effect.
PS: Re Brush painting Tamiya Acrylics
Tamiya acrylics are near impossible to brush paint successfully out of the bottle.
Add about 30% Tamiya thinner, paint without brushing over previously painted areas, leave overnight to cure and repeat.
Ah, the monthly I-ruined-my-model-with-Tamiya-[cnsod]Flat-Base-post! Welcome to the club. You are now a real modeler. Now throw that crap away. I know its advocates will choime in here and praise it mixed with Future, but remember…K.I.S.S. Why mess with two products in a hit or miss mixing, gotta get it just right, alchemic compound when there are many better and simpler products on the market?
No, it’s an additive to paint to make the paint flat. Nice of Tamiya to explain that in their instructions, eh? You know, take glossy paint, make it flat so you then have to add a coat of clear gloss to apply decals! [bnghead]
Better to use Dullcoat from your airbrush, you have more control over the amount you use and you’ll know when it’s fully mixed in the bottle before putting it in your color cup.
Thanks for all the replies guys! I’ll have to re-consider my flattening method.
ajlafleche - now I’m a real modeler? I thought spilling blood to an exacto knife was the entry fee! Mixing two items to get a flat finish does sound a little odd to me too - I’m not that much of a control freak that I need to decide exactly how dull something should be, I’m willing to trust the manufacturers on that one I guess!
The good news: that super flat frosty effect that I stumbled on may be just what I’m looking for on my Storch with a whitewashfinish! You know, if I dare use it again. Yeah, my Japanese isn’t good enough to translate all those little instructions on the bottle, luckily I was sitting there watching, just in case, as I had never used it before.
If you can, raise the relative humidity to at least 50%.
You can thin the paint you are going to use about 30% with Tamiya thinner, or with 90% isopropyl alcohol and a drop of retarder. Be sure to add the retarder to the alcohol, mix thoroughly, and then add it to the paint.
Or, you can keep a small bottle or other container of Tamiya Thinner or the isopropyl alcohol/retarder mixture next to your paint. Dip the brush in the alcohol/thinner before loading it with paint, and before each reloading. You may want to occasionally wipe any accumulated paint off the brush, especially small brushes.
Always paint with a wet edge. Tamiya paints shrink down very snugly to the surface, so don’t be afraid to flow it on.
Clean your brushes with a mixture of equal parts Simple Green, Windex, and water.
Wouldn’t matter. The intructions, as posted on their website in the past, were exactly, word for word, the same as for their regular paint. Apply, wait a certain amount of time before applying the next coat. Not a word about not applying this by itself. I learned this evil of this product back around 1986. And they STILL don’t provide appropriate instructions on its use.
Mixing two items to get a flat finish does sound a little odd to me too - I’m not that much of a control freak that I need to decide exactly how dull something should be, I’m willing to trust the manufacturers on that one I guess!