Hello all,
I’m preparing to spray a clear gloss coat with my airbrush for the first time, to prep the surface for decals and washes. I will be spraying with Tamiya gloss clear, thinned with Tamiya thinner. The surface is Tamiya flat acrylics.
Any advice on the paint ratio? PSI? How far away to hold he brush?
Also, how long do you let a gloss clear coat dry before applying decals?
Thanks!
Hey, while I haven’t tried that particular mixture, I do use Future or a different acrylic clear gloss to do the same things and here’s how that goes-
I lay them on in light misting coats at slightly higher pressures than for I use for painting. When convenient, I like to allow for a little settling and drying time between coats. If you lay it on in one full wet coat, it’ll most likely run and drip and leave a mess once dry.
In the areas I know will get larger decals I try to be more thorough in making sure the surface is smooth to start with and then lay on a little more gloss than in other areas to help prevent silvering.
I try to let any major paint or clear coating dry 24-48 hours before doing anything else. Once the decals are finished, I’ll seal all that up with another clear coat or weathering layer and let cure.
Some washes will eat through clear coats and affect the paint- I’d test this for yourself on something before committing it to the model.
Hope this helps.
When I don’t use Future I tend to thin clear acrylic gloss and flat at about 3 parts clear to 1 part thinner and sprayed at about 22 psi.
Not over spraying, esp with gloss, is key. Keep it with light, even coats. It is easy to get build-up at the trailing edges of the wings so if you do, try taking a paper towel and just touch it to the edge to wick away the excess. You may need to do that a few times, but it should help.
I’m spraying Future these days un-thinned, being careful to keep it light. It is a little easier to work with if you thin it, but tends to run a bit easier if you lay it on too heavy - which is easy to do in any case.
I have not had a wash eat through a well-cured coat of Future yet (curing a good 2-3 days in a well ventilated location preferably), but I also don’t tend to be exotic with my washes.
Good luck!
It really depends on your airbrush setup, but personally, I’d go with about 1 part clear, two parts thinner, low pressure and work up close and personal.
Airbrushing clear coats can be a little tricky as you can’t really see the depth of the application. One thing you can do is work under a bright light and hold the item at an angle to the light so you can see how it “falls” on the subject. This will help you to see how much is being applied to the surface.
I think Future works better if it is a little warmer than room temperature when it is sprayed. I don’t thin it. With gloss coats light as has been said is very important. You have enough paint on as soon as it gets shiny, no more. You have to have pretty good light at the proper angle to see that.
Suggest a couple practice runs on something you don’t care about before squirting the actual model. I thought I was getting pretty good squirting enamels with my air brush and then decided to do some clear coating with acrylics. Really messed a couple models up. It is very easy to get on too thick and it runs easier than enamels. Good luck!
Chris
Thank you everybody. I’ve tried variations of several techniques on test models (good call Chris!). I’ve settled on the usual 50-50ish ratio, with a little more thinner than paint, and about 18 psi at a slight distance.
One thing I’m finding is the orange peel is pretty rough at first, and then settles down after. I’ve shot Future before and observed the same thing. Is there anyway to tell when you’re done and the paint with smooth out?
Also, I still have slight orange peel after it settles. How can I eliminate it?
Thanks again everybody, this forum is excellent.
Orange peel is generally caused by too low a pressure, incorrect angle of spray or excessive paint application. Try a higher pressure, spraying at ninety degrees to your surface and doing several thin, light coats. If the effect still exists, perhaps a light wet sanding with something in the area of a 2000 grit wet dry paper could knock some of it down.
I have found that if your gloss coat with Future has a little bit of “graininess”, that will not be evident after you apply the final clear flat coat. And, as mentioned, when I have had more of the orange peel effect, wet sanding will reduce that to an acceptable level, again unnoticeable after clear flat.
Gary
Thanks Gary,
I ended up spraying several light mist coats to build up the gloss. However, I’ve run out of the small bottle of Tamiya thinner I have, so I ran out of the mix! I didn’t build it up to a full, smooth gloss. It’s more of a semi-gloss with a little graininess.
Is this finish enough to prevent decal silvering? I have heard of people spraying a semi-gloss varnish instead of a full gloss before decaling. It’s not as important to me that the surface is smooth enough for panel line washes. I’m happy with the preshading.
Thoughts?
I think a lot will depend on the decals too. I try for a really shiny gloss coat, one that is quite reflective. As an old former house-painter, semi-gloss paint was actually pretty shiny as applied to wood trim. I’ve had Future turn out glossy but still have that wee bit of grainy character and had no silvering. Perhaps, as a test, you could try a small decal in an unobtrusive place and see how that goes?
Gary
Thank you all, again. This process has been an eye-opener. I thought after a few months and a few kits I was on top of spraying acrylic with an airbrush, but this has really knocked me back down to earth! I’ve coated my Bf109 with the clear and while it’s not glass-smooth, I think it will be ok.
One final question: once I have applied the decals, would it be OK to spray just the dull coat to seal them? Or do I need to spray another gloss coat first?
As a professional model maker in the U.K. I thought I really had my spray technique with larger spray guns worked out.
I have just returned to airbrushing with a small spray booth and keep getting really bad results.
I thought it was my choice of airbrush but have discovered that my problem has been the lack of a really good lighting system so that I can see properly exactly what I am spraying. If you are RIGHT HANDED the light must fall over the THE RIGHT Shoulder, seems obvious now but I was twisting my models all over trying to make out where the spray was falling. I hope that this will help some people.