I’ve been having trouble with my washes. When I use an oil paint wash thinned over enamels gloss coated with Alclad Aqua Gloss I am having issues with the finish. I thin the oil paint pretty well (I have tried white spirit and turpentine), I don’t let it sit very long and then wipe it off with a brush that is ever so damp with spirits. I generally will wait maybe 5-10 minutes (as long as it takes for me to wash a section) before I begin to wipe the wash away. When I am done I tend to have some splotches of paint left behind that was pulled out of the panel lines, and a really sticky finish. I feel as if I’m pulling the paint up (and it tends to look a little lighter afterward).
Am I using the wrong clear coat, do I need an acrylic because the spirit is reacting with the aqua gloss? Is this normal? Everything seems good until I try to start wiping it away. I generally read about folks allowing their washes to sit for an hour or so before wiping off, but I find I have to really scrub in some places if I let it sit too long.
The bottle says Alclad Lacquer on it (and nothing else about type). I saw on a website that it’s supposedly an acrylic varnish. The Alclad website is of course, no help. Either a lacquer or acrylic varnish should be fine with mineral spirits I would think?
Apparently there seems to be some interaction between it and the wash. Some mineral spirits can be “hotter” than others. I know that I have bought “Mona Lisa” thinner from Hobby Lobby for use is oil washes based upon recommendations form fellow modelers on how mild it is. it certainly has less bite for cleaning than generic hardware store paint thinner that I also use.
Thanks Stik, I’ll try to track that one down and give it a shot. I am definitely using the generic hardware store stuff. If need be, does the Mona Lisa work well with any enamel or acrylic clearcoats that I should consider switching to? Thank you!
Like I said, it is pretty mild stuff. I Have not yet had it bother any enamel base colors that have dried and cured for a day or two. But it only works for thinning oils. It is not a good thinner for enamels if you make your washes from them.
Thank you all, I tried the Mona Lisa thinner and it seemed to still react, but much less than previously. I like the aqua gloss, but I think I may experiment with some Tamiya clear next and see where that gets me. I’ve had no luck in the past with micro gloss and PFM (future).
I dunno, I’m using Winsor and Newton. But looking more closely at the aqua gloss label it says it contains mineral spirits, so it would make sense that any type would cause potential issues. I also grabbed a thing of turpenoid, so maybe I’ll give that a try on my “tester” model.
Rob, if the label states “Contains Mineral Spirits” that means you have Gloss Klear Kote. That is a solvent-based clear and will not necessarily provide the acrylic barrier you want to be able to use oils/turpeniod/mineral spirit wash. (although with adequate cure time it might)
It sounds to me as if you are confusing the two products, but maybe I’m missing something.
Again, Alclad’s acrylic clear gloss is ALC 600, Aqua Gloss Clear.
I’ve never been able to get it to gloss up for me. I’d put down 4-5 coats at varying pressures and distances and the only glossy parts were where I had runs or drips. Same issues even after a light sanding with high grit paper to smooth the paint.
That’s an unusual result. Myself and many other modelers that i know swear by it. On rougher Flat paints it sometimes takes a few coats in my experience. But I always get a gloss finish at some point, depending upon the base coat. Very interesting…