Are Dullcotes and Glosscotes only availabe as laquers?

...NO...

Since I've used Model Masters paints for the model I will give the Testor's Acrylic a try.  At this point, this model is about to be used as test ebd for everything and redo another PL Enterprise later.

TESTORS has an acrylic pair. The glosscoat and dullcoat seem to work with everything .      tankerbuilder

I use rattle-can colors about 95% of the time for one (like Gloss Black on a P-61),  two (as in an Olive Drab over Neutral Grey B-17), and even three-color (Mid-1943 USN/USMC Dark Blue/Intermediate Blue over White F6Fs) aircraft camoulfage schemes as well as three-color NATO Armor & Wheeled Vehicle Camouflage... One-color AFV camouflage, like US WW2/Korean War/Vietnam-era OD is perfect for rattle-can painting..

You can also get clear flat and gloss varnishes, acrylic enamels and laquers, and even some that are two-part epoxy-types, with a catalyst that gets added (automotive-quality though, and SUPER expensive. Don't bother with it, because once it's mixed, you have to "use it or lose it" immediately, since it will cure rock-hard in the paint-cup or bottle in about 10 minutes...

That said, Always, Always, ALWAYS test the clear you want to use from a rattle-can over the color-coat before you apply EITHER to your model.. For instance, Wal-Mart's "Tru-Color" enamels don't like Hobby Lobby's "TreeHouse" clear acrylic laquers, for instance..  I lost an AT-6 thataway...  However, the TreeHouse clears (Matte, Satin, and Gloss) work great over Krylon, Hunter's Specialties, and Aervoe Camouflage colors..  

The last two brands are available in outdoorsman/camping/military surplus stores, gun stores (or my personal favorite, the Paint/Flammable Liquids Locker at your local Army National Guard Armory) and closely match the modern US/NATO colors of Olive Drab, Mud Brown, Black, and Sand. Testor's DullCoat and GlossCoat will work too. 

Keep in mind that the thickness of the clear will affect behavior too, and several thin passes are ALWAYS better than one thick pass.  The faster the liquid dries, the less time it has to attack and "krinkle" the main color, plain and simple...  ALWAYS allow the color-coat to fully cure, as you'll run a much lower risk of attacks on the color that way too...  

But you won't go wrong, generally, if you keep the paints "matched", ie; Testor's over Testor's, Tamiya over Tamiya, etc. But test anyway.. 

Don Stauffer

These USED to be lacquers.  Funny lacquers, though.  They would go over Testors enamel without hurting it.

However, the last glosscoat can I picked up has a different label, does not say lacquer, and smells and acts very differently from the old stuff. It took a long time to dry, and did interact with the enamel coats underneath. I am having to sand it down to primer and refinish. I will not use that stuff again until I understand what is going on!

Enamel/Lacquer reactions can be all over the place. Years ago I camoed a gun stock. One of the colors reacted the gloss I used as a protective finish and one did not, same paints and brands of paints. This and other bad experiences over the years have led me to just avoid mixing enamels and lacquers period. What gets on my nerves is it seems pretty hard now to even determine what type exactly a paint is now, especially when it comes to rattle-cans.

These USED to be lacquers.  Funny lacquers, though.  They would go over Testors enamel without hurting it.

However, the last glosscoat can I picked up has a different label, does not say lacquer, and smells and acts very differently from the old stuff. It took a long time to dry, and did interact with the enamel coats underneath. I am having to sand it down to primer and refinish. I will not use that stuff again until I understand what is going on!

There is an acrylic coating that many folks use before applying decals. It is called Future and is an acrylic coating used for floors. You should be able to find it in the grocery store or in the section of Walmart/Kmart/etc. that carries floor cleaning supplies.

It can be airbrushed straight out of the bottle (about $4 for a quart sized bottle) and the brush cleaned out with Windex or windshield wiper fluid (blue stuff found in automotive dept.).

You should be able to brush it on easily.

Afterwards, I spray Testors dullcoat onto the tank to take out the shine.

Thank you all.  since I am one of the rare people it seems without an airbrush system, I will definitely look into all of the suggestions. 

I have enamel gloss and dull coats. But the catch is that I did not get them from a hobby shop. Try looking at automotive supply houses and building supply stores in the spray paints section.

Mustang8376

I might have missed something in all of the articles I have been reading on using glosscote to a model before decaling and then appying the dullcote afterwords .  Got that part, but searching some of the nearby hobby stores I am only finding these in laquers? 

Are these items only available as laquers?

The products with those brand names are laquer based. They work fine airbrushed even over acrylics. Minor touch up can be done with a brush over acrylics as well. If you don't want to use them, there are plenty of acrylic basedgloss and flat finishes. Beware, however, of Tamiya Flat Base. Despite what the label instructions, at least in the old days, it needs to be added to clear gloss or gloss paint and CANNOT be used by itself. There are many of us who learned that lesson the hard way, spome of us even before the widespread use of the internet.

Nathan T

I find airbrushing gloss/flat coats much preferble to spray cans. Model Master acrylic flat is widely available and is the one thing of theirs that i can airbrush decently, (probably because its just general coverage and no need for fine detail work).

Doogs, what Alclad bottle do you use for clears? Is it the "Aqua" kote? How many do they have and which one airbrushes the best?

I've tried Aqua Klear and hate it. Just can't get it to airbrush well.

Their regular KK line includes Gloss, Semi-Gloss, Light Sheen, Matte, and Flat, I really like their gloss, and find mixing Light Sheen and Matte very effective with different ratios depending on how new or battered a particular subject happens to be.

I'm also a fan of Vallejo's varnishes...they go down quite well.

I find airbrushing gloss/flat coats much preferble to spray cans. Model Master acrylic flat is widely available and is the one thing of theirs that i can airbrush decently, (probably because its just general coverage and no need for fine detail work).

Doogs, what Alclad bottle do you use for clears? Is it the "Aqua" kote? How many do they have and which one airbrushes the best?

Mustang8376

I might have missed something in all of the articles I have been reading on using glosscote to a model before decaling and then appying the dullcote afterwords .  Got that part, but searching some of the nearby hobby stores I am only finding these in laquers? 

Are these items only available as laquers?

No.

You can get clear coats in pretty much anything. Lacquer is pretty popular, but you can certainly buy acrylic clear coats (Model Master Acryl line, Vallejo clear varnishes, Tamiya X-22 Clear, etc).

Additionally, Alclad's "Klear Kote" line is mineral-spirits based vs. lacquer.

The Acryl and Tamiya stuff's pretty easy to run down (Hobbytown stocks both, etc), and there's always the internet for the others...

Are you talking about the Testor's/ModelMaster spray bombs?  Those are lacquer based and quite hot in my experience.   I use the MM flat and gloss acrylics all the  time, either as clear coats or mixed into the paint itself.

I find that the bottled stuff is more useful on my bench than say a single-purpose spray can.