How do I get rid of that white "frosty" look??!!

If you cleaned your model with alcohol and didn't give it adequate time to dry, I know exactly what happened.

If you didn't use alcohol, then I really don't know what to tell you. I've never heard of or use "Matt cote". I use Dull Cote exclusively. On occation, my Dull Cote will give me a little bit of a frosty appearance (usually if I apply it too thickly) and if I ever apply anything containing alcohol over the top, it frosts up badly. In both of these situations, I've found that if I allow it to dry for at least 48 hours and then spray it with an additional "thin" layer of Dull Cote, the frostiness disappears.

I don't know if any of this will help with "Matt Cote" and hopefully someone else has additional information.

Thank's foster!

It is Testors Dull cote, I just mixed it up by mistake with the usuale term Matt cote.
I dont really know what happend, 'cause it did'nt happen before. I did'nt clean the model with alcohol because all the pastel chalk weathering was on it. I dont think that it "frosted" exactly where the chalks were.
Guess I'll have to wait these 48 houres, and try again...
If that won't work I'll let you know.

Oh!

You sprayed after you applied pastel chalks? I did that on an armor model about a year ago and have never done it since. Although I didn't get the "frosting" at that time, all my weathering was gone...vanished...disappeared. That's when I learned that except for a few specific applications, you never over-spray pastels after they are applied.

You may have a reaction between the solvents in the Dull Cote and the pastels. I'm not sure. However, it's another possibility thrown into the equation.

Also another thought...Is any of your base paint thinned with alcohol? If so, it may have not been completely dry (all the way through).

Let me know how things turn out. (Also, you can probably get away with adding a light top coat after about 24 hours...it won't hurt anything.)

Enjoy your modeling...

I airbrushed my X-wing with Testors flat clear lacquer after the heavy pastel chalk weathering. I used 4 or 5 gray/black chalk shades on it. Streaks, blast marks, panel variations, lots of chalk. I only did one coat of the clear lacquer. It does not look like there is an overcoat on it. Everything turned out great. The model has been finished for probably 2 years now. So, that's the only way I've successfully overcoated after pastel chalk was applied.

I just looked in the model cabinet and realized that the snowspeeder was done exactly the same way. Both of these models are 100% covered in varying chalk shades then overcoated with that Testors flat lacquer.

One problen could be that there was some water went through your airbrush if you use a compressor or the humidity was very high when you painted.I've had some clear coat go hazy in high humidity.I just let it sit for several days to dry out and gave it another coat on a dryer day.Turned out fine.Good luck with it.

Observation:

There are instances where you can over-spray pastels. If you apply the pastels wet - i.e. using an alcohol dampened brush - you can generally over-spray with minimal effect. Also if you apply the pastels fairly heavily and really "push" the pastels on the surface, over-spraying can be accomplished.

However, in armor building, we frequently apply light "dustings" of various pastels to simulation real dirt and dust. These are very lightly applied and it's been my experience that they will disappear, everytime, with any type of over-spray. The black soot pastel that I apply on the ends of the muzzle is fine because it is applied wet, but everything else is gone.

Just my two cents.

Enjoy your modeling...

ShModeler,

Their are 3 ways that i have heared this can happen. 1st that the clear flat wasen't mixed surficantly and too much of the flatening agent has ended up on your model. 2nd that the humidity was high and water vapour got attracted to the paint particles between your airbrush and model. 3rd that water was mixed with the paint before it left the airbrush. I hope this helps.

chees Trev

HEY,
I have had the same problem on my cars using gloss clear coat. Im pretty sure it is moisture, cuz i sprayed the hood inside and my mom yelled at me for spraying inside so i had to go out ide to do the body. It had rained about 3-4 hours before and was still muggy. I sprayed the body and the top got frosty, but not te sides, which would support the moisture theory because the moisture would have settled on the top. This didnt happen to the hood inside so................You get the rest. For me it dissapeared when i put another coat on.

Randy

I would go for the settling of the dulling agent.

If it pools to much in one spot, then as the carrier evaporates, you get the idea.

It may not be noticeable from the get go.

Wait and apply a fine mist coat after a couple of days.
Keep us posted!
Good luck.

HEY,
Ya when i applied another coat to mine with the gloss clear it dissapeared.

Randy