Flat Clear not working

Hmm... the only thing I can think of that gave me a similar problem was not stirring the paint thoroughly enough before use. Did you stir it and/or shake it well enough?

Airbrush it.
Alternative may be Testors Dull coat but it's strong as hell and may eat things if brushed on heavy. For a good flat finish it's my experience the only way to do it right is to spray it. You could rattle can the Dull Coat too but do so with very good ventilation and do it in light passes, not one heavy one.

Good one, Jon. I took for granted he stirred it well.

thanks guys...i feel like such a goof! I shook the paint up a bit, but a layer of goop didnt get mixed in. I quick swirl with a stiring stick fixed that problem. But now I have a new one. My plane is flat now, but it is kinda milky and has white flakes all over! It looks terrible. I dont know how to fix it, and I really dont want to strip it. I have decals on and everything. This was supposed to be the final, sealing coat.

here is what it looks like as of now:

any idea as to what I can do?? Being this close to finishing and f*king it up is rather heart breaking.

OWL

believe me, MM clear flat only works in the airbrush. I tried flattening down a semigloss T-34... Looked like pure gloss! (using a brush)

I have found that the easiest and quickest route is to use the Testor's MM "Dull Cote" in the rattle can, but shake it real good, 5 minutes to be sure, and spray quickly and lightly.  If you get it on too heavy, it will puddle up and run causing the well known "curtain" effect, which will be difficult to clean up without wrecking the finish underneath.  You may need 2 very light coats, maybe not- a little goes a long way.

Sorry I have no suggestions for cleaning up the mess you now have.  I have never seen that happen before.

One possible fix is to let what you have dry, then gloss coat it again until the color comes back and it is very smooth and glossy...then use rattle can dullcoat after you bring it to room temp and shake well...

I have had "dullcoat" go almost white on me before. Not in little spots like that though. The whole area was milky looking, another shot of dullcoat over that took care of it. Just like a clear coat over CA "fog". I think Manny's suggestion will take care of the problem,...but don't quote me on that!!!

Had the same thing happen to my Dauntless, Owl, only I was using Polly Flat. Apparently it's caused by too much flattening agent, and a coat of gloss should take care of it.

Wish I'd known that. I got mine out with some wet sanding. Ended up giving a really great worn/stressed look, too, so hey, new technique in the back pocket!

Alternatively, you could build a diorama with the F-16 parked under a tree stuffed with pigeons

Thanks for the responses. The coat is milky all over and appears to have little flakes in the coat...so a light sanding should hopefully get rid of that? then a gloss clear?

OWL

Thanks Manny, your suggestion worked! The gloss coat brought back the color nicely. I guess I learned the hard way that MM Flat does not brush well.

OWL

CallSignOWL

Thanks Manny, your suggestion worked! The gloss coat brought back the color nicely. I guess I learned the hard way that MM Flat does not brush well.

 

OWL

yeah, I didn't want to use too rough of a sanding at all--I might loose paint and decals. As it were, I only used a 2000 grit sanding paper to get the rough stuff off.

OWL

The wet sanding's definitely something to approach with extreme caution. With the Dauntless, I started with 6000 grit and worked my way down to 1200. But somewhere in my mind I thought it'd be a good idea to spray dullcote over the Polly flat (yeah...), so I had plenty of stuff between the paper and the paint (itself thinned with Future and thus pretty tough).

Wish I'd known about the whole "just put a gloss coat on it" solution...

Hey guys, I just joined the FSM community. This is an interesting post. I just thought that I might pass on some info that helped me in this area. I do use the Testors MM Flat clear in the rattle can. I found that the light passes work best, but the secret for me seems to be getting the can warm before using it. After shaking it a LONG time, I set the rattle can in a container of  warm tap water for a few minutes. It seems to flow out of the can much more smoothly and it really lays out nicely. ( re shake it a little before spraying ) Later,         Bob H.