A perfect gloss coat?

what I am trying to say is getting and shinny coat vs. using more harsh chemical like lacquer or nail polish. I know since day one that using a solvent clear will give you the best glossy coat but its the chemical that bugs me, thats where the conscience falls. but finally gave up.

"Talking about shinny coat, I really have to share my experience. I have been battliing between shinny coats and my conscience all my life."

So I don´t have to feel that bad about not getting a nice glossy finish. I´m not alone!!!!!!!!! I´ll keep in mind your advice..

A.S.

Nice bike!  I think you may have just won the award for largest spray booth...

What do you thin a urethane with?  And does it have problems going over types of paint (acrylic, enamel, laquer)?  It looks like an interesting test to try out with the airbrush.

I use automotive clear( HB ms high solids $45 for a quart kit) sprayed through a full size gravity gun

make sure the parts are secure or you'll blow them off the work area

before buffing they still have a great shine right out of the gun

the trick here is keeping a proper distance and not 'flooding' the part with too much material.This is a Urethane and can be thinned to spray through an airbrush as well. You can also wet sand and buff this quite easily

here after buffing

Talking about shinny coat, I really have to share my experience. I have been battliing between shinny coats and my conscience all my life. I been building models for 30yrs now, and crate for shinny coat for 10yrs. I been using tamiya acrylics 100%, this is my conscience because its less harsh to the environment. Others might disagree, but at least i can use water for the most part to clean up.

I normally can get a good glossy coat just from airbrusing the color, but dust, debris cannot be avoided. So here is the problem, i either clear the imperfection by sanding/buffing and lay another coat of color to see if I have better luck. Or I just buff the color coat to get rid of the dust. The thing is no matter how fine your buffing reagents are, you always get those swirl marks because tamiya acrylics are just too soft.

Same thing with Future. ( I know talking about Future might get into alot of people's nerve, but I just want to share, not being offended here, so please be patient) I have some models coated with Future and set aside for years, so drying is not the problem. And Future is just like tamiya's acrylics, I can even make swirl marks with my bare finger, so buffing out imperfections is also not possible for Future.

So I gave up, I still use tamiya acrylics for body colors, then spray either their own lacquer clear or clear nail polish, and dah dah----beautiful shinny coat. Since the lacquer and nail polish are much harder, I can polish to the point that I am happy with, and no swirl marks. No more worries about pebbly coat, orange peel. Just spray a clear coat on the top and you are good to go.The only draw back is more time on polishing.

Ok here are the photos:

I'd echo what Don said you need to spray it till it looks wet and is about to run. There's always fine grit sandpapers and polishing pastes to use after to get it really glowing.

I will keep in mind all your tips next time I need a gloss finish, they were very useful. I once tried the tamiya clear  ts-13, and luckily I did it on a painted spare plastic part, because as soon as I applied it the paint underneath (a very well cured enamel) started to crack. I think the ts-13 it´s too "aggressive" ; maybe it is to be applied in very thin coats....

I´m working on the photos of the Mclaren an as soon as they are ready I will post them an share them with you.

Thank you all!

A.S.

Don Stauffer

A perfect gloss coat is an exercise in brinksmanship. 

Classic Don, it couldn't be put better.

A perfect gloss coat is an exercise in brinksmanship.  You need to make the layer so thick it is just ready to run.  How do you know it is ready to run before it actually does?  Experience and good lighting.  It helps to see a light reflected in the paint.  The reflection of the light changes appearance as the gloss builds up.

If the finish does run, well, sand it down and make the next coat just a smidgen thinner.

A.S.

Milairjunkie: I agree on what you say and you are right. When you talk about more thinned paint, what ratio do you suggest? I use Humbrol gloscote. ¿Do you sand/polish between coats or put some kind of wax or polishing compound after the final coat?

I don't use Humbrol Glosscote, so I cant really comment on the ratio. Your equipment, working environment & style will also impact on the best thinning ration for you - I would advise doing a small selection of test sprays at differing ratios to find out what you are happiest with.

With regards to polishing, this can be of great advantage after final colour coat & clear coating - but it really depends on how smooth / glossy you can get your colour / clear to lay down in the first place. Again, I would try to find the optimum thinning ration to suit yourself, then do a bit more practice with this & then decide if you want / need to sand/polish.

Before I built my Lotus 25 lat year I had basically zero experience with gloss finishes.  The guy at my LHS recommended Tamiya rattle cans gloss paints.  The green was flawless after 2 coats and the clear was the same.  I decanted it an sprayed through my airbrush but I hear that it goes on fine right out of the can.  The clear is TS-13

Thank you for your suggestions!!

Bill: I don´t have Future where I live, and even tough there should be a similar product here, I think I ´ll have to do some research before trying.....

Milairjunkie: I agree on what you say and you are right. When you talk about more thinned paint, what ratio do you suggest? I use Humbrol gloscote. ¿Do you sand/polish between coats or put some kind of wax or polishing compound after the final coat?

Thank you.

A.S.

Reasonably heavy on the thinners, low on the pressure & close to the subject usually help with gloss. It sounds like your paint is starting to dry to quickly, possibly even on its way to your subject - the paint at the outer edge of the spray "fan" will dry first, as it has further to travel & because the spray fan will typically concentrate paint flow around its center & thin out towards the edges - this may be what you are describing.

Again, well thinned paint used at low pressure, close to the subject will prevent quick drying & should give you enough time to "join up" coats while they are still wet, allowing them to mix / blend smoothly. Laying down a good, smooth gloss coat often benefits from laying down a slightly heavier coat than normal & then laying down your next coat in rapid succession so that your "working edge" remains wet.

Does that make any sense?

I know others will chime in on this but I use FUTURE brushed on some airbrush it and you get a very nice shine from it. You can find it at ace or menards.

Bill