2 questions about clear coats

I find isopropyl alcohol removes masking tape gunk pretty well.  I ordinarily use enamel paints, and these are not harmed by alcohol.  I don't know whether acrylics can stand it or not.

As far as glosscoating the whole car, it is up to you, and the effect you want.  It will make the transparent areas pretty glossy, but if you are depicting it as a show car, it is possible to get windows pretty glossy.  If you want to depict it in normal use, I'd mask.

Maybe start with soap and water.

Alright, I tried soap and warm water. Doesn't look like it removed the marks. I'm thinking that they may not even be glue residue marks. Maybe the masking tape pulled off a fine layer of paint with it, changing the color of it.

In any case, I'm not pursuing anything further with regards to this issue. Best to leave it as is and hope the clear coat goes on (reasonably) uniform. 

@Don Stauffer

I have iso alcohol, but it's used as a thinner for acrylics, so I don't want to try it. This feels like one of those moments where I better walk away while it's still virtually a non-issue before I make things worse. 

If you haven't already put the clear coat on, use some olive oil and q-tips.  That will take the tape residue off without hurting the paint.  After that you'll just have to give it a soap and water bath to get the oil off and you'll be good to go.

It sounds to me like the paint wasn't fully cured/dried when you masked. And it left the pattern of the tape in your paint, not the adhesive. The only thing you can do with that is scuff it out and put down another coat or two of the color coat. Sometimes I do that anyway just because maybe I want to build more depth to the color or whatever.

Maybe it's just me but I swear tape seems to stick tighter or harder to metal type paints. If that area doesn't feel tacky then maybe it did lift some paint when you peeled it off. I hear what you're saying but clear probably isn't going to hide it. If you're up to it, omg's suggestion is the way to go. 

oldermodelguy

It sounds to me like the paint wasn't fully cured/dried when you masked. And it left the pattern of the tape in your paint, not the adhesive. The only thing you can do with that is scuff it out and put down another coat or two of the color coat. Sometimes I do that anyway just because maybe I want to build more depth to the color or whatever.

 

Eaglecash867

If you haven't already put the clear coat on, use some olive oil and q-tips.  That will take the tape residue off without hurting the paint.  After that you'll just have to give it a soap and water bath to get the oil off and you'll be good to go.

I think I'll try this. It seems like a low-risk option. 

I don't know what oldermodelguy's suggestion to 'scuff' the paint means? Does that mean a light wetsanding to smooth the paint down, or a rough sanding to bring it right back to the plastic and start again?

Either option is a bit too much for my stomach to handle. I've seen guys on YouTube botch paint jobs and start all over again. Jeepers, I don't have the confidence to do that yet. 

@Wingman_kz

I don't mind if the clear doesn't hide it. It's only visible from certain angles anyway. I just afraid the clear will bring it out further.

I'm going to try the olive-oil suggestion. Then, whatever happens, we're moving into clear coat. For now, I've made it a sort-of rule not to backtrack too much with the model work. I'm happier moving forward rather than trying to fix mistakes, unless I'm 1,000% sure I know what I'm doing and can fix it sucessfully. 

ohms

I don't know what oldermodelguy's suggestion to 'scuff' the paint means? Does that mean a light wetsanding to smooth the paint down, or a rough sanding to bring it right back to the plastic and start again?

Either option is a bit too much for my stomach to handle. I've seen guys on YouTube botch paint jobs and start all over again. Jeepers, I don't have the confidence to do that yet. 

It's a light sanding to blend the affected area with the normal area back to a similar texture. Fine grit paper or in my case sometimes I steel wool the surface ( not many still use steel wool but it's cheap and effective plus I always have it on hand for my wood turnings)...  Just me but seems simple enough.

Hi;

      I seee what you are talking about. You have entered a world of a Strange Phenomena: Believe it or not, it is Not Tape residue! Be careful here , because this bugaboo has caused the stripping of many A/C and Car Models for many years.

     What is the Phenomena? It's caused by a transference of chemicals on an atomic level between the Paint and the Tape Adhesive! The Adhesive has a binder. This binder has Phenols in it. Those sit, Unventilated next to the surface long enough that the paint, Still gassing out creates an environment where color elements seperate and float to the paint surface.

     The only thing that will correct this is a misting or .5 percent paint and .95 of paint  Thinner, Mixed with a drop or two of Satin Clear! This is done to seperate the molecules and allow the paint to flow and re-assemble the surface molecules in the open air!

    Remember this always. When you paint models, Well, anything really, paint must gas out. Enamel gasses out from the outside in. Lacquer does just the opposite. Acrylics are like enamel in that regard. Always let your project Gas Out in a closed vented environment free from dust for at least 72 to 96 hours, Minimum!! 

     This applies to ALL types of Paint. Why? There's another consideration. Humidity! This always affects drying time. Thus Gassing out time!

ohms

 

I'm going to try the olive-oil suggestion. Then, whatever happens, we're moving into clear coat. For now, I've made it a sort-of rule not to backtrack too much with the model work. I'm happier moving forward rather than trying to fix mistakes, unless I'm 1,000% sure I know what I'm doing and can fix it sucessfully. 

 

Ended up finding the olive oil method with an extensive Google search because I had a beautiful camo pattern laid down on the vertical stab of my F-111E and the final step was to mask off the tail cap to paint it red.  To my horror, when the masking tape was removed there was residue all the way around the base of the tail cap.  Like you, I wanted to avoid at all costs damaging the paint work that had already been done, so I wanted to avoid using any kind of solvent.

Here's what it looked like after the final clear coats and decals were applied, following the olive oil treatment to remove the tape residue.

Tanker-Builder

Always let your project Gas Out in a closed vented environment free from dust for at least 72 to 96 hours, Minimum!! 

YIPE!!!! And here I thought my 12-24 hours was good enough.

Thanks TB for that mic drop.

@Eaglecash867

Yeah, just under an hour I think before I try it. Fingers crossed...

Yousa usea da olive Oil?

 Iffin I finda da airplane part inna my salata youse an me gonna have ta talk ,ya heah?

 No, really see, trying something new can bring good benefits, be adventurous. There are many things out there that can help us modelers. I wanted to make a ship bottom look grungy( read Marine Growth) I let it sit over a thin layer of lacquer Thinner for an hour, Not in it mind you! The surface got soft enough to use a wire brush and a stipple brush to rough up and grunge the bottom.

    This is something you have to be careful with though. No Screws, Prop Shafts or Rudders were injured in this venture. They were locked up so they couldn't get damaged. I wanted a damaged ship in a dry dock. Used heat and rammed a ship's bow piece of wood into the " Victim" before the plastic solidified. Hung lots of scrap out the hole. Viola'  " Andrea Doria" Type damage. Only this was two Warships! The scrap was shavings and junk from my shop dust pan !

    See? As I've said before try it you'll like it. Methods, Chemicals, Found stuff. Try them all. MODEL ON !

Just an update: the olive oil didn't remove the stains, which confirms further that TB may be right about it being a colour change and not actual glue.

Sorry to read that it didn't turn out to be adhesive residue, Ohms.  I was really hoping it would save all the work you did like it did for me.  I know you don't want to think about doing this, but its still early enough in construction that you could resort to the 91% alcohol bath and a toothbrush to strip it and start over.  I've had to do that a lot lately to correct mistakes I made when trying new techniques.  Sounds like a PITA, I know, but in the end it saves time and you'll be happier with the result I think.

I didn't see your second question about clear coating the windows.  I wouldn't recommend clear-coating them with the rest of the car.  Depending on what kind of clear coat you're using, that could be disastrous.  Some clear coats are lacquer-based and will pretty much permanently etch the clear plastic, destroying its transparent properties.  You also want to be careful about airbrushing any kind of clear coat on clear parts.  If you get any orange peel at all in the clear coat on a clear part, its going to stick out like a sore thumb.  What I usually do is to polish the clear parts with a NOVUS kit, and then dip the part in Pledge Floor Care (Future).  Swish each part around in the Future vigorously to make sure it washes all of the tiny air bubbles away from their surfaces.  When the parts come out, hold them with tweezers and make sure to shake off all of the excess Future to get a nice, even coat.  After the dip, I usually put them on a piece of printer paper (relatively smooth and dust/lint free) and let them sit undisturbed for about 4 days.  Either put the clear parts on last using Epoxy (or Future for the smaller clear parts), or make sure you mask them before any painting or clear-coating is done.  The Future will settle into all of the microscopic "scratches" and swirl marks in the clear plastic and make it much more transparent to the point where it resembles glass.

1) Definitely no need for apologies. I'm sure I'll need that olive oil tip someday. 

Complete bath and strip in alcohol? Yikes! That's a definite no-no. I'm a bit more loose when it comes to these models. I've seen guys on YouTube strip and start all over, but frankly for the cost of the model, I don't think it's worth it. Maybe if I ruined my WETA MOOSE model kit which sells for about a bajillion dollars. With regards to the Delorean, I'd rather just complete it as best I can and order another one. Getting anything more than 3-4 weeks' worth out of your model is good enough in my opinion. 

2) Yeah, the Future floor polish was what I was referring to in the original post (forgot the name, but I see it all over YouTube). I'm sure we have a South African equivalent but I don't know what it is.

I went through about 7 glues a few months ago trying to see which works best. Trying and testing is costly, and also a bit annoying. Maybe when I'm sure I've improved in other aspects will I try looking for a Future alternative locally.

(Heck, in the age of the internet, I could just BUY a couple Future bottles and have them shipped ). But for now, I just want to push on...

There you go.

Keep calm and model on...

ohms

2) Yeah, the Future floor polish was what I was referring to in the original post (forgot the name, but I see it all over YouTube). I'm sure we have a South African equivalent but I don't know what it is.

Here in the States it's called Pledge Floor Care now. They say there are two iterations, one with lemon the other without. Mine has no Lemon. It's just a liquid acrylic floor covering made by a company called Johnson's. It works fine but you want to dip your glass really, not airbrush it. I did a build off with a guy on AMT 1939 Ford sedans and his windshield was scratched slightly. He was going to try and polish that out and I suggested this method to him. He brushed it on though but it looked good from what I saw in the photos. He was really pleased but admitted dipping might have been even better. So I'll leave you with that.