Scalecoat II Troubles--Update: 04-23-07

qmiester wrote:

Neptune48, As strange as it sounds, one of the best things for filtering paint thinned for spraying is panty hose.  I was told about this years ago, tried it and it worked - I take a piece of panty hose (from the legs), cover the bottle of thinned paint (secure it with a rubberband) and pour it into the jar I'm going to paint out of.  Now when my wife has a pair of panty hose she can no longer wear, she gives them to me and I cut the legs of and use them.  If you're not married, ask your mom or sister for their old ones or go to a Dollar General store and purchase a new pair (they're 2 pr for a buck locally - just be prepared for some funny looks at the check out stand). That should give you 8 months to a year supply of straining material.

Well...Okay.  As long as I don't have to shave my legs or anything.

I'll check with SWMBO and see if there are any available.  Thanks for the tip.

Bruce

Neptune48,

As strange as it sounds, one of the best things for filtering paint thinned for spraying is panty hose.  I was told about this years ago, tried it and it worked - I take a piece of panty hose (from the legs), cover the bottle of thinned paint (secure it with a rubberband) and pour it into the jar I'm going to paint out of.  Now when my wife has a pair of panty hose she can no longer wear, she gives them to me and I cut the legs of and use them.  If you're not married, ask your mom or sister for their old ones or go to a Dollar General store and purchase a new pair (they're 2 pr for a buck locally - just be prepared for some funny looks at the check out stand). That should give you 8 months to a year supply of straining material. 

tyamada wrote:

Here are links to Micro Mesh Main Micro Mark  has a kit or seperate sheets.  I bought the kit just to see how well the work, got wonderful results. I use decanted Krylon Black for my Alclad 2 base coat.  It dries very fast, is very high gloss and very hard.  I do use automotive white polishing compound and Micro Mesh to ensure the surface is smooth and ultra high gloss.  The base coat you have now can be polished out with automotive rubbing compound and/or white polishing compound.  Check your Automotive parts department/store for the compounds, its cheaper than the modeling stuff and is available everewhere.

I rubbed the kit out last night with Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound and Colgate toothpaste, then washed the parts with diswashing detergent. On a scrap I tested Tamiya Polishing Compound (FINISH) after the rubbing compound, buffed with a cloth diaper, and got a very high gloss.  I think I'll get a tube of Tamiya FINE today and use it under the Alclad.  I'm not certain if the FINISH compound has anything in it that would repel another coat of paint.

Micro Mesh didn't cut the relatively hard Scalecoat surface, and would take a lot longer than the compounds.  I use them to prep the plastic before priming with success. 

Thanks to the help both you and Ross have provided I think this paint job is recoverable.  After all this, I might have to build a car kit.

Thanks again,
Bruce

Here are links to Micro Mesh Main

Micro Mark  has a kit or seperate sheets. 

I bought the kit just to see how well the work, got wonderful results.

I use decanted Krylon Black for my Alclad 2 base coat.  It dries very fast, is very high gloss and very hard.  I do use automotive white polishing compound and Micro Mesh to ensure the surface is smooth and ultra high gloss. 

The base coat you have now can be polished out with automotive rubbing compound and/or white polishing compound.  Check your Automotive parts department/store for the compounds, its cheaper than the modeling stuff and is available everewhere.

Ross,

Yes, it was drying very fast, almost like Alclad.  After painting the model, when I wanted to experiment, I opened the needle valve all the way to get something to flow, and sprayed onto a piece of card.  The paint was very watery (a whole lot thinner than 2% milk).  That's why I suspect over-thinning.

Scalecoat I and II are high-gloss model railroad lacquers.  SC I is for metal and wood, and SC II is for plastic.  SC I is meant to be oven dried, but both are supposed to work with Quick Dry, which is a drying agent as you thought.  SC II is usable on plastic without barrier, and uses a different thinner than SC I, so I assume it's less hot, though still solvent-based.

My main concern with painting gloss, which I really want to master, is in shooting several light coats.  The first light coats always seem to dry dull, I assume because they're more air and less paint.  I lose confidence that later coats will lay down glossy.  Should I just have a little faith and keep going?  If I lay down a wet coat, I worry it's too thick.  At the moment, my overall confidence is shaken, and I feel like a novice all over again. 

Anyway, the satin finish is smooth at least, with no grit or orange peel  It needs to be glossy for the top coat of Alclad II Polished Aluminum. I think I'll let it cure a day or two, buff out any rough spots, shoot a coat of Alclad Clear Gloss Base over it, then move on to the metallic.

Could I trouble you for a little more information on the fine mesh screen?  What do you recommend specifically, and who carries it?

Thanks,
Bruce

tyamada wrote:

The Quick Dry looks transparent amber in its bottle. I have a bottle of S54 Quick Dry in front of me and it is clear(as water) no tint.  Your quick dry might be bad.  If you don't have another bottle of quick dry try mixing a small batch without it and test it on some scrap.  Here is link to a place you can get Scale Coat paints cheaper than the Scale Coat site: Click Here!

Thanks, Tyamada.

I think I'll just order replacement Quick Dry anyway, whether I test the stuff I have.  Thanks for the link.

A few things come to mind:

1. The satin as opposed to full gloss may be due to the apparent problem with the Quick Dry having gone "off," but it could also be due to too little thinner. If a glossy paint dries too quickly after application, it loses gloss.
   
   
2. Do you strain your paint after reducing for spraying? You should. After the paint is thoroughly mixed, strain it through a fine mesh screen. This will remove anything that would clog the airbrush or worse. Inspection of the material on the screen will also alert you to other problems (such as incompatibility or bad paint) that won't be apparent in the bottle or the cup—just on the model when it's too late.
   
   
3. I'm not familiar with Scalecoat. Is their Quick Dry a product to accelerate drying? If so, try using a little less when spraying gloss—see item 1, above. Of course, if the Quick Dry has gone bad, that may be the whole problem.

Hope this helps. 

The Quick Dry looks transparent amber in its bottle.

I have a bottle of S54 Quick Dry in front of me and it is clear(as water) no tint.  Your quick dry might be bad.  If you don't have another bottle of quick dry try mixing a small batch without it and test it on some scrap. 

Here is link to a place you can get Scale Coat paints cheaper than the Scale Coat site:

Click Here!