Clear Coat

Triarius wrote:

That depends on what clear coat you are using. A clear coat is essentially a paint without pigment (gloss) or with a type of pigment called a flatting agent for everything of lower gloss. As a general rule, you want anything going through the airbrush to be about the consistency of 2% skim milk. Not everybody does it that way, but you have to find what works best for you. Clear coats are the hardest to "eyeball" viscosity, so it pays to err on the side of too thin, and apply multiple light coats—and try some practice shots on scrap first!

It also depends on what type of paint you are clear-coating and what clear-coat product you were using.

For instance, lacquer (the most common spray-on clear-coat product) can tend to "pucker" if applied to certain types of plastics or enamels.

Then, if you are going to thin it, you have to be careful what you thin it with. If you are going to use an acrylic clear-coat, thinning it with straight rubbing alcohol gets the fastest drying results, but can damage decals if it is too strong.

A good rule of thumb, is to not mix manufacturers when you go from a paint to a clear-coat. For instance, all Testors products are compatible with each other, so you can mix acrylics and enamels in painting a camo scheme, for instance, and finish it off with a Testors lacquer clear-coat product, if you wish. I used to do that before Testors came out with their acrylic clear-coats.

Tom

That depends on what clear coat you are using. A clear coat is essentially a paint without pigment (gloss) or with a type of pigment called a flatting agent for everything of lower gloss.

As a general rule, you want anything going through the airbrush to be about the consistency of 2% skim milk. Not everybody does it that way, but you have to find what works best for you.

Clear coats are the hardest to "eyeball" viscosity, so it pays to err on the side of too thin, and apply multiple light coats—and try some practice shots on scrap first!