Problems with Testors Lacquer Finish

Now, as everyone here knows, I am no expert, and there might be someone who knows better, but to seek to answer your questions:

1. Yes you normally apply a gloss coat for decalling before any final coat, whether it be gloss or flat or dull, etc.
2. This depends on how comfortible you are with the airbrush. When in doubt, I normally use soft artist's bristle brushes that I buy by the fistfull during any Hobby Lobby 40% or 50% off specials (this week they got a 40% off coupon). I just find I have more control with a bristle brush, and it is a lot less trouble to use then to mix spraying ratios, fire up a compressor and fight clogging and air flow problems, have the mix cup fall off the air brush midway through, and then have more of a mess to clean up then you have model to paint. If an artist bristle brush messes up, I just throw it away and open up a new pack and start with a fresh one They're very cheap at Hobby Lobby.
3. I have used Testors clear lacquer, and I had no problem with it taking the paint off, but if it is not one of the more rugged makes, it can melt a decal, making the colors run, since lacquer is a nasty solvent based product. It's thinner makes great dry cleaning fluid . I use the fingernail polish remover with MEK for brush cleaner when I use lacquers because it is frankly cheaper then lacquer thinner and it does the job.
4. In my opinion, your hobby dealer may have sold you a "slow mover" when he sold you the lacquers, as they are not common or popular (notice the lack of responses to your post),mainly because they are nasty and harder to clean up. My preference is the Testors acrylic clear gloss and flats for decal preparation and sealing since they are made to be compatible with either enamels or acrylics, and do not require any sort of special solvents for clean-up,and Hoby Lobby stocks those as well.

You see, lacquer pre-dates the new modern acrylic paints as the former means of getting a nice hard finish that dried faster then enamel.

Now that you have acrylics, there are attempts among manufacturers to resurrect lacquers, but their uses are very limited, mainly for doping a tissue covered balsa-stick model.

If you still want to try the lacquers, you might try using the clear coat as a base coat before applying the decals, and seek an acrylic dull coat for finishing sealing the decals.

OK?

  Tom T

T_TERRIFIC

Thanks for the tips. I will give it a go using brushes.  I am also going to purchase some Humbrol gloss and flat coat that I saw in the LHS.  And yes I agree about being sold a "slow mover". I have been back several times since I purchased the lacquers, and suprise suprise they no longer have it in stock. I will also try and get hold of the Testors gloss and flats you have mentioned.

Once again thanks for the advice. I will let you know how the finished model looks.

Gary

Looking forward to it

Also, as a sealent, a mix of Future polish is very popular, but being adverse to having to do ratios and then storing the precius mix for further use, and liking to keep things simple for myself, I just use the clear acrylics.

I mean, when I want more clear acrylic, I just pring a Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon off their website, and go down there and get some more.

  Tom T

Hey T

Just a short one this time. Should I do the whole model in Gloss first, put on the decals and then a coat of either gloss or flat or just put gloss on where the decals go? .

Thanks

Gary

modpsych wrote:

Hey T Just a short one this time. Should I do the whole model in Gloss first, put on the decals and then a coat of either gloss or flat or just put gloss on where the decals go? .   Thanks Gary

Depends...

I generally use an acrylic for a "top coat" after painting with a flat  enamel "undercoat" since it dries hard faster, sealing the enamel's surface from fingerprints, etc., especially since usually acrylics tend to be a bit thinner, and can let the color they are painted over "bleed through" more then enamels, and require more coats with no enamel color undercoat. Also, they tend to "chip off" easier, and the enamel underneath helps to make it easier to "touch up".This is especially true with light yellows and whites, and in these cases the acrylic is frequently a gloss anyway.

To keep special weathering paints you may have applied, from getting prints, smears, etc. you may want to coat the entire model with either a gloss or flat acrylic clear to seal it before decalling.

The main disadvantage is that the dull/flat coats tend to "lighten up" any color some since they have a white powder in them for the dull finish, so too may coats of the dull stuff can definately give you a "funny shade" you may not want.

If there are complete large surface areas where there are not markings, I normally apply the desired dull coat I want to those areas, and apply gloss to the sections only where the decal markings are to go, apply the decal(s) with some setting solvent if needed, and let it throughly dry, and then finish dull-coating the decalled areas.

I hope this gives you some options to work with

  Tom T

I read your post about 3 hours too late, having just bought model master laquer finishes and thinner with  the intention of using it as my clear coat before decaling, weathering, etc..  I was looking for a solvent based clear gloss and couldn't find a model master enamel clear coat;  just the laquer.  It sounds like I'm better off using either the Gunze or Tamiya clear gloss (those are the acrylics I'm using), or future for the clear coat over my acrylic base coat. 

But now I'm confused (I mean more confused than normal).  I've been reading other posts that seem to say that it's better to alternate between water based and solvent based coats, and to use an "opposite" type of wash/weathering to the clear coat that it goes on.  I'm thinking that if I use an acrylic clear coat  to decal and weather on, the weathering washes, etc. should be solvent based, oils, etc.  Conversely, if my clear coat is sovent based, my washes, etc. should be water based.  Whew!  Am I making any sense.....?  Oh, one other thing, in my only attempt to use Future as a final clear coat over the decals, the Future turned the decal film yellow.  It worked fantasic as an undercoat--- I should have left it at that.  Any general principles you can explain with regard to the use of solvent based and water based finishes would be greatly appreciated.

TB