Clear Coat safe for decals

Hi, SamXp !

Have you tried a coat of Future Floor polish before you aply the automotive clear coat ?

I think that it would seal de decals, avoiding any reaction with the automotive product.

Make some tests in a separate or old piece of plastic, and see what happens...

Usually Future works wonders in fixing and protecting decals.

Good modeling !

 

Eddie

Is the floor polish some type of wax? Will this still allow the clear coat to bond?

I actually did test this clear coat on the cap of the Tamiya Spray Can with a decal attached, and it didn't react poorly at all. I don't understand. One thing I'm thinking, though, is that the decals hadn't had 24 hours to dry yet.

Read through Swanny's Complete Future article. Future floor finish is an acrylic finish and is used as a clear coat. Some people even use it to adhere the decals and even canopies! I swear by it.

I have used Testors clear coat on approx 100 models and it has always worked perfectly and many of them 15 years old or older show no degradation. I use flat mostly however did use gloss on Senna's McClaren F1 Tamiya  model.

It is laquer and it works.

it sounds like you applied too much clear coat in one try,,,,i've made that mistake with Testors dullcoat and got the same result,,,,,future first then a couple misted coats of clear

You absolutely must mist the first coat or to be safe..........the first 2 coats.........then a heavier coat the next day.

Thanks guys. The light mist coat did the trick to protect the decals before following up with a heavier coat. No more dissolved decals. But now I'm chasing an orange peel problem with this Minolta 88CV kit I'm working on.

http://images15.fotki.com/v337/photos/7/730934/3837267/_MG_5571-vi.jpg

The paint is Tamiya Acrylic applied with an airbrush. The clear coat is Krylon Triple-Thick Cyrstal Clear Glaze 0500 (recommended by a Model Maker at work). The first coat was rough, of course, because it was so thin. I laid the second coat on a little thicker, and ended up with major orange peel and even plenty of rough spots. The above picture is after the third coat. I laid it on fairly thick and the orange peel started out even worse than the above picture, before settling into that form.

I'm painting in an air-conditioned room (spare bathroom, with a vent). Is it too cool in the room? (Around 75F) I've heard of heating the part with a hair dryer before applying the clear. Can anyone recommend that method?

Is there a good clear coat I can apply with an airbrush that won't dissolve water-solvent decals?

Thanks in advance.

Funny, I picked up the current Scale Auto (Nice article on how to use rattle cans paint in ABs Matt! ) and there is a recommendation by the editor to NOT use clear coat over decals. I realized that he was strictly an auto guy and had never used Future before. I thought of all the A/C and Armor people who would just laugh their heads off at that advice!

What issue is that Scale Auto? I might see if I could pick it up at the newsstand.

Hey is that water-soluble acrylic Future stuff thin enough to spray with an airbrush?

Scale Auto August 2006 with Multimedia Mopar on the front cover.

Future can be airbrushed easily, some people thin it with windex but I would say most (like me!) just pour it out and spray away! I use Future as my gloss coats on autos and anything I want gloss, and use Tamiya flat base with Future for those that are flat coated. Once cured it is very durable. It is for floors after all!

Bgrigg wrote:

Scale Auto August 2006 with Multimedia Mopar on the front cover. Future can be airbrushed easily, some people thin it with windex but I would say most (like me!) just pour it out and spray away! I use Future as my gloss coats on autos and anything I want gloss, and use Tamiya flat base with Future for those that are flat coated. Once cured it is very durable. It is for floors after all!

Oh ok, didnt' find it at Barnes & Noble, but the LHS had it. Like you said, he doesn't recommend using clear coat over decals due to conflicting compatability issues. He needs to try out this Future floor stuff! I just laid it on with an airbrush straight up, with no thinning, and it went on super easy. And as a plus, the stuff spreads out really well. After laying down a rough first coat, I came back 20 minutes later and the acrylic had laid almost perfect flat, leaving a nice, glossy finish.

Thanks, man!

No problem. Once I tried Future I never went back, ended up giving the last of my rattle can gloss. I have a little bit of Tamiya clear gloss left over which I've used for touching up things like dashboard or instrument panel gauges.

I don't know if you build auto kits, but the tip on page 20 about the body holder is a beaut. Just finished making my version and it's great for holding on to the car bodies!

Jaguar, I have used Floquil Brand  " Crystal Coat " which is perfectly clear like water. When you thin it use Floquil brand thinner only. This stuff never yellows and is especially great on white paint as it never yellows the white over time. Be sure to mist and i repeat mist light coats in a few applications on the markings. Just for some added info on white paint, add a drop of blue to the jar of paint and mix WELL or use a paint shaker. The white will never get and I repeat never get that yellowish cast..