revell aqua colour/alclad klear kote

[S5 modeller]

Hi peeps.

Can anyone tell me if it is safe to spray alclad klear kote over revell aqua colour?

I have just sprayed a body shell with the acrylic, and now want to seal the surface ready for decalling, but I don't want to ruin the finish with the clear coat. Does anyone think it will react?

Also is it safe to spray the alclad over the decals without any problems?

I don't actually have any spare decals or kits to try it out on, so was hoping someone might have tried this combination?

If anyone could help I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

Matt.

[Steve Noble]

If the surface is already gloss from the paint then I see no need to "seal" it with any clear. The decals will go onto the gloss paint just fine. Sealing the decals after they are dry is a good idea though. Do you have the Alclad Aqua Gloss clear..?? If so, that stuff is safe over almost anything, even over Alclad Chrome, so you should have no problems over your paint or decals. If in doubt, go with light coats at first with plenty of drying time in between coats, before you hit it with a full "wet" coat..

[S5 modeller]

Thanks steve. I don't have the alclad aqua gloss, yet, only the klear kote. I intend to get some though, as I am soon to be making extensive use of alclad chrome soon.

Matt.

[Tuttle]

Is the Alclad Klear any good though? I am looking and experimenting with it and some other clear coats. Not too successful at the moment!

Tuttle.

[Steve Noble]

Is the Alclad Klear any good though? I am looking and experimenting with it and some other clear coats. Not too successful at the moment!

Tuttle.

It's not bad, but it isn't as good as a "proper" clear in my opinion. No where near as tough or resilient. In my experience most of the so called hobby clears are not that great, especially the acrylic/water based ones. They tend to take an age to dry properly, even though they look and feel dry they can still stay tacky/sticky for weeks and even after that they can still mark very easily when final assembly takes place. After testing many, many different brands of clear I came to the conclusion that it's best to use either auto clears intended for full size cars or lacquer based hobby clears. They dry quick and hard and polish beautifully. The brands I use and would recommend are Zero 2K clear, Finishers Auto Clear, Mr Hobby Top Coat, Mr Hobby Super Clear. It would depend on the paint type you are using them over too because I only paint my colour coats with lacquer type paints. I wouldn't for example use the Mr Super Clear over enamel because it would wrinkle it, so you have to be sure what is compatible with what.