Peter Collins

Beautiful build - The finish on the silver is really really well done

Looks like a really nice build, Great work

Uh - kind of. If you let whatever coat cure and dry properly then you can varnish with either or version. So if you have done weathering and are happy with it then whatever varnish for whatever effect you want the final to be. So if I am doing a beaten up warbird then I will do a matt varnish, at this point because nothing is going to go on the top of it then it doesn't matter if it is lacquer or water based. As long as the weathering has dried totally then its fine to just cover it in whatever. If you're painting in enamels, I would prime, do the base colours then coat in gloss (doesnt matter the type lacquer or aqua) do your decals then coat in aqua / acrylic varnish (Alclad Aqua Gloss is the one I use) then do your enamel / oil washes (make sure to use a not so hot thinner or it will still go through the varnish! - I use winsor newton Sansador) then seal with whatever top coat you want, so in short: Primer Enamel base coats / shading whatever gloss coat you have - doesnt matter type generally as long as the base coats have properly dried Decals Aqua gloss coat - something like Alclad Aqua Gloss Weather with enamels and oil washes (note the because you used a water varnish you can not use acrylic washes here!) Then top coat with whatever effect you want. Pete

Hi Ron, Yeah it can be a little confusing. I guess it depends if you are picking a brand of paint to work with. Because I have Tamiya and Vallejo for most of my paints its easy enough to work up a routine, but I do have a "mule" in a 1/72 spitfire that had an accident during painting and is now acting as a test bed. What paint brands / varnish brands are you using? Pete

I can only really comment on what I am doing and what I have found - I should caution this with that I have only been modelling again for a couple of months... Everytime I change from one paint type to another I put a clear coat on - even if it is only 1 coat. The only exception is the primer. So normally I go something like this... Mr Surfacer Preshade in Tamiya Tamiya or Vallejo base colours Aqua Clear Gloss from Alclad Decals Aqua Clear Gloss from Alclad Oil wash / Enamel washes by Tamiya / other weathering as I feel like Then gloss/satin or matt gloss depending on the finish I want I always kind of play opposites with the varnishes and paint so if I want to clean it up I can. So if I want to remove all the weathering with Winsor Newton it would take it all off back to the gloss after I applied the decals. I am thinking of playing around with the real colors range and I will ensure the same thing. I have to say that I have found oil washes that I have made myself to be far more effective and friendly then the ones brought off the web, all I am using is winsor Newton Sansdor and some reasonably cheap oil paints from amazon. Mix to however deep or thin I want and then liberally plough it on, leave it a few hours and then wipe off and clean up with more sansdor if needed. If I was painting in lacquer or enamels then I would make sure that I put a clear aqua coat down first otherwise you will never be able to remove the wash from the enamel base coat without removing the base coat in the process. You are kind of playing a "lock in" or "quick save" game with the paint, if you are happy with that stage, lock it in with a clear coat of the opposite type to whatever you are going to do next... I've not had any issues with the compatibility so far and if I have needed to I have been able to clean back as needed quite effectively. hope that helps