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Gauzy Glass Coat and Intermediate Agent


Mike

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Gauzy Glass Coat and Intermediate Agent
AK Interactive


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There was a time when Klear/Future were about the only clear gloss varnishes that people raved about, but since the formula was changed by the manufacturers J C Johnstone in the UK, some people don't like it and some do. Stocks of the original are limited, and going for silly prices, so people look for alternatives. AK Interactive have clearly (sorry – pun unintentional) been doing just that, and have found quite an interesting liquid, which they have named Gauzy.

Firstly, I have no idea where the name comes from, but Gauzy it is, and it is available in two flavours (DO NOT drink it!) with differing properties and uses.


Glass Coat Gauzy Agent
As the name suggests, this is for your canopies and clear parts, which are almost always over-scale, and often not of the highest clarity. The bottle is a stout polypropylene cylinder with a full-diameter screw-cap lid that is initially protected from accidental spillage by a tear-off strip moulded into the lid. It contains 100ml of gauzy, in a form that is well-suited to the shape of most canopies, with insertion an removal facilitated by the wide mouth. The liquid is quite viscous and of a milky consistency, so don't let go of the part you are dipping unless you want to spend the next 5 minutes searching for it with tweezers.

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The fluid becomes clear as it dries, and dipping the parts improves the clarity by flooding all the tiny imperfections in the surfaces inside and out that would otherwise scatter the light. This is due to the self-levelling properties that evens out peaks and troughs on a microscopic scale. You need to drain any large puddles or areas where its surface tension prevents gravity from evening it out, but this can be done with a lint-free paper, or kitchen roll if you're careful. Set the part on a piece of absorbent material, propped up on a cocktail stick or coffee stirrer to aid draining, and then place a clear container over it to prevent dust from adhering.

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When dry the canopy can be masked and painted just as normal, but if it isn't marred along the way by your ministrations, it should remain crystal clear, or at least substantially better than it was. If you make a mistake with painting and want to start again, you can re-dip your canopy to remove the Gauzy, although this will also deposit thin layers of undissolved paint into the bottle, so use it as a last resort, or decant enough for the task to avoid ruining a bottle. Also, don't fall into the trap of passing it through the Gauzy a number of times (like folks did with Klear), as it just dissolves the old layer and leaves you with a new one.

Conclusion - Glass Coat Gauzy Agent
Super stuff in a very useful container that also resists tipping with the attendant mess. It dries to a very strong glossy finish that does exactly what it is intended to – fools the eye into thinking the glazing is thinner than it is. You might notice in the photo that there is a little blemish at the rear of the canopy, which is down to my lack of familiarity with the medium. I left an accumulation without wicking it away, please feel free to learn from my mistakes.

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Intermediate Gauzy Agent
I suspect that Intermediate refers to the viscosity of the fluid, as it is definitely thinner, and not quite as opaque as the canopy dipping variant. It arrives in a more standard Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) container with plastic cap and tear-off retention ring for safety during shipping that you can see in the picture above because it had been opened by then. It is suitable for application by brush or by airbrush, and I have had two successful tests that prove their assertion.

Application by Brush
With little/no preparation I applied the Gauzy to an old 1:72 He.111 wing (the tip), using a 3mm flat bristle W&N "One Stroke" paintbrush, which performs beautifully in case you wondered. One coat gave a sheen that would be suitable for most decaling jobs, although the sheen was a little patchy. After two coats the shine was much more regular and very glossy. Cutting back between coats would have produced a glass-like sheen I'm sure, as the sheen was already good after my slap-dash attempts.





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Application using an Airbrush
The Gauzy can be sprayed without thinning, and goes on quickly even with the 0.2mm needle of my H&S Infinity. One coat gave a satin shine, while two surpassed the shine of the second coat by brush. The first coat was lighter than the second, which was wet, allowing the Gauzy to level itself while curing. There was a little variation in the shine that could have been due to a little accident I had while cleaning the brush, so I then gave it a third coat that went on beautifully. It really is a joy to spray.


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Test Notes
My workshop was at about 25c at the time of the test, and I had been sanding earlier, so there was plenty of dust around, so you'll have to excuse me if there are any motes now trapped in the finish. Clean up is with water, or any acrylic airbrush cleaner (I used the Premi-Air Foaming cleaner for this test), but as with all clear coats, don't be lazy and let it sit for too long, as it will make cleaning up much more trouble. The wing was painted previously with Ultimate Primer to a matt finish, which was buffed very lightly with a piece of kitchen roll.

Conclusion - Intermediate Gauzy Agent
This is my new favourite clear gloss, and I'm only sorry I don't have much more of it. It dries quickly to a high shine when correctly applied, and sprays easily. There's not much more you could want from a clear gloss. Yes, I know I've pictured the canopy version in the shine test, but it's just there to show the reflectivity of the finished surface.


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Review sample courtesy of
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This stuff looks interesting as an alternative to Aqua gloss, which can peel off canopies with the masking I have found. On that subject any chance of trying out some masking over that canopy or is it 'active'?

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Coincidentally, I was just testing it with tape as I was reading your comment. I've tried new (fresh) Tamiya tape on both the canopy and the wing, and there's not an atom of lift or change of texture of the gloss. It really does seem rock-hard, as if it has melded to the surface. I also tried the buffing/flatting test on another wing, and it is tough enough to stand up to it, giving you the possibility of a VERY glossy finish with multiple layers and flatting/buffing in between. A couple of firm smacks with the end of a Gundam Marker (capped) didn't leave a blemish, so it's also strong. It really is quite impressive :thumbsup:

The canopy is the spare clear one from my latest Mig-31 build, so ready for some abuse. I've also left a piece on both the canopy and paint to ensure it'll peel neatly tomorrow too.

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There's very little smell, and I did wonder that, but having used the new formula, I'd say that isn't it. I could of course be wrong... ask anyone! :lol:

The tape test was passed with flying colours this morning, and I wasn't delicate in tearing it off either. The surface seems as hard as nails now... obviously if you used a scalpel or a nuke, you could damage it, but it seems robust enough for handling. I need a crate of this stuff for friends & family :)

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...now, the ultimate test is, does it "work" over a natural metal finish? By "work" I mean, does it alter the finish like Klear/Future does or does it retain the "metal look" as Alclad's Aqua Gloss does?

I'm basically very happy with the finish Aqua Gloss produces, it just isn't very easy to spray in that you have to dial up really high pressure which then introduces all sorts of other problems (risk of pooling, dust and lint sucked into the spray beam etc.). If this Gauzy stuff works as well as described AND works over NMF, I'm sold.

J

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I'm too busy at the moment lads, or I would. Currently (amongst other things) rebuilding a missing tail-plane off my son's resin Beluga desktop model. We think his mum might have accidentally hoovered it up! :blush:

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Great review! I bought some a week back (the shine enhancer) and have tested it only on a few areas of scrap kits but the finish is excellent! It seems to dry very quick, leave no prints or marks if you touch it and goes on nice and hard with a great gloss shine, exactly the same as you have shown. Looks to be a winner if you use enamel paints and want a true barrier between them and oil/enamel washes. Top stuff so far :thumbsup:

For a comparison of gloss varnishes I have used it is better than Johnsons Future/Clear, Gunze aqueous gloss and probably equal too or better than Tamiya clear (with levelling thinner) but doesn't take days to go off fully or fingerprint like that can.

Not tired Aqua gloss or Humbrol Klear so no comparison with those or tried it over a NMF yet.

David.

edit, this is only applied by brush so far.

Edited by mirageiv
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After saying I was too busy to do an Alclad test, guess what? I did an Alclad test. My son's missing tail plane has a metallic horizontal component to the elevator, so I sprayed some Aluminium over it, and 10 minutes later I gave it a good wet coat of Gauzy with no reaction whatsoever. 10 minutes later I decided that the Aluminium was too dark, so I gave it an overspray of White Aluminium over the Gauzy, with no reaction. A few minutes later I then sealed in the lighter shade with Gauzy... Yep. No reaction. This stuff is awesome ^_^

Colin - Alclad Aqua Gloss is 120ml, Intermediate Gauzy is 100ml, so not a massive difference in size. I see Aqua Gloss on sale for £5 on eBay, and Gauzy for €5.95 from AK, which is about the same price give or take? Gauzy is quicker drying, tougher and more forgiving if you spray it on thick. It's also easier to get a high gloss shine with it. I'm sold :)

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Looks to be a winner if you use enamel paints and want a true barrier between them and oil/enamel washes. Top stuff so far :thumbsup:

So, sorry to come into this discussion late - but does the above mean this is only to be used with enamel paints? For someone like me who uses acrylic exclusively would this be a lost cause?

I am using Windsor and Newton Gloss Varnish at the moment, which is fine, but doesnt give a really glossy finish like this does, so I am kind of still struggling to find the right gloss coat for me :(

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With NMF, what I wanted to find out was whether the application of the Gauzy Coat alters the appearance of the metal finish. When you apply stuff like Klear over NMF the finish changes and it appears more like Aluminium paint, like HSS for instance. It doesn't matter how glossy or not the resulting finish is, it's must have something to do with how the light is refractured and reflected (or scattered) between the varnish and the metal flakes of your NMF.

The big selling point for Alclad Aqua Gloss is that this doesn't happen. The metal still looks like metal after the application, there's hardly any change in appearance only that you can now seal your decals in and apply oil weathering without ruining your NMF.

The big question is, how does "Gauzy" fair here?

J

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Mike

How long did you give between airbrushing coats of the Intermediate Gauzy Agent and what was the PSI? Thanks in advance

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I had a go with this tonight, this time by airbrush and simply couldn't get it to go down properly. I don't know what the heck I'm doing wrong (15 psi and 0.2 needle as recommended) but I keep getting pooling or orange peel. I've tried it over Tamiya acrylics and Revell enamels, both buffed a little but got the same result.

After a very light initial layer, which looks pretty matt, I did another after waiting about 10 mins then a wet coat. The wet coat I think dissolved the initial matt-ish layer(s) then began pooling all over the place as if spraying water over a very glossy surface. I know I'm doing something wrong given what Mike has shown can be done with the stuff but I've tried various pressures and larger needles, longer and shorter times before over coating but still the same result :shrug: . I'm finding it much harder to spray than future/klear which I've always found a little tricky.

I also brushed some over Alclad polished aluminium and airframe aluminium and it seems to not really affect the metallic sheen of the paints. It does a little for sure but they still keep their metallic appearance and appear even more glossy. Both Alclads were sprayed over a gloss black enamel. Airbrushing over these gave the same, if not worse, as I found with normal paints.

Cheers,

David.

edit, by brush it is awesome!

Also I only have the 'green shine enhancer' and dipped some canopies in that to test. The canopies were pretty good quality before the dip and it seemed to actually make them slightly more textured and less clear, certainly no where near as good as the old Johnsons Klear. This however may have a slightly different formula (I'd doubt it imho) or the lower viscosity may be the reason for it not working too great compared to the dedicated 'glass coat agent'.

Edited by mirageiv
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Looks like it may have something in it which softens the initial coats underneath, Alclad aqua gloss doesn't do this once one coat is dry the other never effects the previous.

Looks like you may have to build it up with light coats and not go to heavy with wet coats to get a nice gloss without pooling

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  • 3 weeks later...

I don't consider myself a maestro with the airbrush, and even less so with clear gloss coats, but I found airbrushing this stuff incredibly easy to do, and I did no preparation before application other than blowing off any dust from my test pieces. I also got a nice glossy finish with fewer coats than ever with Klear, and it is rock'ard after spraying. I've shown the finished parts to a few of the crew that have visited since this review was published, and they couldn't believe how nice it looked.

IIRC my first coat wasn't massively wet, but subsequent coats were applied wet, trying to work wet-on-wet to get an even shine. Again 0.2 needle with 15psi working pressure (i.e. press your trigger, wait for the dial to stop dropping, then dial it up to 15psi/1Bar). The paint under it was Ultimate Primer if it's of interest. :)

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry - just seen this.  Spraying gloss varnish on any canopy isn't a particularly good plan, as with the best will in the world, you'll probably end up with frosted canopy.  The thicker stuff (orange tub) is for dipping canopies), while the thinner Green bottle is your gloss coat :)

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  • 1 year later...

Hi,

 

I have just started using the AK Interactive Gauzy Glass Coat (orange tub) for dipping canopies but I'm having an issue with it. The problem I'm having is that as it starts to dry tiny bubbles appear on the surface. Not like the large bubbles that sit on the surface of the liquid in the bottle (I let these disappear before dipping), these are really small. They are not there when first dipped but within a minute or two they suddenly appear. At which point the agent has dried to the point where the bubbles can't be burst with a brush. The plastic parts are clean and the weather is not too hot (20-25°C). I have used Alclad Aqua Gloss in the past with decent results and Humbrol Clear with rather less decent results (both bottles have since yellowed).

 

Mark. 

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@Diggers11 That's an odd one - I'd speak to AK if I were you, as it's not something I've experienced.  In fact, I'd forgotten about having a tub of the thick stuff :rolleyes: (maybe I'm the tub of thick stuff :doh: )

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4 hours ago, Mike said:

@Diggers11 That's an odd one - I'd speak to AK if I were you, as it's not something I've experienced.  In fact, I'd forgotten about having a tub of the thick stuff :rolleyes: (maybe I'm the tub of thick stuff :doh: )

Hi Mike,

 

Thank you for replying.

 

Maybe I need to wick off a bit more of the liquid (while its still a liquid) giving it a thinner coating. Possibly this will allow it to dry a bit before the bubbles appear? Ill try contacting AK to see what they say, although when I tried contacting them before about a dodgy bottle of paint (Meng/AK Steel, solid lump of dried pigment at the bottom of the bottle) I heard nothing back from them. Weirdly both these products was purchased from the same shop at different times.

 

Thanks again,

 

Mark.

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