My nemesis, acrylic varnish.

[sailorboy61]

So just completed my little Revell F-16 MLU 100th Anniversary 1st squadron. Surprised how well it turned out considering I used the decals. Yesterday had to face my hated clearcoat. Used Klear but have the same issue with proper clear coats. I seem to end up with either a rough dry finish or flooded with puddles left everywhere. This morning spent sanding back and polishing along with snapping off all those little bits and pieces to feed the carpet monster.

Would welcom any advice on methods, airbrush pressures, thinning and brands of clear favoured by others.

 

Cheers folks.

[Rabbit Leader]

Clear coating seems to be most peoples Achilles Heal, so your not alone with seeking advice to this frustrating question. Now I'll never admit that I get this right all the time, however lately I've had lots of luck with the every day run of the mill Tamiya Acrylic Clears X-22 (Gloss), X-35 (Semi Gloss) and XF-86 (Flat Clear). These are all thinned with their own brand X-20A Acrylic thinner with no scientific ratio used, but possibly 2/3 thinner to 1/3 Clear (very approximate).  

 

All my spraying is done within the 15-20 psi range and where possible completed in cooler climates and in good light. Clears are prone to clog your AB needle quite quickly, so take the time to stop and clean the needle with some lacquer thinner to ensure that your AB is performing at optimum levels. The rough finish you mention 'may' be a result that your using too much air pressure or spraying too far away. This may cause the Clear to 'atomise' before it reaches the surface of the model. The puddle effect would seem to suggest your using too thin a solution and using too much clear in the one application. Just like laying on your paint in two or three coats, Clears may also need more than one thin coat in order to achieve the desired finish you're after. 

 

I don't think there's any magic formula, however once you get it you'll be really glad you found it. The trick then is to consistently apply it!

 

Cheers and good luck.. Dave  

[Smithy]

I've always found that Klear/Future gives a very good finish if brushed with a soft brush as it's self-levelling properties come into play. Saying that though I'm a brush painter. But over the years and on several other discussion  boards I've known quite a few airbrush users who would only use a brush to apply Klear because of the ease of getting a smooth finish without having to worry about pressures and any thinning.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Im using Tamiya XF-86 Flat clear. I thin it using X-20A in a 2/3rds mix, 2 parts thinner to clear. I dust the model with 3-5 light coats, and this gives me a satin finish. Not to glossy but not dead flat either. 

[Steve Noble]

Usually a rough finish is a combination of clear being too thick and/or incorrect air pressure/technique. My first thing to try would be more thinning, followed by experimenting with different air pressures and distance from airbrush to the model..

[malpaso]

I've tried airbrushing Klear, but given up and gone back to painting it on in two coats a day apart with a half-inch flat watercolour brush.  To be honest it's been a better finish than spraying for me.  Gives a nice gloss coat and decals old or new adhere nicely.  It also seems to pull together any hand-brushed touch ups.  One more coat over the decals and you get a nice glossy warbird finish that's not too shiny for real life gloss surfaces.

I struggle a bit spraying matt varnish too, or any indeed any colour that's not much different to that below, such as RAF Ocean Grey over grey primer.  I think I need to improve my lighting, as it's rare I can do much modelling in daytime

Cheers

Will