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Help with Flat Coat


Tato

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Hello guys! :bye:

 

I need your help. I recently start using acrylic paints (mainly Tamiya and Gunze) but I'm having problems with flat coats. I'm using Tamiya's XF-86 with their acrylic thinner, but I just can't get a dead flat coat.

 

When I was using enamels, I used Model Masters Dullcoat Lacquer (with their enamel thinner) and it worked excellent, but I know that I can't use it over acrylics. Does anyone knows if they have a lacquer thinner and which one is it? I was looking in the internet but I'm a little confuse.

 

Also, what do you guys use for flat coats?

 

Thank you!

 

Best regards,

 

Tato  

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Winsor & Newton Galeria matt varnish, thin with deionized water and up the air pressure and don't spray it too wet, thin coats.

I have also used Tamiya X-20A to thin it with good results but others say not to use it.

Edit: Also used Ultimate acrylic thinner today with no problems at all

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I use Tamiya XF-86 myself. Never went for a full flat coat ? I thin it with XF-20A & dust 2-3 coats on very lightly. I get a very good satin coat this way. I imagine if you do several light coats it will flatten out nicely. But don't spray it on heavy, if it pools you’ll get the little white flecks in your finish. 

 

Dennis

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Not sure why you can't use Dullcoat in thin, thin coats. Model Master Flat Clear Lacquer--the bottled version of Dullcoat--was my goto flat coat over several paints, including Vallejo. There's a Model Master Lacquer Thinner for use with their flat, semi-gloss, and gloss clear lacquers..I used all of them. The key is to make sure the paint is fully dry (or cured if an enamel) and to mist on thin coats.

 

In any event, I now use Microscale Industries Micro Flat as it has the flattest coat I've seen. I don't thin it. I use thinned Mr Color Gloss Clear (C46) for clear coats when I need it. I always airbrush thin coats unless I'm putting on a final coat for a high gloss coat (always Mr Color now).

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On 04/12/2018 at 00:48, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I use Tamiya XF-86 myself. Never went for a full flat coat ? I thin it with XF-20A & dust 2-3 coats on very lightly. I get a very good satin coat this way. I imagine if you do several light coats it will flatten out nicely. But don't spray it on heavy, if it pools you’ll get the little white flecks in your finish. 

 

Dennis

Hi Dennis,

 

Thank you very much for your help! In fact I gave the model one more coat and I got a very nice flat coat, not dead flat, but similar. I even like it more this way! But you are right, it seems that the norm here is more than just one coat.

 

On 04/12/2018 at 01:59, dnl42 said:

Not sure why you can't use Dullcoat in thin, thin coats. Model Master Flat Clear Lacquer--the bottled version of Dullcoat--was my goto flat coat over several paints, including Vallejo. There's a Model Master Lacquer Thinner for use with their flat, semi-gloss, and gloss clear lacquers..I used all of them. The key is to make sure the paint is fully dry (or cured if an enamel) and to mist on thin coats.

 

In any event, I now use Microscale Industries Micro Flat as it has the flattest coat I've seen. I don't thin it. I use thinned Mr Color Gloss Clear (C46) for clear coats when I need it. I always airbrush thin coats unless I'm putting on a final coat for a high gloss coat (always Mr Color now).

Hi dnl42,

 

Dullcoat was also my go to flat coat during my enamel times. Never failed and was a very nice dead flat coat. Never knew Model Master had a Lacquer Thinner for their flat coat as I was using their enamel thinner and it did wonders. I'm definitely going to buy some and try it.

 

Thank you!

 

On 04/12/2018 at 12:43, Duncan B said:

Mr Color GX101 is an excellent flat clear coat and can be used over acrylic and enamels. GX100 is the gloss version and it is excellent too.

 

Duncan B

Hi Duncan,

 

Thank you for your help! What's the difference between the Mr Color you are using and the one mentioned above?

 

Tato  

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The GX101 seems like a tougher finish to me but that could be my imagination. I’m not sure why Gunze market so many different clear coats (C46, GX101, GX113 etc) buy I guess there must be a market for them. 

 

Duncan B

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On 12/4/2018 at 3:43 PM, Duncan B said:

Mr Color GX101 is an excellent flat clear coat and can be used over acrylic and enamels. GX100 is the gloss version and it is excellent too.

 

Duncan B

Hey Duncan, are you sure about those numbers? I've got some Mr Color GX112 thats  Flat Clear. I was about to order some GX101 and it came up as this: 

 

http://www.mr-hobby.com/en/itemDetail.php?iId=121

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/183538590804?chn=ps

 

I'm pretty sure OP would get a shock if he dusted his creations in a mist of clear black! FWIW  I didn't notice a great deal of difference between the GX flat versus the ordinary Mr Color flat base (C30) unlike the GX Glosses which are light years better than their Mr Color equivalent.

 

 

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2 hours ago, azureglo said:

Hey Duncan, are you sure about those numbers? I've got some Mr Color GX112 thats  Flat Clear. I was about to order some GX101 and it came up as this: 

 

http://www.mr-hobby.com/en/itemDetail.php?iId=121

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/183538590804?chn=ps

 

I'm pretty sure OP would get a shock if he dusted his creations in a mist of clear black! FWIW  I didn't notice a great deal of difference between the GX flat versus the ordinary Mr Color flat base (C30) unlike the GX Glosses which are light years better than their Mr Color equivalent.

 

 

Oups, sorry about that. I was in a rush and didn’t check the number on my bottle!

Please don’t go spraying clear black all over you latest creations unless you want to!

 

Duncan B

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If you're already using Gunze maybe try their Aqueous flat varnish. I can't remember the number right now. I also use Tamiya and Gunze paints mainly and find this gives a much flatter finish than XF-86.

 

HTH

 

James 

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On 17/12/2018 at 07:45, franky boy said:

If you're already using Gunze maybe try their Aqueous flat varnish. I can't remember the number right now. I also use Tamiya and Gunze paints mainly and find this gives a much flatter finish than XF-86.

 

HTH

 

James 

Hi James,

 

I did try Gunze Aqueos, but I got far better results with Tamiya's XF-86. Maybe is a matter of giving more coats than the only one I was used to.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

Regards,

 

Tato 

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  • 2 months later...

I may sound a bit of a cave man but I often use Wilko's own matt and gloss varnishes thinned down with water and a bit of flo' aid. I use a 0.4 needle on the airbrush and use lots of thin coats and it seems to go down nice. :huh: I do give the airbrush a good clean out straight after.

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