Why can’t I get a gloss finish?

[Plastic_parts]

Hi fellas, here’s one for ya all to ponder..I’ve just come to gloss finish my latest model in preparation for the decals. Applied a coat of quick shine ( similar to clear but easy to get hold of) over xtraclyx and tamiya paints to my horror it dried Matt. I must point out that the quick shine is a few years old but I used it two weeks ago and it was fine. Assuming the quick shine had gone off applied a coat of the original Johnson’s klear from an un opened bottle from storage and again it dried Matt. Assuming again the klear was past it I went to my local model shop and got a rattle can of humbrol acrylic gloss.once home I applied the humbrol gloss and guess what? Yeah you guessed it, it dried almost Matt with a very slight sheen but not quite satin... I’m completely baffled by it so has anyone experienced this before? I certainly haven’t 

[Steve Noble]

Acrylic paints tend to suck the gloss out of clear coats in my opinion. It takes many coats to get a good finish and even then it's hard to get a proper high gloss shine. 

[Mike]

Start off with drier coats and work up to a final wet one once you've established a sheen.  It's a bit of a process, but you can eventually get a nice shine with any clear gloss.

[bmwh548]

Like Mike said: seal the paint with a few mist coats and then start to put down a bit more. It doesn't need to be a mirror finish, you can polish it out to get it glossy.

[Wince]

I use humbrol clear (like klear) and regardless of settings it either ends up like sandpaper or doesn’t dry when sprayed. Brushed on it does give a gloss coat but takes a while to dry (or moments if I stick the model on radiator). But the acrylic does suck the life out of anything. My Vallejo paints can be seen taking on the moisture when sealed....One question, how humid or cold is it in your work space? 

[Plastic_parts]

I usually have to put three coats of klear/quick shine to get a nice gloss finish and all together this model has now had about eight coats of klear, quick shine and humbrol varnish and all I’m getting is satin finish and it’s the same even when going over the xtraclyx gloss paint... I’m really baffled with this one guys....vince the model has been brushed with klear in the living room where it’s quite warm and when sprayed with the humbrol varnish outdoors it’s brought back into the living room to dry.

[The Spadgent]

I’ve said it before but I use Tamiya rattle cans. I did stray but I keep coming back as they are so easy to use and the results are great. The technique of building up layers still stands though.  I use acrylics and yes gloss coats do get knocked back by them. Layer it up. 😍

[Plastic_parts]

Cheers guys....it’s had ten coats now and it’s no different sheen wise but it’s starting to look grubby so I’ll leave it at that, if I can’t get a shine after ten coats I’m never going to get one

[bmwh548]

Well in regards to spraying outside and then bringing the model back in I strongly advise against it. You'll get condensation on the model due to the big difference in temperature which might be the reason for the poor finish.

[Space Ranger]

Experience like yours is one reason I no longer gloss coat a model before applying decals. It is simply unnecessary, as Paul Budzik, a master modeler whose work has appeared in FineScale Modeler, explains: