Hi,

I've returned to modelling after a VERY long time, and have gone whole hog, basically 'All the gear no idea!!'. I've started some test builds and purchased an Airfix kit featuring two Red Arows (limited panel lines,EASYish!) just to get the feel for my new compressor and dual action airbrush.

So i've assembled the kit and eliminated the panel lines and am going for a nice glossy red finish. I've used a car acrylic base coat and have purchased Tamiya acrylics. I'm just using the gloss red to practice.

I've sprayed on the red and it looks really pretty rough, I've read a few threads here but can I confirm the pressure and consistency of the mix? I read milky was the right consistency, is the mix ratio roughly 70/30? 70 paint to 30 thinners?

Should I have sprayed using Matt then used a varnish? Or Johnsons Klear rather than a Gloss Acrylic?

Compressor wise should it be around 25/35 PSI at about 10 inches? or lower at about 10-15 which is what i've sprayed at thus far? I don't have a booth just a dining room.

Any help greatly appreciated

Ps love the forum and the site, sooo helpful

Hi Steve

While I am no expert on glossy finishes, I put in my 2 ct.

The milky consistency is generally considered best and it is up to you to find out exactly what is the perfect mix of colour consistency, pressure (low) and distance .. this can vary with weather conditions and other external influences.

Also important is to spray several (!!!) thin(!!!!!!!!!!) layers. the first should be dusted on --- the colour should dry a bit during the "flight". This will give you some grip for the next layer. Thick layers tend to show some orange peel. The final layer can be a bit thicker and more wet than the previous.

Then you will probably have to sand/polish the surface. Let the colour dry thouroughly!!! I have read from car modellers who leave the kit alone for half a year. This is for laquers .. with acrylics and most modelling enamels you should be fine with 2 days up to a week

Maybe a final clear coat will improve things further...

as I wrote .. I am no expert, so others may know more

best wishes

Steffen

I did a Hasegawa 1/48 A-4F Blue Angel about a couple of years ago that I had some good success with using Future/Kleer.

I first painted the kit with Model Master Blue Angel Blue which is a gloss enamel. I did put it on a bit thick as I knew that I was going to sand it down a bit and then put on a thinner coat and then another thin coat after sanding again. In the process of all of this I tried the Future floor wax after sanding the paint with 1500 (wet). It glossed up just great so I did the whole thing. Then I put on the decals and then another coat of Future. It turned out to be the best hi-gloss paint job I had ever done.

Now I brushed my Future on as I still haven't gotten the knack of spraying it. People have told me that they spray at low pressure straight from the bottle. Try it on a scrap kit before doing the real thing. Practice.

Wow,

Guys thanks for the advice and tips, The Blue Angel is a beauty, cool work!!

I'll give it a go, as I said the kits i'm working on are test pieces at the moment so will try the advice over the next few days. Need to get some of that mega fine wet and dry as well.

Again many thanks, I like it here

I only use laquers for gloss finishes- preferably Tamiya TS paints decanted and used in the airbrush.

But i'm a long time car modeler (and i feel they are still what i'm best at by far), and car modelers are a bit fussy about their gloss finishes for obvious reasons! The reason why you rarely see car model makers use future/Klear is because it's felt that it gives a "toylike" out of scale shine.

I experimented using different paints for car gloss finish over a period of 4 years! I tried everything from enamels (hopeless for me), waterbased acrylics (not great), 2 part polyurethane (outstanding, but too much effort) and finally settled on the Tamiya TS spray paints- used through the airbrush.

One thing i found in common with every type of gloss finish though: you need multiple (at least 3) thin coats, and usually the last one needs to be a bit wetter. And generally you need at least a day between coats or the next one will simply reactivate the last one and give a poor finish.

It just takes practice. For me, getting realistic scale gloss finishes was the single hardest skill to achieve in model making!

Andrew

Then again you can always return to the old school. Wax. Use a good automotive paste wax. Do in very thin light applications. Test on a spare part painted with the paint you used to see if it attacks the paint.

If you're spraying an acrylic, from around 10", it's, probably, drying before it hits the model. I use enamels, which are slower drying, and still spray from around 6". Also, I've always found that gloss paints need more thinners than matt, and I spray at 25psi, never higher.
Edgar