I've been working on an IHC 4-6-2 and have added some Cal Scale details and today gave the loco and tender an airbrush primer coat (Modelflex acrylic) and then a coat of Model Master acrylic (2/3 engine black flat & 1/3 grimy black). I have limited experience with my airbrush but really appreciate the way coverage can be attained without lots of paint that might detract from details.
I have intentionally stuck to acrylic paints as I feel confident I can readily clean the airbrush very effectively with just hot, soapy water plus a spray of denatured alcohol in the end. So, I would like to finish up the project without using rattle cans such as Dullcote., and without lacquer or harsh (oil based, etc.) solvent type clears unless there is a key reason to avoid acrylic top coats.
That said, I understand that I should add a gloss coat before (and after?) decals. Can that be just in the decal areas? Then, I can finish up with a flat Dullcote equivalent. I would like to stick with acrylics for the gloss & final flat coats. I see I can get both in Modelflex and Model Master.
Any reason not to go with acrylics for the gloss and flat clears, atop my acrylic base coats? Any significant issues with the Modelflex or Model Master types?
IMG_9109 (2) by Paul Ahrens, on Flickr
Any comments are most welcome.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Yes, you want a smooth and 'void-free' surface for decaling, but do not fail to use a Solvaset step after you apply them (we had a good thread recently on what the different decal 'treatments' do and when to use them; follow the wisdom in that).
I would make the surface uniformly 'shiny' rather than spot-finishing because you might see the margins of the 'thicker' area where the spot was applied, and you won't be able to feather it easily after the decals are applied. Same to any 'topcoat' you apply over the decals to hide some of the effect of the decal's own film thickness at the edges.
In my basically armchair-worthless understanding of this, you don't need a topcoat to 'protect' a properly solvasetted decal film other than a good dull coat (which has its own thicker film due to the dulling particulates in it) or weathering-finish film. The fewer and thinner the layers, the better for detail (in my opinion, and I think there are relatively few exceptions to that principle)
Cody uses multiple coats of MM gloss. My first go around with it, I did not and had some silvering. I use multiple coats now.
I haven't painted steam, but for diesels and rolling stock I don't put gloss on roofs, for instance, but I will do the whole side of a freight car or diesel.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I generally don't get too fussy with paint types, and have used Floquil (gone), Polly S (gone), PollyScale (gone), Accupaint (gone but back again) Tamiya (still around) and Scalecoat (still around). Tried Badger once, probably the only full bottle of paint that I've ever thrown away.I still have examples of all mentioned and use them where both paint type and available colours are appropriate. I like Accupaint for the finish it gives when airbrushed, but found it less useable for all but very minor brush work.Floquil was good for its time, but the best overall paint, in my opinion, was PollyScale - equally good for airbrush or brush, good coverage and a durable finish, plus quick drying.I've used Tamiya with brush and airbrush, but haven't used it enough to know its full possibilities, although I hear their their spray-can paint is among the best available.I have mixed Floquil with Scalecoat, with good success for airbrushing. Polly S was Floquil's first attempt at an acrylic, I think, and I found it hit or miss in its coverage, depending on the colour used. I never had success airbrushing it, but did use a lot of some colours for brushwork.
I've used Scalecoat in the past, with good results, but wasn't overly fond of the slower drying time, although the cured paint is very durable. When I paint steam, I preferred PollyScale for its fast drying qualities (and good coverage and durability). This allows me to complete a multi-colour paint job in a single session, without need of masking or worry about marring the finish when handling.However, my colour choices in PollyScale are limited because I've run out of white, so I've started using Scalecoat I for locomotive painting - airbrush and brush.
I'm sure that you have your reasons for wanting to use only water-based paints, but for the small quantities of these chemicals we normally use, I like to suit the paint to the job at hand.
For clear finishes, I have used Floquil's flat and gloss clearcoats when they were available but much prefer Testor's Dullcote and Glosscote in bottles. It can be thinned with ordinary lacquer thinner, and mixed in varying proportions to create anything from dead flat to high gloss, and I use several versions on every steam locomotive I paint.
For decal work, I apply Glosscote over the cured paint, and once decaling is finished, apply another gloss coat - the purpose of this helps to hide the decal, not by the thickness of the application, but by giving the natural glossiness of the decal a gloss identical to the surface on which it was applied. That finish is followed, almost immediately, with a further clear coat of the final finish I want, be it glossy, semi-gloss of some degree, or dead-flat. The locomotive (or rolling stock) is then weathered appropriately to the look I want, or, if the work is for someone else, to their specifications. No clear coat over the weathering.
Oh, and for clean-up of airbrush or brush, I've found lacquer thinner works well for all types of paint, and it's much kinder to good-quality natural bristle brushes than soap and water.
Wayne
Wayne's work speaks for itself, his methods are good.....for him.
Personally I like the "fewer steps" approach.
I use Scalecoat because it dries slower and has a longer open time in the airbrush.
All my attempts at using acrylics in an airbrush ended in disaster, airbrush cleaning disasters.
Scalecoat goes on glossy, ready for decals. Then their flat and gloss clear can be mixed to whatever final finish you like.
My photos are not as good as Wayne's, and there is no weathering, but here is an example:
Sheldon
PS - and for the most part Solvaset is the only setting solhtion I use.
Thanks for all the good info.
I seem to be limiting myself by wanting to use only acrylics, which I believe is water based. I want to be sure I can clean the airbrush nearly prefectly, and it seems easy to dismantle and clean in the garage sink with hot, soapy water and then spraying some denatured alcohol before putting it up.
If cleaning after solvent based painting, how does one thoroughly clean the airbrush? I imagine running solvent through it, but dismantle and clean with a pipe cleaner, then spray more solvent through? If I could get comfortable about that, I would try the suggestions above. I see there are several videos via google.
Solvent based paints dry slower and "cure" slower, allowing more time for painting and cleanup.
As Wayne stated, he uses solvent even to clean up acrylics.
Acrylics are liquid plastic. Once they cure past a certain point, water is no longer a solvent for them.
Running solvent thru an airbrush used with enamel solvent paints is often the only cleanup necessary. Occasionally it may need a teardown and cleaning.
peahrens...If cleaning after solvent based painting, how does one thoroughly clean the airbrush? I imagine running solvent through it, but dismantle and clean with a pipe cleaner, then spray more solvent through? If I could get comfortable about that, I would try the suggestions above. I see there are several videos via google.
For cleaning the airbrush, regardless of paint type, I put some lacquer thinner in the colour cup (I never use it for painting - too small, and needs to be cleaned every time you use it or change colours) then shoot that through the airbrush and, at the same time, spray the inside of both the siphon cap and its pick-up tube. I then run a pipe cleaner through the siphon tube and wipe the inside of the cap with a rag. Next, I refill the colour cup with thinner, disassemble the airbrush, and drop the tip, aircap, and aircap body into the thinner. I then dip the tip of a pipecleaner into the colour cup to pick up some thinner, and push it, from the rear, all the way through the needle passageway, then, from the bottom, up through the paint passageway and out the business end of the airbrush.Next, I use the tip of the needle (or the reamer which comes with the airbrush) to lift the now-clean parts from the colour cup, and dry them with a clean rag.Finally, with the rag around my fingertip, I dip it into the colour cup to wet it with thinner, then draw the needle through it to complete the cleaning process. The brush is then reassembled - it takes less time to do this whole operation than it did to type out the description of this routine. If you do the cleaning immediately after you finish painting, it will never require more effort than as I've described.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL...All my attempts at using acrylics in an airbrush ended in disaster, airbrush cleaning disasters....
Sheldon, my experiences with acrylics were exactly the same, and I tried almost all of the methods which I saw on this Forum when I first attempted to use acrylics, mostly Pollyscale.One day, for some odd reason I decided to look at Testor's website (they had, by that time, acquired the Floquil and Pollyscale brands) to see if they had any recommendations for airbrushing their acrylic products.Where most folks here had supposedly been getting good results using stuff like windshield washer fluid, ammonia, or alcohol as thinners, and spraying at pressures upwards of 35 or 40psi, Testors suggested either their proprietary thinner or distilled water as thinner, and airbrush pressures of 15-25psi.Using those suggestions, where with the others the most I had accomplished was complete plugging of the airbrush numerous times, with nothing actually painted, I painted, in a single session, four dozen Accurail boxcars, multiple shades of boxcar red, simply changing colour bottles as I painted or, altering the colour in-use right in its bottle, with not one incident of clogging, spattering, or other difficulties. Clean-up was as described, and that one incident convinced me of the superiority of Pollyscale over my longtime favourite, Floquil. I had used distilled water from the supermarket as thinner, but after that was used up, I now use water from the dehumidifier (clean the collection bucket before using water from it - some can get pretty grungy).
I use solvent-based paints through a Binks Wren airbrush. For cleaning, I disassemble it. Besides the brush body, which just needs a wipe down, and the bottles, there are only 4 parts. They are easy to clean with pipe cleaners and paper towels.
Ed