AK intermediate gauzy possible disaster help please

[49thStateRT]

So I am in final stages of what was turning out to be one of my best models to date. The Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire. I primed w/ air brushed (ab) acrylic primer then ab painted with Tamiya XF. Fine all good. My best paint job ever. Then I ab'd AK glossy acrylic varnish. All still good. I applied decal and they were nealy perfect, crisp colors, no visible staining from the microsol. At each stage I waited a min 24 hours, after painting I actually let it cure for a week or more. Today I decided to try for 1st time AK intermediate gauzy agent to coat before weathering. I had read on forums it was great to ab right out of bottle. It went on great but I noticed the first coat suddenly slightly showed the microsol trails and faded the decals. I waited a few hours and sprayed 2nd coat. Each time I followed advice and did light passes, never had pooling, was at around 17 psi with a .5 nozzle. Now that second coat is dry to touch and the microsol stains are very apparent, the decals look like crap. I have never had a great model go so wrong at almost the very end. I don't know what went wrong or what to do other than just weather it and spray it with matte and call it done. Should I try a different gloss acrylic varnish over it or is it never going to look right? I do not want to try any removal of the gauzy agent as it will destroy the decals and paint I am sure.

 

[49thStateRT]

Sorry in each case when I said "near perfect" I meant for me ;-)

 

[Ron2]

So I am in final stages of what was turning out to be one of my best models to date. The Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire. I primed w/ air brushed (ab) acrylic primer then ab painted with Tamiya XF. Fine all good. My best paint job ever. Then I ab'd AK glossy acrylic varnish. All still good. I applied decal and they were nealy perfect, crisp colors, no visible staining from the microsol. At each stage I waited a min 24 hours, after painting I actually let it cure for a week or more. Today I decided to try for 1st time AK intermediate gauzy agent to coat before weathering. I had read on forums it was great to ab right out of bottle. It went on great but I noticed the first coat suddenly slightly showed the microsol trails and faded the decals. I waited a few hours and sprayed 2nd coat. Each time I followed advice and did light passes, never had pooling, was at around 17 psi with a .5 nozzle. Now that second coat is dry to touch and the microsol stains are very apparent, the decals look like crap. I have never had a great model go so wrong at almost the very end. I don't know what went wrong or what to do other than just weather it and spray it with matte and call it done. Should I try a different gloss acrylic varnish over it or is it never going to look right? I do not want to try any removal of the gauzy agent as it will destroy the decals and paint I am sure.

I've no idea what went wrong and hindsight is 20/20 but you should always test a new product on a test mule first. I've used gauzy agent before with good results but also had a mishap- cannot remember the situation tho. I haven't used it since.

 

[49thStateRT]

It sounds like others have had issues with it not self leveling if sprayed too thick or too far away or too low pressure or or or. So sad :-(. Will try spraying on a different glossy coat and see what that does, but probably will just enshrine the badness

 

[Ron2]

It sounds like others have had issues with it not self leveling if sprayed too thick or too far away or too low pressure or or or. So sad :-(. Will try spraying on a different glossy coat and see what that does, but probably will just enshrine the badness

Now that you say this I think my issue came about because I transitioned from brush painting to spraying and that's when I had the bad experience. I don't think I had any issues when I was still applying it by hand. I liked the product but have not used it since. I hope it works out for you.

 

[49thStateRT]

Yeah I will never use it again. Funny I forgot I did try it like a year ago but for pre-decal coat, had different issues, and posted about it. Fool me twice. I was liking Vallejo poly urethane but found decal setting solution could cause it to go white in places (maybe not fully cured?)

 

[Ron2]

Yeah I will never use it again. Funny I forgot I did try it like a year ago but for pre-decal coat, had different issues, and posted about it. Fool me twice. I was liking Vallejo poly urethane but found decal setting solution could cause it to go white in places (maybe not fully cured?)

I'm curious. What do you like about acrylics vs laq? To be honest I've not tried them for spraying and I'm wondering if I should give them a second chance.

 

[49thStateRT]

Do you mean for painting not varnish? Or do you mean acrylic water based varnish vs say Mr Hobby brand or Tamiya TS spray can varnishes?

 

[49thStateRT]

As a test, I tried gently rubbing one big roundel decal with a moist lint free pad, and it looked better, until it dried again. Now it looks a little worse than the other one which was not rubbed.

If I were to recoat it, without trying anything else to remove the Gauzy Agent, do you think it will make it glossier again, or will I just see the bad gauzy agent thru the new clear coat?
Would you recommend air-brushing on a) Vallejo water based gloss polyurethane (thinned slightly with Vallejo thinner), b) Tamiya X clear (thinned with X-20A), or c) AK water based gloss varnish (un-thinned as it is very fluid straight out of bottle). I dont want to risk damaging the Gauzy agent, or the decals.

I am here hoping for answers based on more experienced modeler's previous experiences. I know I could test all of this in every possible combination on plastic spoons or whatever but avoiding that is why I posted in a Q&A category. I think I have learned to, in the future, pre-test my paint/varnish combinations though before doing it on the actual model.

 

[Ron2]

Do you mean for painting not varnish? Or do you mean acrylic water based varnish vs say Mr Hobby brand or Tamiya TS spray can varnishes?

Sorry. I thought you said you were using Vallejo acrylics. I did mean water based. I still will use the water based occasionally for painting figures or adding a detail.

 

[Ron2]

As a test, I tried gently rubbing one big roundel decal with a moist lint free pad, and it looked better, until it dried again. Now it looks a little worse than the other one which was not rubbed.

If I were to recoat it, without trying anything else to remove the Gauzy Agent, do you think it will make it glossier again, or will I just see the bad gauzy agent thru the new clear coat?
Would you recommend air-brushing on a) Vallejo water based gloss polyurethane (thinned slightly with Vallejo thinner), b) Tamiya X clear (thinned with X-20A), or c) AK water based gloss varnish (un-thinned as it is very fluid straight out of bottle). I dont want to risk damaging the Gauzy agent, or the decals.

I am here hoping for answers based on more experienced modeler's previous experiences. I know I could test all of this in every possible combination on plastic spoons or whatever but avoiding that is why I posted in a Q&A category. I think I have learned to, in the future, pre-test my paint/varnish combinations though before doing it on the actual model.

I wonder if applying something that would reactivate the gauzy agent would be beneficial but of course you may want to test that first!

 

[Rockin' Rob]

I would try a low proof alcohol. Not the 90% but the 70. Maybe a little bit on a cotton ball. That Gauzy agent can't be that strong

 

[Ron2]

I would try a low proof alcohol. Not the 90% but the 70. Maybe a little bit on a cotton ball. That Gauzy agent can't be that strong

That's a good idea. Maybe try diluting it a little lower and working his way up.

 

[49thStateRT]

I'm curious. What do you like about acrylics vs laq? To be honest I've not tried them for spraying and I'm wondering if I should give them a second chance.

I tried Vallejo acrylics early on when I got back into this hobby two years ago and did not like the tip dry issues. I actually threw away quite a few I bought in an early back to the hobby shopping spree. Then I went all-in with Tamiya X/XF, which I like, but I feel like, because it is alcohol not water based acrylic, it is almost just as smelly as lacquer paint, especially when cleaning the air brush. The AK Real Color line of lacquers has a lot more specific military colors than Tamiya, where you have to do a lot of custom mixes, which invariably wastes paint. I have tried a few MIG Atom and AK 3rd Gen water based acrylics recently as was not happy with them either. They seemed to rub off too easy.

 

[Ron2]

I tried Vallejo acrylics early on when I got back into this hobby two years ago and did not like the tip dry issues. I actually threw away quite a few I bought in an early back to the hobby shopping spree. Then I went all-in with Tamiya X/XF, which I like, but I feel like, because it is alcohol not water based acrylic, it is almost just as smelly as lacquer paint, especially when cleaning the air brush. The AK Real Color line of lacquers has a lot more specific military colors than Tamiya, where you have to do a lot of custom mixes, which invariably wastes paint. I have tried a few MIG Atom and AK 3rd Gen water based acrylics recently as was not happy with them either. They seemed to rub off too easy.

I did not care for MiG paint at all, seemed about the same as Vallejo. From your post I thought you used water based acrylics.

 

[Rockin' Rob]

You see? This is the Dilemma some of us face and I think the solutions right in front of our nose. I love using X and XF and lacquer paints. Sometimes you get a beautiful paint job. And sometimes not, but let's not talk about that. I want to protect that finish with the hardest stuff I can get. I love Tamia rattle can clear and their airbrush lacquer clear. But mostly the rattle can. I want a good coat on there so anything I put on top of that be it enamel or Oils or washes or paint brushes full of paint thinner. I want it impervious. And I just don't think these water-based clears can be trusted on a beautiful finish after decals and everything. Man I feel for you. I hope that alcohol and cotton ball works for you

 

[49thStateRT]

The alcohol (I diluted 90% with water down to around 50%) on cotton swab did not work. Looked good for a bit till it dried up, then it actually looked a little worse. I think I am going to let it really cure then spray on Mr. Hobby rattle can clear gloss coat (I can only find Tamiya clear flat TS cans at LHS)

 

[49thStateRT]

I air brushed on Tamiya X22 clear (60:40 ratio with MrHobby Aqueous Thinner) 15psi. I think it may have mostly fixed it except where the gauzy had pooled (ie did not self level) and then got disturbed by my rubbing it.

 

[49thStateRT]

I may be a convert to just using Tamiya x clear gloss and xf clear flat air brushed on, will see how it ends up.

 

[Rockin' Rob]

Interesting. Then I remember doing coats of polyurethane on shelvings and stuff and sanding it between coats. I would have thought, on a model, if you spray clear on fingerprints and blemishes you're going to see fingerprints and blemishes, only shinier

 

[Edbert]

turning out to be one of my best models to date

I say the same thing every time I break bags! The question (for me) is "how long do I maintain that charade?"

Not totally true, I do realize a general improvement in my builds, I figure if that trend stops, so do I. Just saying I love and appreciate the sentiment, it is what keeps us, nay...ME...going!

 

[49thStateRT]

Here is after the Tamiya X-22 was airbrushed on. Basically fixed most of it. There is still two odd shiny spots on part of the left wing that appeared after 1st acrylic gloss coat and decals, I only really noticed them after the gauzy agent dulled everything but those spots. Even after the x-22 shined it all back up a bit, that spot is still much shinier. It is not super glue. I have no idea what it is but done f'ing around with it.

 

[Rockin' Rob]

Wow! You saved it! And those two shiny spots I wouldn't worry about that. You can cover that up with weathering or even fabricate some bullet holes.

 

[49thStateRT]

All done with it,

 

[BarleyBop]

Looks great - and like the figure for scale!

 

[Rockin' Rob]

Looks great. I'm glad you saved it from the Flak Hammer...

 

[Littlemarten]

I think the best measure of a modeler's ability is how well they recover from disaster—great save!

 

[mcs1056]

I think the best measure of a modeler's ability is how well they recover from disaster—great save!

Do I get half credit for just creating the disasters?

 

[Littlemarten]

Do I get half credit for just creating the disasters?

Only those who try create progress.