Laquer Question

Hi I am new to modeling and I was curious if it is alright to spray future floor polish over a laquer finish before the final clear coat. Sounds like a stupid question but I put alot of prep work into this car and I don't wan't to mess it up. The paint I am using is a Dark, metallic, Fathom Green from Model Master's Custom Laquer System and I will be spraying the Ultra-Gloss clear that goes with it after the detail painting and decaling.

Hi I am new to modeling and I was curious if it is alright to spray future floor polish over a laquer finish before the final clear coat. Sounds like a stupid question but I put alot of prep work into this car and I don't wan't to mess it up. The paint I am using is a Dark, metallic, Fathom Green from Model Master's Custom Laquer System and I will be spraying the Ultra-Gloss clear that goes with it after the detail painting and decaling.


Why do you want to spray Future on the model before the final clear coat? Is it to aid the fitting of the decals so that they go onto a gloss surface? If the green metallic paint you are using is already gloss then I would just apply your decals straight onto this and use the Ultra Gloss clear over them, no need to apply future at all.However if the green is a flat finish and you need to gloss it up before the decals I would just spray a few light coats of the Ultra Gloss clear and omit the Future altogether.You never know how lacquer clear will react over the Future.

Where in the world did you get this idea?

Testors lacquers are very mild, they are not going to damage plastic.

There is absolutely no need to use Future for any reason. You have the correct paint and the correct clear. Use it!

The paint is a lot flater than the enamels I have used before and I have always been told to spray future onto the surface to be decaled. Like I said this is my first time working with lacquer.

To make a long story short, Future is not compatible with lacquer solvents. If you spray lacquer over Future (or nearly any other aqueous acrylic) you will get a real mess.

If the lacquer base coat (the colored paint) is not glossy enough to reliably apply decals to, then give it a light coat of the lacquer clear. Apply the decals, give them at least overnight to dry, and slowly and carefully apply lacquer clear over them.

Where in the world did you get this idea?

Testors lacquers are very mild, they are not going to damage plastic.

There is absolutely no need to use Future for any reason. You have the correct paint and the correct clear. Use it!

the idea is something that comes from people who makes planes. They often use future as a base for there decals AND for a clear coat. It's a decent solution, but really not good enough if you want a good quality glossy paintjob, and defentatly a bad idea if you're going to put a lacqeur clearoat over it.

the idea is something that comes from people who makes planes. They often use future as a base for there decals AND for a clear coat. It's a decent solution, but really not good enough if you want a good quality glossy paintjob, and defentatly a bad idea if you're going to put a lacqeur clearoat over it.

That´s true, but I believe the main reason to use Future is that is safer than laquers, enamels and etc. Another thing I found out is that most planes (I build models of them also..badly too :lol: ) don´t really have a high gloss mirror-like finish and Future gives a good in scale look to it.

The military model builders usually use Future before decals and washes and then a flat coat, but never ever laquer over that, always acrilic.

Thats my :2cents: (in brazilian reais that´s pretty much worth nothing)

That´s true, but I believe the main reason to use Future is that is safer than laquers, enamels and etc. Another thing I found out is that most planes (I build models of them also..badly too :lol: ) don´t really have a high gloss mirror-like finish and Future gives a good in scale look to it.

The military model builders usually use Future before decals and washes and then a flat coat, but never ever laquer over that, always acrilic.

Thats my :2cents: (in brazilian reais that´s pretty much worth nothing)


well futur is safer than laquers, and plane builders use mostly acrylic and enamel paints for "the body" of the plane, because there's no necessity to polish, but the main reason plane builders use it, is because it's cheap compared to clear paint, it's easy to spray an mostly, because it give's a rather nice shine (like you say, a good scale like look).
But for car bodys it's not really that good, it doesn't polish that well and if you spray it to thick (to give a really deep shine) it starts cracking. Some people use it to dip there clear parts in to give them a nicer shine, but I think you can do a better job with polishingcompound and wax. Altough for small clear parts it's handy.

I think future has it's place.But if you want a serious gloss on a car paint job and one that will last, it's not the way to go.It's not intended as a clear coat as such, it's what it is, a sealer for floors etc.It may be cheap, but a litre of 2K clear, activator/hardener and thinner will last for hundreds of models, so the cost per model is literally pennies/cents and the finish is so much better.