flat paint + gloss clearcoat?

[Constantino]

building my benz SLS, and for lack of options due to stuff being out of stock, I painted the body with tamiya XF56, metalic silver.

I assumed I could just put a gloss coat over it and all would be well... after 2 thin coats fo clear, the finish is rough to the touch, Im wondering if I will ever build up enough of a clear coat that I can then knock it back down and get a gloss from it?

My gloss finishes are never mirrors, thats an art Im still working on, but this is presumably rough because its matte undernieth, its not orange peel or anything, its just... rough. I thought about sanding the silver before clear, but wasnt sure what that would do to it.

Anyone ever tried this? am I wasting my clear coat paint in a futile effort?

[ale-o]

1. NEVER sand metallic paints
2. From my experience it´s better that the base coat is matt so that the clearcoat can stick better to the surface.. so in your case it must be something wrong with the clear or your technique, because you should be able to get a normal gloss finish in the right circumstances.. Maybe you are spraying just from too far?

[turbothirtytwo]

depends on what kind of clear u are using and what kind of aplication u choose. if u have 2k some nice wet coat over flat base shoud be ok, if u are using TS13 or super clear from spray can make som mist coats, sand it down to smooth surface and then wet coats, when u are using airbrush, learn to use it. this is rough explanation to your problem it depends on many factors

edit: wet coat and polishing is the key

[kaho]

Originally Posted by turbothirtytwo

depends on what kind of clear u are using and what kind of aplication u choose. if u have 2k some nice wet coat over flat base shoud be ok, if u are using TS13 or super clear from spray can make som mist coats, sand it down to smooth surface and then wet coats, when u are using airbrush, learn to use it. this is rough explanation to your problem it depends on many factors

edit: wet coat and polishing is the key

A little unrelated to OP's problem, but from what you said about wet coats with 2K and mist coats with Tamiya, is 2K clear less violent to color base than the Tamiya spray cans?

Now a little more related to OP's problem. Since you painted your base with Tamiya XF-56 (Acrylic) I would be extra extra careful about any clear coat whether it is 2K or not. I have done 2K onto XF56 before and anything other than a sparse mist coat caused my XF56 to run away.

[Constantino]

laid down a few more coats and hit it with some 1000grit, little too rough and I burned through on an edge, but overall, seems like its fixing it up. few more rounds and I do think it will get there.

I always struggle with sanding without burning through it. I have some 1500 and 2k, Ill put down a few more coats and try the 2k from here on.

[ChillyB]

You might just be wasting your time. I once painted a model with a Tamiya TS flat paint (some gray that I cannot remember, perhaps TS 66 or 67) and thought I could just clear coat it with TS 13. I laid down coat after coat and the flat paint absorbed it all and never became anything close to a gloss finish.

I started that project over and used a glossier TS gray.

[935k3]

Xf-56 is not a goid choice for body paint. I would strip it with ammonia or 91% alcohol. Prime it with a good primer like Plastikote or Duplicolor and use an automitive touch up paint from Duplicor or try the Rustolem lacquers that Autozone sell for touch up. Check Autozone, Advance Auto, Pep Boys etc. These paints are far better for painting bodies. If you have an airbrush you could use Testor's metallizers in the correct color with a clear coat, they very flat and smooth when sprayed at about 15 PSI. They have a finer metallic(and in scale)pigment.

[Constantino]

I actually used my first jar of metalizer titanium on this for some dash parts.

thought about using it on the body but was not certain if I would have enough...

too impatient to order more

[turbothirtytwo]

if u are sanding paint and specialy softer types its good to have at least 2500,3000,5000 grit sandpaper and always sand under water, offcourse beware sanding edges too much.

@kaho: yes 2k is less violent because it sticks mechanicaly not chemicaly to the surface, I have used lechler 2k and no problems with overspraying tamiya acrylics with heavy coats. now I am using Chemolak (Slovakian paint brand) uretahne clear and it seems more agressive but not that much I cant overspray acrylics. few mistcoats and patience should help always

[stevenoble]

I wouldn't use XF-56 as a body paint. You'll never get a mirror finish with it no matter how much clear you apply or how much you polish it afterwards. It's just simply not a good choice as a body paint. All it will do is soak up your clear like a sponge and suck all the gloss out of it because it is very porous. That is why when you clear it it goes all rough to the touch. You're far better off with TS sprays or a basecoat automotive paint. A lot better option for bodywork painting..

[ale-o]

Originally Posted by stevenoble

I wouldn't use XF-56 as a body paint. You'll never get a mirror finish with it no matter how much clear you apply or how much you polish it afterwards. It's just simply not a good choice as a body paint. All it will do is soak up your clear like a sponge and suck all the gloss out of it because it is very porous. That is why when you clear it it goes all rough to the touch. You're far better off with TS sprays or a basecoat automotive paint. A lot better option for bodywork painting..

What the.. Well i haven´t used xf-56 so far, but i clearcoated a few tamiya xf basecoats before and i can confirm that i always achived a normal, glossy finish and i don´t belive xf 56 would behave any differently, yet alone soak up the clear coat.. Although i have to say that i always used 2k urethane clear which may give better results on this kind of paint as the normal lacquer clear from the can

[stevenoble]

Originally Posted by ale-o

What the.. Well i haven´t used xf-56 so far, but i clearcoated a few tamiya xf basecoats before and i can confirm that i always achived a normal, glossy finish and i don´t belive xf 56 would behave any differently, yet alone soak up the clear coat.. Although i have to say that i always used 2k urethane clear which may give better results on this kind of paint as the normal lacquer clear from the can

But what do you class as a 'normal' glossy finish..?? Trust me there is much difference between a normal 'glossy' finish that you may achieve by clear coating over Tamiya XF acrylics, and a 'mirror like' finish that you can achieve with proper automotive base coats and 2k urethane. I am talking purely about painting body parts. Tamiya XF jars are old and out dated. Paint technology has seriously moved on since then. All the Tamiya XF metallics are seriously grainy and rough and they will soak up the clear coat significantly more than other paints...

[ale-o]

This is the latest project of mine, where tamiya acrylics were used and clearcoated with 2k urethane.. It might not be the best example as the pic is a bit blurry but it clearly shows, for me atleast, a ¨normal¨ glossy finish..

[Constantino]

well I played with it a bit, and to an earlier comment, I was really unhappy with the "scale" of the metallic flake. from a distance and dim lighting, looked nice, up close under direct light, it looked "off".

since I burned through a spot on the hood, I figured, whatever. I stripped it and hit it with the titanium metallizer. I like the color, fits well.

however... after spraying, buffing, and then attempting to lay down a clear coat, I ran into another issue, that Ive had before. Id get spots in the clear coat, not orange peel, not roughness, but spots, like about 1-2mm in diameter, almost like there was oil in the paint... oddly I saw this effect before when I put polyurethane on a dresser I refinished(also sprayed, but with a different spray gun of course)

In that case, I thought maybe I got water drops in the oilbased poly.

but A. I use a moisture trap/filter on my airbrush setup. B. its a water based paint, so I wouldnt think that would cause such an effect anyway...

anyone ever seen anything like this? might hazard a guess to the cause so I can fix it?

[ale-o]

Something like this, called fish eyes?

It is caused by silicone/oil on the surface, in my case it was the compresor which have seemed to mix oil particles into the air but an air filter solved that problem. Anyway i am curious to what you mean by ¨spraying, buffing and clearcoating¨? You mean you have polished the paint before the clearcoat? Like i said in the post before, metallic paints must be left UNTOCHED before clearcoating, no sanding, no buffing.. You used model master titanium metallizer? I don´t know what color you are refering to as being water based but this one is lacquer as far i know.. what clearcoat did you used?
If you realy polished the surface as i asume, i guess the paste left some wax or something on the surface which than caused that effect..