old gearhead

Yeah, if it was styrene I don't think I would've run it that high. But resin seems to have a much higher tolerance to heat than styrene. I know first-hand: I had a fire obliterate my model room in 2009. The plastic kits that were in my showcase curled right up. There were resin cars in the same showcase parked right next to the plastic cars; they didn't even warp. The paint bubbled and there was smoke damage, but that was "all." Unfortunately, I had a substantial stash of resin kits stacked right above the fire source and they were incinerated, along with all of my plastic kits. Anyway, I buffed the Ferrari tonight with the initial 4000 grit. The finish flattened right out. Orange peel and rough spots are gone. No burn-throughs (yet). I've always had an aversion to using acrylics for a gloss finish on my car bodies, but the X-22 is working out fine, so far. If it polishes out well it'll become one of my go-tos for clearing, and I'll be more likely to use Tamiya acrylics for automotive color applications as well. As the Tamiya bottle caps claim, and compared to the many brands of acrylics I've sprayed and brushed, they are indeed "Superb." Best regards. PB.

The dehydrator arrived today. It has temp control and a timer. I put the Ferrari in for 3 hours @ 113F, and then for another hour @ 122F (these are default temp settings). It seems to have hardened up to the point that I'm game for buffing. Funny, I don't know if you're familiar with MFH kits, but often (most times) they're resin bodies w/metal hoods and decklids. The X-22 over paint seems to have dried much harder on the metal parts than on the resin body, even before I tried the dehydrator. I'm wondering if the resin retains moisture, or has a chemical reaction, and affects drying(?). Seems unlikely; I build a lot of resin and most paints behave normally on all types. And, the Ferrari body is covered with applications of lacquer-based primers and color coat. You'd think that would seal the deal. Who knows? I'm probably over-thinking this whole thing, now. Getting crazy in my old age. I'm just going to proceed to buff, polish and wax. I'll post the results. Have a good evening!

Only over Testors lacquer primer and color, many moons ago. I'll spray enamel or acrylics over lacquer all day long, but I won't put lacquer over anything but lacquer. Even the Testors enamel that I always thin with lacquer 1:1 crinkled up under TS-13, and that's a "mild" lacquer if I understand correctly. And, that was a wet coat on top of three mist coats of the TS-13; the mist coats didn't affect the enamel at all, but the wet coat sure did! Anyway, let's see how the X-22 buffs out after I harden it up in the dehydrator that's supposedly arriving tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion though, Carl! Have a good evening.

That I used X-20A may explain why my clear coat seems soft, then. Dehydrator is on the way. If that doesn't harden up the finish, so be it. I tried, and I'll work with what I have. I guess if had thinned the X-22 with DNA the finish would have dried harder. Oh, well. Yeah, and it is too bad that the Model Master enamels are gone. Have you tried regular old Testors gloss black enamel thinned with LT? I used that over Tamiya Light Grey primer for the chassis and fenders on a Vauxhall 38/90E (Southeast Finecast metal kit). It went on real well, seems durable, and will not require a clear coat or extensive buffing. I'll give the DNA with X-1 a try, however. The acrylics are so much easier/quicker to clean up than the solvent-based paints, which I won't even run through an internal-mix brush. Lacquers and enamels run through my Paasche H and the Iwata is reserved for acrylics. Thanks again, and have a good day. PB.

Thanks, Dave. I've been thinking about getting a dehydrator in as that I still spray a lot of enamel. What the heck, I doubt it'll hurt to try a dehydrator on the X-22 cleared Ferrari, although it is starting to harden up on its own. And, yeah, I considered just going with toothpaste for the initial buffing, however I've got some orange peal and a few rough spots that need to be smoothed out and so am planning on a pass with 4000 through 12,000 grits, and then a final polish with Tamiya compounds followed by Novus 2 and then a carnauba wax job. Might pass on the Novus 2, though; the Tamiya compounds do a pretty good job. Interesting that you use lacquer thinner to thin an acrylic (X-22). I use lacquer to thin enamel, but have never tried it with acrylics. In your experience, how well does the DNA work with the Tamiya acrylics compared to Tamiya X20A? Is there an advantage to using lacquer and DNA as an acrylic thinner? Thanks again, and best regards. PB.

Maybe you should do the spoon test as Espo (David) suggests. When I tested 2X on a spare car body, it didn't attack the decal I applied per se, but, as I mentioned, the test enamel and decal had a coat of TS-13 over them. The TS-13 attacked the (Testors) enamel but had no effect on the decal. The X2 attacked the TS-13 and really burned into the enamel that was under the TS-13. I can't say if the 2X affected the decal under the circumstances in which I tested it, although I do spray my inkjet decal paper with an acrylic lacquer (Krylon) to seal the decals without harm. Paint-wise, it looks like you're OK with the X2 because you're dealing with lacquer-on-lacquer, but I would test the X2 over some spare/scrap decals, for sure.

Dave, I went ahead and cleared (four applications) with the Tamiya X-22 and it went on fine. The last (wet) coat was applied three days ago and the X-22 still feels "soft," i.e. I would not be comfortable buffing it out in this state. Do you suppose it'll harden up over time? Would a dehydrator help? Or, would a dehydrator even have an effect on an acrylic clear coat? Then again, the finish would be acceptable as is, but that's not he way I roll; I want it smooth and shiny... Funny, I use Tamiya acrylics on most of my (non-metallic finish) aircraft builds and the colors (albeit mostly XFs, but not all) seem to dry hard as a rock Then again, I only gloss clear the aircraft for decal application (so, no buffing) and then go back over with Microlux clear flat (the flattest flat I've been able to find thus far) to seal everything up. Aarrgh! I've been building for centuries! Still no easy answers! Thanks in advance1 PB.

Thanks for all of the replies and input! Yeah, the Future doesn't hold up to buffing at all. I think I'll probably go with the Tamiya X-22. I have plenty of that laying around. David, I tested the clears on a spare-parts body that I painted and decaled like the Ferrari. Chris, that makes sense, then. You'll never have issues with lacquer on lacquer. And, yeah, I was surprised that the 2X didn't eat up the decal. I expected it to. Then again, the decal did have a coat of TS-13 over it (which the 2X attacked). Then again, I seal the decal paper (it's inkjet paper) with several coats of Krylon Crystal Clear, which is what the manufacturer recommends, and I believe it is acrylic lacquer. Certainly smells like it. These decals weren't sealed, though in as that I hadn't printed anything on them. Jim, yup, the Createx is another viable option. Thanks again for all of the suggestions, everyone! I'll post the results. BTW, I did another search for the Testors clear enamel. Not a trace of the stuff in stock anywhere. I know Rustoleum discontinued the Model Master paints, but did they do away with Testors products altogether? I'd hate to see the 1/4 ounce jars go away. PB.

Sorry about the double-post. I don't know how I managed that. Well, never mind anyway. I answered my own question. I tried the Rustoleum 2X on my test body and it looks (and smells) to be an acrylic lacquer. Hot as hell. It even burned through the TS13 that I applied earlier and crinkled up the enamel that was beneath the TS13. Oh, well. It does say "non-yellowing" on the can, so that should've provided a clue (most enamels yellow). I guess I'll go with a pure acrylic gloss (Future). Not sure how that'll polish out, though.

OK. I've been building for just about 50 years and have made every mistake in regard to the finishing of model car bodies imaginable. However, experience tells me that despite my in-depth knowledge of paint (lacquer vis-a-vis enamel vis-a-vis acrylic, and all that), stuff can still happen. So. I'm about to try a product I've never used before. I have an MFH Ferrari '58 250TR that needs a clear coat. Primer is Tamiya TS white primer over TS light grey primer with a color coat of TS Chrome Yellow. No worries there, I would just normally use TS13 to clear and polish. But, I just spent a lot of time masking and then airbrushing Testors Dark Red enamel racing stripes onto that body, and then applying white decal-paper roundels on top of all that. My go-to in this case would be a Testors gloss enamel clear to be on the safe side, but that seems to have become extinct (and, it yellows, despite what Donn Yost says. Right out of the can). I tried misting, and then wet-coating, TS-13 onto a scrapped body with a Scalefinishes enamel finish to which I applied a swatch of the Testors Dark Red enamel and a spare white decal paper roundel. As I expected, the TS13 lifted the enamel on the wet coat (the Scalefinishes and the Testors were attacked, however I could swear I've used TS13 over Scalefinishes paint without adverse affects), however it had no effect on the decal, which I also expected seeing as how I seal my home-made decals with healthy doses of acrylic lacquer, as is recommended by the manufacturer. I read about, and saw, the finish Chris from the "Space Coast" (I assume you're in FLA, Chris) achieved using the Rustoleum 2X Clear Gloss. Chris figures it's an enamel in as that clean up calls for mineral spirits, said it goes on real nice, it obviously polishes out well, etc. So, I figured, what the hell? Let's give it a try! Of course, I will do a test before I use the 2X on my TR. My questions is: are there any red flags about this clear that I should be aware of? I don't mind stripping a body and starting from zero, but I've put a lot of time into this particular car and, frankly, I'm getting old and impatient and have a lot of other projects to attend to. I'd really hate for this one to fail. Thanks in advance. PB.

OK. I've been building for just about 50 years and have made every mistake in regard to the finishing of model car bodies imaginable. However, experience tells me that despite my in-depth knowledge of paint (lacquer vis-a-vis enamel vis-a-vis acrylic, and all that), stuff can still happen. So. I'm about to try a product I've never used before. I have an MFH Ferrari '58 250TR that needs a clear coat. Primer is Tamiya TS white primer over TS light grey primer with a color coat of TS Chrome Yellow. No worries there, I would just normally use TS13 to clear and polish. But, I just spent a lot of time masking and then airbrushing Testors Dark Red enamel racing stripes onto that body, and then applying white decal-paper roundels on top of all that. My go-to in this case would be a Testors gloss enamel clear to be on the safe side, but that seems to have become extinct (and, it yellows, despite what Donn Yost says. Right out of the can). I tried misting, and then wet-coating, TS-13 onto a scrapped body with a Scalefinishes enamel finish to which I applied a swatch of the Testors Dark Red enamel and a spare white decal paper roundel. As I expected, the TS13 lifted the enamel on the wet coat (the Scalefinishes and the Testors were attacked, however I could swear I've used TS13 over Scalefinishes paint without adverse affects), however it had no effect on the decal, which I also expected seeing as how I seal my home-made decals with healthy doses of acrylic lacquer, as is recommended by the manufacturer. I read about, and saw, the finish Chris from the "Space Coast" (I assume you're in FLA, Chris) achieved using the Rustoleum 2X Clear Gloss. Chris figures it's an enamel in as that clean up calls for mineral spirits, said it goes on real nice, it obviously polishes out well, etc. So, I figured, what the hell? Let's give it a try! Of course, I will do a test before I use the 2X on my TR. My questions is: are there any red flags about this clear that I should be aware of? I don't mind stripping a body and starting from zero, but I've put a lot of time into this particular car and, frankly, I'm getting old and impatient and have a lot of other projects to attend to. I'd really hate for this one to fail. Thanks in advance. PB.

I was going to suggest Polk's Hobbies but they went out of business in December. I use to go there as a child in the'60s when they had 5 floors on 5th Avenue, and began visiting them again in the early '80s because they carried Heller, Tamiya, Fujimi, etc. Oh, well. PB.

The only AC Cobra in 1/25 that I can think of is the AMT 289 (I guess it could have even been the 260) Cobra from the early '60s. Excellent kit for it's day and holds up well today. The first issue included the stock steering wheel and Halibrand kidney beans where as subsequent releases did not include those. If it's a 427 you're after, then 1/24 scale is all that you're going to find. The Revell-Monogram was a good kit, as stated, however for some reason fender wells are absent from this kit. Fujimi did a series of 427 Cobras (in 1/24) but I don't know anything about those. PB.

I buy bulk quantites of 30-gauge wrapping wire to use as ignition wiring because I'm cheap and this is just a hobby. The wire is definitely on the heavy side but if installed carefully (cut to prototypical lengths, use wire looms, etc.) it is convincing enough for me.

Like Don Yost says. Although, on the occasions when I have extra heavy orange peel or graininess in the paint I will start with 2400. Go easy with the coarser grits and let the media do the work. It may be due to my heavy-handedness, but I usualy need to go in with polishing compound to remove very fine scratches left behind from the sanding. The compound is applied and rubbed out in straight strokes perpendicular to the direction in which the sanding was performed. After sanding and polishing I go in with Novus #2 polish, which really brings the paint to a shine, and exposes areas where further compound polishing is called for (followed by further application of Novus #2). When I'm satisfied with the finish at this stage the wax is then applied. I use this procedure for finishing clear coat paint jobs as well as naked paint jobs. Keep a rainbow assortment of Sharpies handy for the inevitable burn-through (not so much of a problem with clear-coated paint jobs).