StevenGuthmiller

Just sprayed these parts about 2 hours ago. They were painted with a custom mix of Testors flat enamels, thinned with mineral spirits, and airbrushed yesterday. The white Pontiac crests were brush painted last night with Mr. Hobby "aqueous" white acrylic. (water based) Tonight they were sprayed with a medium coat of Testors #1261 "Glosscote" spray lacquer. No problems whatsoever. One coat of this lacquer over flat enamel will not give you a glossy finish. Just a nice satin sheen, depth of color and the protection of a lacquer over coat......which is exactly what I was looking for in this case. Steve

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No. The regular clear lacquer is cheaper, and apparently won’t cause the same problems that it seems that the extreme does. I probably got a little carried away with my first response on this thread, as it just makes me a little crazy when people speak in absolutes on subjects like this. ”Never use lacquer over enamel” is overall a sound practice, but as with almost all things, it’s not an “absolute”. Although I still have a problem considering Testors lacquers an actual lacquer, that’s what it says on the can, so the extreme lacquer aside, which I confess that I have no experience with, the other Testors clear lacquers are absolutely safe to use over enamels. At least that has been my experience, and I have quite a bit of experience with using it in that fashion. Steve

That could be. I wouldn’t know for sure if there’s any difference between the two. I don’t use any of that “extreme”garbage........just my opinion of course.. ? I guess my solution would be that if you want to use clear lacquer over enamel, just shy away from the “fancy label” and get the stuff that does the job. Steve

Do yourself a great big favor and start learning how to work with lacquer paint instead of enamel. It’ll save you from having to jump through all of these hoops. You can basically spray anything over lacquer. Steve

I don’t understand why everybody has so much trouble using Testors clear lacquer over enamel. I can’t remember the last time that I built a model where half of the parts weren’t first painted with enamel and cleared with Testors lacquer. Testors clear lacquer is in no way, shape or form a hot, automotive type acrylic lacquer. I have no idea what the formulation of the paint is, but I have my doubts that it’s even a lacquer in the normally accepted definition of the word. All that I “can” tell you is that I spray it over enamel all of the time, and by all of the time, I mean very frequently! As a matter of fact, I’ll be doing it tonight over some parts for my current project that were painted last night with flat enamel, and I haven’t even the slightest apprehension about it! Steve

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Thanks guys! Got some paint on the floor mats. I think I'll give them a light coat of clear to seal them, and then the background will get some embossing powder. Steve

I’ve not heard of this happening with enamel. Enamel dries slow enough that any trapped moisture can gas out along with the solvents. I suspect that your problem might have been something else. Steve

I'll be able to put collector's plates on our '05 S-2000 in 2 years. Steve

Yup. That's it. Steve

It's when a hotter lacquer paint, which dries very fast, traps a small amount of moisture in the paint, giving it a patchy, foggy look. Ultimately, the fogging is generally on the surface of the paint, so light polishing or clear coating will eliminate it. Steve

No. I spray inside. But in the winter time in my part of the country, the air is normally extremely dry, whether you're inside or out. I don't have a humidifier, so it's basically just as dry in the house as it is outside. Steve

Exactly. I've had it happen when I'm spraying Duplicolor in the winter time when it's 20 below zero outside with no humidity to speak of. It just happens. But it's a complete nothing burger. Steve

Most of the paint products that Chad mentioned require no thinner. Many of them come pre-thinned and ready to airbrush. Another good brand is "Scale Finishes". Steve

And there's never a need to rush. It's a hobby. It's supposed to be fun. take your time and you'll eliminate a lot of potential aggravation. Steve

This is something that you learn to do religiously when you do a lot of kit bashing and modifying. It's an absolute must in this circumstance, and it must be performed over and over again. My biggest issue now is my tendency to get my tolerances too close while I'm in the engineering phase, and things can fit too tightly once paint has been applied. I personally have to work on that. One of the advantages to doing some weathering on a build is that repairs can be a lot easier to do after painting is finished if the need arises. I've already had to address some minor fitment issues on my current project as the build has progressed, and it's been a lot simpler to deal with them when you can just put a little dirt or grease over them. Steve

Thanks guys!! I spent a little more time refining the floor mats, and I think they're looking pretty good. I added a perimeter "molding" around the mat using some thin styrene strip, plus I used some thinned down ridged styrene sheet for the 3 pointed star. I'll spray the whole thing with a color that matches the rest of the interior and leave the Pontiac crest white. Then I'll use a little bit darker embossing powder to carpet the background, leaving the 3 pointed star and the perimeter the interior color. Should look good. I figure it will add another level of detail to the interior, plus it will cover the majority of the seam between the floor plate and firewall. Steve

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That’s not a bad idea! ? Steve

Thanks guys!! Being as the '64 Bonneville will depict a daily driver of a few years of age, I figured that it would probably have needed a set of floor mats, so I put on my design cap to see what I could come up with. Just a prototype, but I think I'm on the right track. Steve

That's great information! It's good to know that some of our favorite celebrities are just regular folks, and not narcissistic creeps like so many of them can be. I haven't seen "61" yet, but I'll have to find it. Especially since I work at the Roger Maris Cancer Center. Steve

Thanks a bunch guys!! I think I've finally gotten the majority of the little "fiddly" work done! The engine and firewall are installed and The power steering lines, coil wire, battery ground cable, power brake booster vacuum line, and heater hoses are installed and finished. Once the chassis is in the body and mated to the radiator bulkhead, I'll be able to add the radiator hoses, and the engine bay will be finished. Now I'll move on to some more interior work. Steve

Looks like he does it quite close to the way I do. The adhesive is different, (which doesn't matter much) and he used the tea strainer, which I've never found to be any real advantage. Steve

It just seems like extra work to me. I can carpet a floor in a matter of a few minutes with embossing powder. Once you get the system down, it really is one of the absolute easiest operations in building a model car. I think maybe I'll try to do a YouTube video on carpeting with embossing powder sometime. It shouldn't take much more than 30 seconds to make. Steve