Dave G.

These are realistic finishes, assuming it's Future clear ? And how did you apply and process it. Nice job !

Well as I stated before, I use the Pledge but not on a model, only my test shoots. But I've never had an issue spraying it. Maybe if I shot it on a larger area I would have trouble. But my real problem is it's floor finish. Then ultimately since most of my models are of old classics era cars, well they were just never clear coated but shot in lacquer or enamel. Now the closest thing to that in acrylic that behaves like a lacquer is Tamiya acrylic because really it a low stink hybrid acrylic /lacquer. You can even thin it with lacquer thinner. The black unpolished 31 Ford fenders I posted in Mikes Createx thread were shot in that. My second approach is to base coat then shoot Tamiya clear or lacquer clear. If done right when polished it's hard to tell the paint is clear coated. People bury their cars in clear, that's why they look clear coated. Duh.

To thin craft paints for hand brushing just put some out on a dish or paint palette and thin with water till it flows off the brush for you. Airbrushing is another matter, water here isn't the greatest solution. Several thinners work but the best I've found is my own which is a spin off of Bobby Waldron's at Genesis Models. He has a video on making that and it's close enough, though he does mis state what alcohol is in Tamiya thinner..

My problem isn't with the application of Pledge/Future, we know it can be done most any old way. My question is will it still be on the car in ten years ? I use the stuff in my test sprays all the time complete with polish, it works and it's not an issue. I airbrush right from the bottle, it's pretty much fool proof, especially if you intend to polish anyway. But my test bottles I spray ultimately end up repainted three times or so and then in the trash lol !

I hope it works out for ya. Pearl maybe won't be as tricky as outright metallic can be.

I've shot base colors in acrylic and messed up in one way or another and went right to the kitchen sink and rinsed it off, blew dried and re-shot it.. Let it dry a day or two and it's three days in the purple pond and scrub it off. It's enough to give up hope on the purple pond lol. I did a body in a base of pearl craft paint, topped with Liquitex Soft Body artist acrylic topped with clear lacquer a couple of years ago. A few months later I decided I didn't like the color and dumped it in the purple pond, it took 5 days to get it really going and then some parts I used the back side of a butter knife to scrape it off. Went pretty easy that way. Just sayin. I hate reshooting hoods alone, especially in metallics, seems they never match the original shooting. Then you got this bozo hood sticking out like a sore thumb. So I tend to combine the hood with body and shoot down on the whole thing, let the sides blend in. Then it matches at least in a convincing way..

Dunk a Createx painted spoon under a faucet= instant answer. Any acrylic paint I've used,once it's dried, is essentially water proof. You can wash it right off in water till it dries though. I suspect Createx is no different but a simple test would tell you for sure.

Thanks Jeff.

I've never used the 2X clear but have used the Rustoleum clear lacquer. And already mentioned scuffing with steel wool that I use in my wood working anyway. What substance is 2X clear anyway ( what's it's base, lacquer, acrylic etc.)

It's always nice to walk into a store and go home with something lol. Sounds like you have a choice to make which store you go to.

Both your questions are best answered in a spoon test before applying to your model ( will Future make me happy, can I sand this stuff). With that said, in my own painting I use steel wool to smooth fuzzy areas of base color coats but I don't use Createx. And I use Future in tests to see how clear looks over a color but on models I use Tamiya X-22 or clear lacquer. There is just something about putting something on a car model that's meant to be a temporary floor finish that bugs me. But that's me, many people do it and are happy I guess. Somehow I have this vision that 5 years down the road the future starts peeling. I have no evidence of this but my imagination is vivid in this area. Createx to my knowledge isn't known for it's good sandability qualities fwiw.

Lookin good in terms of lay down from here Mike ! What are you clear coating with ? If you want to mess with airbrushing enamels try some tests on spoons using Testors enamels from the little square bottles mixed just short of 50/50 with hardware store lacquer thinner.I think you will be surprised at how well that goes down.

The compliment is well deserved Josh !

Course we know who has the exact match lol ! But this might be an option to play with .

Maybe you'll hit on something good ! Go for smooth lay down. Also you might want to take a look at Tamiya X-12 gold. Just sayin

Oh yes I know what you mean ! Plus anytime you shoot closer up shots it magnifies things like metallic fleck. Your GT 40 looks very nice ( pretty sure I said that already). J fwiw though, in case you're interested for a future build, Zero Paints makes the GT 40 gold pictured above.

So what's your next move Mike ?

That gold in terms of tone on the GT40 above ( which is turning out very nice) would probably be fairly close to the Oldsmobile gold but the Olds never had metal flake finish. It was a very fine metallic and a natural non clear coated finish as well..

I'd be aiming for lower viscosity "and or" more flow out. Then air pressure. But I don't use Createx, so far be it from me without getting hands on to say how that is accomplished with Createx. I will say, I'm one to think and work outside the box sometimes.

My 1/16 Model A fenders with Tamiya black acrylic just out of the dehydrator after shooting the black. So this is straight from the airbrush, no polishing no anything but taking a picture. It's over Stynylrez black primer, shot 30 minutes before the black went on, that's the dark grey/black between the fenders. Shot them dried them everything all in took less than an hour. Just fwiw. This photo is considerably down graded from compression for email as well. The fenders are not wet, that's dry black paint, no clear coat, not polished..

Exciting ! Let us know how it goes.

MCW lacquer will knock your head off if you aren't prepared to shoot lacquer. It smells just like the stuff I sprayed in 1/1 back in the 70's and 80's. You really need a respirator or at least an R rated mask good for chemical/solvent particulates but 4 coats looks great, ready to buff up in a day or two with no clear coat. Being acrylic lacquer ( solvent based) it's a harder surface than nitro lacquer or Tamiya acrylic to buff. FWIW. On a nice day you could shoot it outdoors though. I see the Createx paints as something good for custom car builds, maybe a hot rod but not factory stock paint. And factory stock metallics are very hard to custom blend yourself. I was very close on my own blend of the solid Washington Blue, the MCW I got is dead on but actually either would work on an overall paint job for the Model A. But that's not the case with metallic paints unless you have the actually blending formula to mix from and the right metallic flakes in that portion of the blend color.............. I shot 1/1 for 30 years and metallic paints even then could be hard to panel blend. You get a different reflection of light from different angles if the formula is off just a little bit. In fact even a little too much thinner could have the metallic sheen appear silvery in golds. As base coat clear coat systems came in and ultimately took over, then color match reading software, this became much easier and a kid right out of voc school could become a good color match expert in a body/paint shop with mixing equipment.. Kids are great with computers and the mixer/blending is computerized. No more hand timing of tints from mechanical mixing machines. From what I understand, Mike at MCW has acquired the computerized equipment. His blends should be exact matches. Not sure how Scale Finishes does theirs. We know they are using acrylic enamel. I saw where MCW would soon be offering alcyd enamel and has it but not up on the site yet. Why am I saying all this ? I don't know just gabby today.

Nah, one thing at a time. Stick some thinner in there and try that first, might be fine.

Ya 4012 thinner, 4030 additive, then they have 4020 anti blush you can use up to 25% for humid weather conditions. But the 4012 is the main thing.

People do use it, it sprays pretty easy and polishes up pretty easy. If you don't bury the car in it it can polish up to a convincing factory shine. But I've only done it in tests not on a whole model. For that I tend to use Tamiya clear acrylic. Or sometimes lacquer but you really need to be set up for lacquer..