Future Clear Coat Question

[tractoraholic]

Good Morning All,

I have used Future Floor with great success over enamel paints as a gloss clear coat with out issue. My question is, I have a Tamiya Acrylic flat color that I really like that I want to have a gloss finish for. I have read that some people have had a problem with the Tamiya paint wrinkling underneath a coat of future, seems to me the paint wasn't fully cured before a application of future or different cure rates between the two. Has anyone experienced that issue? Or what would your recommendations be for a gloss clear over a Tamiya flat? I also have Alclad Klear Coat that I haven't tried on anything yet. Look forward to your suggestions. Thanks 

[Rodent]

I would use Tamiya clear over the Tamiya flat.

[tractoraholic]

49 minutes ago, Rodent said:

I would use Tamiya clear over the Tamiya flat.

Thanks for the reply, that's what I was leaning towards, does Tamiya clear work well with Mr Color leveling thinner, like their colors do?

[Rodent]

I have never tried it, but I am sure someone here has and will pipe in soon.

[TransAmMike]

Well I used the leveling thinner with it and probably didn't do a proper mix and likely put it on too heavy.... got a lot of orange peel. Was my first use of it. I guess has a learning curve?

Edited January 29, 2023 by TransAmMike

[tractoraholic]

1 hour ago, TransAmMike said:

Well I used the leveling thinner with it and probably didn't do a proper mix and likely put it on too heavy.... got a lot of orange peel. Was my first use of it. I guess has a learning curve?

That's frustrating. I guess I'll experiment on a scrap piece of plastic, never used it before and was just assuming you have to thin it for the airbrush like their colors.

[FAB Resinworks]

I have used Clear Lacquer over Tamiya paint with no problems.  You should let the Tamiya paint dry over night before spraying lacquer over the top.  When spraying use light coats waiting 10 - 15 minutes between coats.

[Joe Nunes]

7 hours ago, FAB Resinworks said:

I have used Clear Lacquer over Tamiya paint with no problems.  You should let the Tamiya paint dry over night before spraying lacquer over the top.  When spraying use light coats waiting 10 - 15 minutes between coats.

As a newbie I have to ask:  after spraying a mist coat, and while waiting 10 - 15 minutes between coats, do you clean the airbrush and cup out so as to be starting fresh with the next paint step?

Joe

[Rick L]

42 minutes ago, Joe Nunes said:

As a newbie I have to ask:  after spraying a mist coat, and while waiting 10 - 15 minutes between coats, do you clean the airbrush and cup out so as to be starting fresh with the next paint step?

Joe

That is a good question Joe. If painting lacquer You can wait until you are finished with the paint job if your steps are 15 minutes apart. Then you can break down the gun and clean it thoroughly. If longer than 15 minutes I’d run a little lacquer thinner through between steps.

[FAB Resinworks]

First off you mentioned mist coat, for lacquer the first coat has to go on a little wet so it bites in to the base coat. If you are using Future you have to spray mist coats initially other wise it run right off.  Lacquer flashes in a couple minutes depending on the grade thinner you are using.  Future takes a bit of time to tack up.

As far as cleanup between coats with lacquer, empty the cup and spray some lacquer thinner through it to keep the tip clean until the next coat.   Then do a complete cleaning the job is done.

If using Future, use 90% or higher rubbing alcohol immediately after you are finished spraying each coat.  When Future dries inside an air brush, its almost impossible to clean out. 

 

[Joe Nunes]

Thanks for the quick responses! I think I will run some lacquer thinner through the tip between coats to be safe, especially until I get acquainted with the spray brushing procedure.  Thanks again for the assistance.  

Joe

[tractoraholic]

On 1/29/2023 at 1:59 AM, FAB Resinworks said:

I have used Clear Lacquer over Tamiya paint with no problems.  You should let the Tamiya paint dry over night before spraying lacquer over the top.  When spraying use light coats waiting 10 - 15 minutes between coats.

Good Afternoon, what brand clear lacquer do you use? I would like to try it.

[FAB Resinworks]

Hello Justin,

Actually I have been using real automotive clear lacquer.  I was able to get an old quart of Sherwin Williams automotive lacquer about 10 years ago.  I have been using that on most of my stuff.  Today you could probably go to your local auto parts store and pick up a spray bomb of clear and decant the product into jar, then spray it through your airbrush.  You wouldn't have to thin it. The thing with clear lacquer, you will not get a completely smooth or shiny surface strait out of the air brush. After you let the clear gas out for about a week, there is some wet sanding and polishing that needs to be done to get a super smooth and shiny surface.  When I do my initial spraying I usually thin it a little more with super slow thinner.  I use DuPont 3602.  Unfortunately, I am not sure if you can get that any more.  You may be able to order it from House of Color.

There are more steps on the sanding polishing thing, I wont get into now.

Hope this helps.

Frank

[tractoraholic]

1 hour ago, FAB Resinworks said:

Hello Justin,

Actually I have been using real automotive clear lacquer.  I was able to get an old quart of Sherwin Williams automotive lacquer about 10 years ago.  I have been using that on most of my stuff.  Today you could probably go to your local auto parts store and pick up a spray bomb of clear and decant the product into jar, then spray it through your airbrush.  You wouldn't have to thin it. The thing with clear lacquer, you will not get a completely smooth or shiny surface strait out of the air brush. After you let the clear gas out for about a week, there is some wet sanding and polishing that needs to be done to get a super smooth and shiny surface.  When I do my initial spraying I usually thin it a little more with super slow thinner.  I use DuPont 3602.  Unfortunately, I am not sure if you can get that any more.  You may be able to order it from House of Color.

There are more steps on the sanding polishing thing, I wont get into now.

Hope this helps.

Frank

Thanks for the reply Frank, I've heard of some using I think it's 2k clear, I believe it's lacquer clear sold at Napa for duplicolor paint and it comes in a spray bomb,  any one chime in if I'm wrong. But I'm going to give it a go on a junk cab and see how it works out. 

[FAB Resinworks]

Hey Justin,

2K clear is a two part activated material.  You need to wear a respirator while spraying and the fumes need to be exhausted outside.  If you breath the fumes it will do a lot of lung damage.  You need to know what you are doing with 2K Clear. 

The duplicolor single stage clear is what you are looking for, make sure it says lacquer because they do sell an enamel clear.  Advance Auto has automotive touch up paints. Plasticoat also makes touch up paint.

[tractoraholic]

1 hour ago, FAB Resinworks said:

Hey Justin,

2K clear is a two part activated material.  You need to wear a respirator while spraying and the fumes need to be exhausted outside.  If you breath the fumes it will do a lot of lung damage.  You need to know what you are doing with 2K Clear. 

The duplicolor single stage clear is what you are looking for, make sure it says lacquer because they do sell an enamel clear.  Advance Auto has automotive touch up paints. Plasticoat also makes touch up paint.

Perfect, Thanks for your help Frank.

[Andrew McD]

I would suggest going the easy route and using Tamiya clear sprayed straight from the can.  In my limited experience the Tamiya clear has no issues over Tamiya paint and produces a very nice finish.  All the other approaches sound excessively complicated though I respect the fact that many people work out systems that work well for them.

[Zippi]

All I use is the Tamiya X and XF Acrylic paints thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner mixed 50/50.  I clear it using the Tamiya X-22 clear.  Great product.   

[tractoraholic]

8 hours ago, Zippi said:

All I use is the Tamiya X and XF Acrylic paints thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner mixed 50/50.  I clear it using the Tamiya X-22 clear.  Great product.   

Thanks Guys, 

This is the route I'm going to go.

[Bugatti Fan]

When unlike products are used with one another the results can be a bit unpredictable. Often it is a case of experimenting to see what works ok.

A general rule of thumb is that when acrylics are used and dry out it is ok to use solvent based enamel and lacquers over them. Enamel and lacquer paints take a long time like days or weeks to actually dry out thoroughly. Although they might feel dry to the touch the carriers leach out over a period of time during the drying process. Acrylic is a plastic polymer paint that forms an air tight seal when dry, so using over solvent based paints can lead to a disaster like flaking and bubbling as the solvent carriers try to escape from underneath.

Future/Klear I have found to level out nicely when applied with a flat brush and have never needed to use an air brush to apply it.

Edited February 7, 2023 by Bugatti Fan

[bluestringer]

I also use the Tamiya x and xf acrylics with Mr. Hobby Leveling Thinner, it works great. I use the Tamiya x-22 clear with the leveling thinner also, works fine. But I have used the Future floor polish (actually Revive It) over the Tamiya acrylics and never had a problem.

[Tcoat]

Did not read all responses.

I use Future over EVERYTHING. Acrylics, lacquers, enamels, bare plastic the whole works. I have never once had a failure with it. It's self leveling properties, adhesion and gloss are un paralleled by anything else I have used. Since it is now gone I will hoard my last drops for tinted shading and have to find a new gloss coat. 

[peteski]

5 hours ago, Tcoat said:

Since it is now gone I will hoard my last drops for tinted shading and have to find a new gloss coat. 

It seems that there are alternatives - see the "Future" sticky thread.

[Tcoat]

1 minute ago, peteski said:

It seems that there are alternatives - see the "Future" sticky thread.

Yep I have seen that but haven't found any in a store here yet. Will Amazon some once I get down to my last drops.

[rattle can man]

If you mix and match paints and coatings, you need to allow plenty of dry time between color and clear coats. The different solvents take different amounts of time to evaporate. Enamel takes much longer than lacquer to completely dry so you may need to wait 30 days or more before top coating enamel with lacquer. another thing to avoid reactions is just spraying very light coats and allowing time for the multiple coats to "flash" between coats. When in doubt. experiment on scraps.