Why is my coat so splotchy

[Milo]

8 hours ago, Muncie said:

yes, lacquer over enamel will cause both.

 

 

The peeling is from my brushing, a mistake in the paint job. I just smoothed it out and continued

[Milo]

9 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

My Opinion?

You’re getting WAY ahead of yourself.

If you insist upon using enamels, which it appears you have, and there’s nothing wrong with that, forget about the clear coat for the time being.

It’s completely unnecessary.

 

Buy a few cans of Testors enamel spray cans and practice your painting technique before you dive headlong into all of the other intricacies of painting.

Get down the basics like distance from the subject, pass speed, coverage basics, all the simple things that you’re going to have to master before you start filling up your brain with all of the other nonsense.

Testors enamel doesn’t need a clear coat, so learn to spray a couple of nice even coats, let it cure for a couple of months, and then learn the basics of polishing, and you can achieve a perfectly acceptable paint job without feeling that you need to jump through all of these hoops.

 

A Monogram 1959 Cadillac painted with nothing more than a little primer, a couple of coats of Testors red enamel, and then polished.

You’re over thinking what needs to be a simplified solution at this level.

 

 

 

 

Steve

Where did you let it cure for months? How was it protected from dust?

[Dave G.]

There is a guy over in FSM older than me, like 70 years painting enamels. He took a box, put a fixture in the top with a low watt light bulb. Mounted a computer fan in one end, vent holes and filter in the other end. Later he added a thermostat to turn the bulb on and off to maintain constant temp. Anyway that's his enamel paint drying box. Some folks have done the same with plastic storage tubs.

I use a food dehydrator, enamel in that at around 112 or 115F is cured in 6-10 hours depending how thick the coat is and thinner used.  On the flip side, acrylics as we know them in the hobby industry or craft paints are cured in an hour or so. Enamels I usually give 4-6 hours then room cure for 4 days. By then I'm ready to move on with the build sometimes. I have a lacquer paint job thats been sitting for two years, I just haven't gotten back to it. It's in it's own model box ready for finishing assembly, it's about 1/3 built..  There is no rush and since our eternal treasures aren't stored here but in heaven it doesn't much matter anyway once I move on into eternity.

[Muncie]

1 hour ago, Milo said:

The peeling is from my brushing, a mistake in the paint job. I just smoothed it out and continued

no, the thinner in the lacquer softened the enamel and lifted it near the hood vents.  try it on a spoon.  

one question, how long did you wait between color and clear?

I'm going with what some of the other people have said - no clear with the Testor's enamel looks like the best plan.

Edited August 18, 2023 by Muncie

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, Milo said:

Where did you let it cure for months? How was it protected from dust?

Put it in a box.

 

 

 

Steve

[Milo]

6 hours ago, Muncie said:

no, the thinner in the lacquer softened the enamel and lifted it near the hood vents.  try it on a spoon.  

one question, how long did you wait between color and clear?

I'm going with what some of the other people have said - no clear with the Testor's enamel looks like the best plan.

No it was from my paint job. It was there before clear coating