When good clear goes bad

[BigEdsGarage]

I decided the other night that I need to dig out some unfinished projects and get them done. I've been away from the bench for years now and started opening up boxes I forgot I had. I was particularly excited to finish up a Scale Equipment Ltd. resin Hurst/Olds kit I had started about 7 years ago. I had painted and decaled the body, cleared, foiled and polished it, so I figured this would be an easy build to finish. Well, when I opened the box I saw the Model Master clear I had applied years ago had yellowed terribly to the point where the car didn't look white any more!!!!

Now I am torn between just finishing it the way it is, or stripping it and repainting it. I'd hate to ruin this body as it was a fairly expensive kit and I am not sure if I can still get the decals.

Here are a couple pics of the corrupted clear, it is a lot worse in person as the camera washed out some of the yellowing. The gloss clear on the body is the worst part, the semi gloss seemed to be acceptable. What a buzz kill! It's back in the box and on the shelf again.

[DocLong]

Decals don't look like they would be terribly hard to reproduce...

I think it still looks awesome.

[Romell R]

I think it looks great , you should finish it the way it is. it'd be like a cream white or off white color. good job on it by-the-way.

[Custom Mike]

I'm with Rommel, finish it off as-is. That problem is the reason I use either Dupli-Color , U-POL, or DuPont Nason Clears. The Dupli-Color and U-POL are available in rattle-cans, and the DuPont Nason is a 2-part Urethane which needs to be airbrushed. But none of the three will "yellow" on you, so they're worth it. I do the same thing for any White paints, automotive paints only. Clear and White Model paints always yellow over time....

[Harry P.]

You did such a nice job on that... I wouldn't mess with it.

Lesson learned, though... stay away from clear enamel.

[Danno]

Just call it that rare Wimbledon White option!

Looks good regardless.

[promodwillys41]

As everyone else said build it like it is

[Jon Cole]

Ed! It looks FINE! No, actually BETTER than fine! Keep it as-is!

Clear enamel over white... today, will be yellow enamel over white... tomorrow. I learned the hard way too.

In fact, I now try to avoid clear coat on solid colors. I only clear coat metallic colors.

[BigEdsGarage]

Ed! It looks FINE! No, actually BETTER than fine! Keep it as-is!

Clear enamel over white... today, will be yellow enamel over white... tomorrow. I learned the hard way too.

In fact, I now try to avoid clear coat on solid colors. I only clear coat metallic colors.

Yes, lesson learned on this one. Thanks for the comments. I think I'll look into "real" clear from now on too. I'd like to just finish this one as is, but since it is such a unique vehicle the color is really a key part of it. I wouldn't mind as much if it were just a standard version Cutlass, but a Hurst needs to be Cameo White or Ebony black, and this does not look like either. And the difference in color between the body and roof is really making this hard to accept for me. I think it will be back on the shelf for a while and I'll move on to something else, or maybe its time to load up the airbrush with some black paint.

[charlie8575]

I think it looks great, but you need to be happy, too. Personally, I'd leave it be, but if you're not happy, it'll always bug you.

If you want to strip resin, Easy-Off is the best way to go from my experience, with Whestley's Bleche-Wite a very close second.

Scale Equipment still makes this kit, and I'm sure would be happy to sell you a replacement set of decals if you need it.

Charlie Larkin