Question for Bob Downie, Re: Gunze B-501 Clear

[Dave Toups]

Bob,

I a post in "On the workbench" you said that you use Gunze B-501 Clear. Have you ever sprayed it over Tamiya's spray paint? I used Tamiya's Mica Red on a Nissan Skyline and clear coated it with the Gunze clear (I didn't have any Tamiya clear at the time). It looked good at the time but a few weeks later I got a lot of cracks in the clear. Have you ever seen this? I've tried to strip it with 91% Alcohol which softened it, but wouldn't remove it. I also tried CSC, but it did nothing. Any suggestions?

[Zoom Zoom]

Bob,

I a post in "On the workbench" you said that you use Gunze B-501 Clear. Have you ever sprayed it over Tamiya's spray paint? I used Tamiya's Mica Red on a Nissan Skyline and clear coated it with the Gunze clear (I didn't have any Tamiya clear at the time). It looked good at the time but a few weeks later I got a lot of cracks in the clear. Have you ever seen this? I've tried to strip it with 91% Alcohol which softened it, but wouldn't remove it. I also tried CSC, but it did nothing. Any suggestions?

Haven't had it crack like that. I've used it over Black Gold lacquer (car w/decals), MCW lacquer (race car w/decals), and Testors enamels. Never used it over Tamiya spray as I always used Tamiya clear over Tamiya spray. I've heard of occasional cracking problems w/people using Future, but I haven't had it happen on the few I've sprayed.

I'm not sure what B-501 is composed of, figuring that it's a strong acrylic I'd think the 91% should work, but perhaps it's not strong enough (I've used 99% on some prepaints with good results). You might try some ammonia and see if that works. If not, Polly S Easy Lift Off seems to work on everything, but it will take off the paint below the clear.

I was looking at my unbuilt Revell predecorated Goodwrench Corvette the other day and it had some cracks in the clear over some of the silver.

[Dave Toups]

Thanks for the reply! I should have waited until I had some Tamiya clear, but I got too impatient. I had thought about the PollyS stripper, but was worried about damaging the plastic. Of course, what have I got to lose, it looks like ###### the way it is now!