Messed Up My Clear Coat

[Frank Steffens]

I really stink at painting bodies and clearcoating them. BAD. Its probably why I haven't posted pictures of my finished cars.

Anyhoo, my latest debacle happened when I clearcoated my AMT '69 GTX. I had used Alclad's Gloss Black as a base coat for the chrome trim, then painted Alclad Chrome over it. I also used the Gloss Black for the lower panels of the GTX body. Today, when I clearcoated using CobraColors Ultra Gloss Clear, the Black and the Alclad crazed.

The crazing on the chrome is only in one small 1mm spot around the rear window. The crazing on the black is only on the left bottom side.

Should I strip and repaint the whole thing, or mask off the left side, sand down the crazed areas and repaint them?

[Zoom Zoom]

Spend time repairing vs. stripping/repainting. You'll save a lot of time. Most modelers automatically go for the vat of stripper, and they strip away many hours of work that usually can be repaired if they keep a cool head about the problem.

You mixed different kinds of paint, always dangerous. Try to stick with one brand of paint from start to finish. The Cobra Colors clear is an automotive clear, and it's much stronger than the Alclad products. Alclad chrome doesn't like to have any clear over it, as soon as it's coated w/clear you end up with silver. Painting trim with Alclad seems like a terrible waste of time; masking, laying down the black, applying the chrome...it's a very labor-intensive way to avoid using Bare Metal Foil for chrome trim which is much quicker and much more forgiving if you mess up. Save the Alclad for bumpers or separate chrome parts, and don't clearcoat. Handle with modelers gloves because it is not durable, and clearing it destroys the reflectivity. Do all trimwork with Bare Metal Foil, or if you don't mind silver paint you'll do just as well with Testors Silver Chrome Trim enamel or their lacquer (bottle) Silver.

If your Alclad looks silver on the good side, you might want to just mask the areas on the bad side and lightly airbrush the areas w/the Testors lacquer silver. This way both sides will match relatively well. You can mix a bit of clear w/the silver to make it a bit more durable.

[Frank Steffens]

Thanks Bob, I'm going to repair the area where the gloss black crazed. The silver didn't come out too bad, so I'll keep it as is.

As for the BMF, I'm going to start using it again. I like the way the Alclad looks, but like you said, all that masking is tedious.

Thanks again!

[Brendan]

For clearing Alclad, I always use Future Floor Finish. It doesn't dull the finish at all. You need to remember that Alclad is an alcohol based paint. A lot of people think it's a lacquer base but it's not. I have run into the same problem with shooting clear over Alclad. But if you put Future over the top of the Alclad, you can shoot the automotive clear over the top and it won't harm it. Just make sure that it is completely dry! Bob is right, though, for doing window trim. Sometimes it's easier to use bare metal foil. You won't run into as many problems shooting clear over the top of that.

[Zoom Zoom]

Brendan, I tried Future on Alclad II and it very clearly diminished the reflectivity. The best reflectivity is to put the Alclad II on in a couple of light coats, let it dry, and then take a clean/soft piece of flannel and lightly buff off the overspray.

Spaz Stix Chrome is even better than Alclad II.

If anyone wants to see a shootout of the chrome sprays (Alclad II vs. Spaz Stix and Mirra Chrome), have a look at my Fotki album:

Alclad II vs. Spaz Stix vs. Alsa Mirrachrome "killer chrome"

Future didn't attack it as much as other clears, and it's interesting that it seals against harsher clears. It's just too bad that these chrome paints don't seem to like any clear over them.

[Brendan]

Brendan, I tried Future on Alclad II and it very clearly diminished the reflectivity. The best reflectivity is to put the Alclad II on in a couple of light coats, let it dry, and then take a clean/soft piece of flannel and lightly buff off the overspray.

Spaz Stix Chrome is even better than Alclad II.

If anyone wants to see a shootout of the chrome sprays (Alclad II vs. Spaz Stix and Mirra Chrome), have a look at my Fotki album:

Alclad II vs. Spaz Stix vs. Alsa Mirrachrome "killer chrome"

Future didn't attack it as much as other clears, and it's interesting that it seals against harsher clears. It's just too bad that these chrome paints don't seem to like any clear over them.

Bob,

Very nice comparison of the chromes. I have not run into the problem with Future dulling or blemishing the finish of the Alclad. I do what you do is that I do two light coats and do a light buffing. And then wait several days before I shoot the Future over the top. So far, I've been lucky but it's nice to know that it can do that. Probably the next time I shoot Alclad, it will happen to me.