Gloss and Matte Final Coat

[Peter1512]

I have been building models for a couple of years now, most of them are 1/48 scale aircraft, both World War II and modern fighter jets
I am having major problems applying the gloss coat prior to decaling and the final matte coat, I always seem to end up with a very rough texture that has to be rubbed down, I have tried various types of varnish including Future Klear
My airbrushes are a Badger Patriot 105 and a Harder and Steenbeck Infinity CR Plus
Does anyone have any advice about which make of varnishes to use and technique such as at what pressure to spray and distance etc?

[digger303]

Can you post a pic of the problem. Do you thin the varnish ? Idea is to coat and spray continually onto a wet edge as much as possible. I use a general purpose brush with a 0.3mm needle for this work.

[Peter1512]

I don’t have a picture unfortunately, I ended up sanding down the rough finish and then used progressively finer grit polishers to obtain a decent finish
I have tried thinning the varnish using various dilutions but have also tried the Future Klear undiluted
What gloss and matte varnish do you use?
My Harder and Steenbeck airbrush has a. 0.2 needle but the Badger one is thicker

[digger303]

I use tamiya x-22 and Mr hobby Leveling thinner mixed 50/50 for the gloss and windsor and newton acrylic matte varnish mixed 50/50 with Ultimate Modeling Products thinner for the matte
I use a AB with a 0.3 needle and spray at 12 -20 psi at a distance of about 100 -150mm from the subject putting down light coats with the final. coat being a bit wetter. You MUST have a moisture trap on your compressor.

[schweinhund227]

lower your pressure mate! 15psi if you can... lower pressure gives you a glossier finish ! and enables you to spray a little closer as well...
Less time for the material being sprayed to land on the model ... dried up ! which ends up looking like pebbly? if that makes sense!
just don't linger too long or you might spray too much and get runs... you should see an improvement right away.

I use to get sandy looking gloss while spraying Aqua Gloss from ALCLAD at 25 psi. then now at 15 psi or less; I get much better results.
Good luck.

[Peter1512]

Thanks for the advice I suspect that I have been spraying at too high a pressure and the varnish droplets are drying before they reach the surface
I did not realise that it is important to have a moisture trap I will buy one and see how I get on
Thanks again for taking the trouble to reply

[Peter1512]

I have ordered the Tamiya X-22 and Mr Hobby Levelling Thinner and the Newton Acrylic Matte I have loads of Ultimate thinner it is my favourite
Also ordered a Sparmax Silver Bullet moisture trap to go with my Sparmax TC 610 H compressor
I will let you both know how I get on

[Peter1512]

I have almost finished building a Hasegawa Apache Longbow 1/48 and am going to be painting and finishing in the next few days
I will let you know how I get on

[digger303]

I have almost finished building a Hasegawa Apache Longbow 1/48 and am going to be painting and finishing in the next few days
I will let you know how I get on

do a test piece first before you commit.

[smokeriderdon]

The future should work straight out of the bottle. As mentioned, a lower PSI and closer to the surface will usually alleviate that issue.

[Peter1512]

I have sprayed my Hasegawa Apache 1/48 with Tamiya X22 diluted 50/50 with Mr Hobby Self Levelling Thinner as suggested
It has worked a treat and is the first gloss coat I have managed to apply successfully
I misted on three or four light coats and then a couple of heavy coats
The model was put straight in a shoe box to reduce the amount of dust settling on the gloss coat
Thanks for the great advice!

[digger303]

A finial coat of pure SLT before it is dry will level the last bumps and give a real shine, but don't flood it. Cause that will give rise to orange peel.

[Peter1512]

Thanks for the tip and apologies for the long delay in replying