The Ship Model Forum

Santacarl , I had a similar problem.


I had Painted a Carrier deck with both MM Enamels and Acrylics. Enamel for the landing zone and all the rest was in MM's Acrylics. ..Anyway..;
I used Testors Lacquer Gloss coat over all that and then applied the decals. Then I "gloss-coated" over that so I could apply the "enamel weathering" stains and the "salt" technique.
Then to finish up, it needed to be Flat/dull coated, and I used a Acrylic satin sealer applied in thin mist coats for that.

Wefalck gave me advice about thin layers and extended "drying" times.
So I gave each "coat" double the cure time I would have normally used, and also shot each coat in thin mist layers with very low pressure, building up the layer slowly so it could gas off.

It worked but it was too great a chance of something reacting with something else and screwing it all up. Next time I will use either ALL enamels or ALL acrylics for my base colors..

Whatever you decide to do....go ahead and try it out on a test piece first before you do it on the model.

Are you talking about true water based acrylics like Vallejo, LifeColor or Golden? or the solvent based "acrylics" like Tamiya or Gunze. I put acrylics on top of well dried enamel washes and filters all the time. I frequently prime models with Tamiya lacquer spray cans. My paints go on beautifully brush or airbrush. Styrene isn't styrene once it's got a primer coat on. Now, perhaps I misunderstood. I wouldn't try putting acrylics on untouched PE. I clean the stuff with lacquer thinner and scuff it up with a sanding stick. So it's not all that smooth then. The primer I normally use is Vallejo Surface Primer - put it on with a couple of thin coats. Works fine. Vallejo has just put out an acrylic primer for metals that might work better. In any case, I've primed every model I've ever done - several with Tamiya lacquer. I always prime PE - although I've just used Krylon flat gray that adheres to both plastic and metal and it worked great on PE. In any case, it's likely I never tried brush painting unprimed metal. I've never used enamel as base coat on a model, so I only use it a wash where it's either matte or grainy. So I've never painted on gloss enamel either. It's real news to me that Vallejo or Golden wouldn't brush cover gloss enamel, but never tried. The point I was trying to make is that the water based acrylics like Vallejo/Golden/LifeColor hand brush far better than the solvent "acrylics" (real argument about whether Tamiya is an acrylic paint at all - like Gunze they're flammable and toxic -water based are neither - and both airbrush much better using their brand lacquer thinner than acrylic thinner which is glorified ISP) - and I've used them on every model I've made.
Eric

I think a few weeks ago this issue was discussed in another thread �

The upshot: acrylics painted by brush do not stick very well or at all (likely) to metals and glossy enamels, they may not even form a continuous layer. Sprayed on, they may form a continuous layer, but it may not adhere very well (which does not matter too much, if the areas are small and not to be handled). Satin enamels may pose similar problems, but in general, acrylics stick to matt surfaces sufficiently well - even though the physical chemistry isn't favourable, the surface roughness induced by the matting component provides enough 'key' for the acrylics. This is why enamel primers also work for acrylics.

If your paint is dry there would be no reason to worry. Many people in the armor world will paint base coats in acrylic and then use enamel for washes or filters. You could prime it with Tamiya lacquer spray cans. You sure wouldn't want to mix them, but a lacquer finish could be applied on anything. (Don't knock Rustoleum. A lot of car modelers use Krylon or Rustoleum for primers, clear coat and flat paints. Krylon makes an excellent primer for brass that will also coat plastic - covers PE very well.)

Eric

Hello all,

I am in the process of picking my colors for the upcoming model build. I am going to use MM acrylics for the most part but there are a couple of colors that match best with one of the MM lacquer metalizer line of paints.

I haven't used acrylics hence this question: If I have some parts/areas sprayed with a lacquer finish and the others with acrylic colors....Can I clear the entire model with an acrylic clear? Will the acrylic clear 'stick' to the lacquer on the parts painted with the lacquer?

Thanks....this learning curve keeps running me over!

UPDATE:

Okay....I called Testors. I didn't know it but they're part of RustOleum...but that's a side story...

Anyhow, the answer to my question, for anyone who might be interested, is NO and YES. You can not apply a clear acrylic over the metalizer paint. The work around is this; overspray the metalizer with the sealer for metalizer paints THEN you can clear the sealer with an acrylic clear.....

Learn something new every day! This lesson leads to a lot of extra spraying though.....