Varnishing

[meirion658]

Morning all,

After some advice or some technical knowledge from the good folk in here.

Currently I'm using VMS gloss varnish and the guidance says 2hrs before a second coat!!

1. Do you empty and clean the airbrush between coats? Being Varnish I have no doubt it will cause some clogging in the airbrush?
2. Is there a way of speeding up the process ? Hairdryer eg?- Will this spoil the finish?
3. Any other varnish out there that does not take so long to dry between coats?
4. What needle size do you tend to use while varnishing? I usually do 1:72 through to 1:35 scale kits

Thanks
Meirion

[KarlW]

I would clean the airbrush rather than leave it for 2 hours, unless shoving it in a plastic bag like a paint roller works.........
Speeding up the process with a hair dryer could cause the surface to become dry too quick and may spoil the finish. YMMV
I use lacquer type varnishes and they dry a lot quicker.
Covering a large area with an even coat, .4mm for me.

[Andy T]

2 hrs sounds like a lot but I know VMS suggest putting it on quite heavy. As Karl says, force drying may not give the desired effect so I'd follow their advice and wait, rinsing the airbrush through in-between.

They also recommend a 0.4 nozzle as it's quite thick stuff, but I've used a 0.3 with no problems for the matt & satin versions.

[adt70hk]

Varnish normally equals bigger nozzle.....I go 0.4.....but some do use 0.3

[GhostRider27]

I shot VMS Gloss on an F-15E, used their Slo-Mo Extender, not much maybe a few drops and its still a bit tacky after 72 hours. Seems like a solid varnish and I applied it as shown in the video. Hopefully it cures and I can start the decal process. I used a Paasche Talon .5mm. Next time I will definitely use a lacquer based varnish, as its taking a bit too long to dry.

[rtfoe]

The extended drying time lets the paint level to create a smooth shine. For lacquers, levelling thinners slows the drying process if you want a real shine.
Never leave paint idle in your airbrush for more than 15 minutes. I tend to squirt it every minute or so if I need the same mixture while I mess around with masking to moist the needle and internals. But anything thats thick in consistency needs to be cleaned up and reprocessed for the next painting

Cheers,
Wabble

[GhostRider27]

Regarding gloss varnish, I more than likely applied a little too much along with a little bit of Slo-Mo-Extender.. It is VMS Acrylic glass varnish and although it looks pretty daarn good, its still a bit sticky after almost 5 days.. I can slide a dry finger along the model, and it feels smooth but still feels sticky. Its not pulling off, but Im wondering how long this will take to cure if at all. Is there anything I can do to help this along? It would be a shame to waste months of work only for it to come down to this ruining the model. I cant see putting decals on it like this or maybe I can? If I touch it, I leave a slight fingerprint and believe me, I'm oil free.. lol.. I can take a cloth with mineral spirits and the fingerprint rubs right off. so its dry, just slightly sticky..

Any thought or advice would be very appreciated! I hope you all have a great day!! -Ed

[David Lovell]

On the odd occasion I do use varnish i use vms matt or satin mostly on 72nd armour ,using a .3 needle I just lash it on as demonstrated on YouTube, and boy do they lash it on but it all seems to self level never had a problem ,why did/ do you feel the need for more than one coat and whats the slow mo extender used for . How they lash it on on YouTube is quite frightening but I've only ever followed their demo when I've finished I flip a tupper ware box or similar over the top to stop dust but never had a problem with it drying. Dave

[GhostRider27]

On the odd occasion I do use varnish i use vms matt or satin mostly on 72nd armour ,using a .3 needle I just lash it on as demonstrated on YouTube, and boy do they lash it on but it all seems to self level never had a problem ,why did/ do you feel the need for more than one coat and whats the slow mo extender used for . How they lash it on on YouTube is quite frightening but I've only ever followed their demo when I've finished I flip a tupper ware box or similar over the top to stop dust but never had a problem with it drying. Dave

I'm still unsure about what went wrong. I laid it on pretty much the way it was sprayed on in the youtube video. I did go over areas that I thought could have used more. In the beginning, the airbrush (Paasche Talon .5mm needle) was spitting and clogging. New airbrush only used one and was cleaned thoroughly so I added the Slo-Mo Extender. The finish seemed to be like glass, looked good but never cured. Fast forward 7 days after, the model was a bit sticky in certain areas and soft. What I did, was try an area on the model and dabbed a drop or two of decal setting solution which ruined the area.

It turns out that I completely stripped the model right down to the plastic. Base coat, pre-shading and primer. I gave it a lacquer bath and brush out the panel lines and really can't complain. Lots of time wasted, but I can make some paint corrections by starting over, weather it different and not sure about which varnish I will use if any. The paint was very smooth I probably didn't need to varnish before decals.

I believe I may have possibly receivd a bad batc of varnish. Anything is possible. But I have a good amount of this stuff, so I'll try it on a paint mule.

Never liked varnishing!

[JR]

I'd certainly clean the AB straight away. Most varnishes Iv'e used even when mixed well very quickly block up the needle and leave a residue in the bowl.

[BarryW]

Try using a lacquer varnish as these dry and cure in minutes. I leave 10 mins between coats using MRP’s lacquer varnishes which need to be applied in light mist coats. I don’t clean the a/b between coats but I do a quick backflush to ‘stir it up’ a bit.

Overall lacquers do perform better than water based acrylics through an airbrush. Their one downside is smell so spray in a well ventilated space or using an extracting spray booth.