Johnsons Klear Again!

[Swagman 070]

Hi all I have just found a full bottle of Klear (Original) in my mothers utillity room so have liberated it and am now after some advice as have never used before.

Is it best to brush on or spay on?

If spraying at what psi. And what to use to clean airbursh?

Thanks

Swagman

[AlanG]

I just brush mine on personally. Never had a problem with it and i just clean my brush (flat blade type) with tap water

[Guest]

Sprayed at about 15-20 PSI, thinned with only a couple of drops of windscreen fluid or other type of alcohol works for me.

[stona]

Another vote for brushing here.

Steve

[Vaughan]

Yes just use a brush I'm using the new klear, but I have to be careful about runs as it has a yellow appearance. Why didn't they keep it clear as the name implies. Unfortunately I got back into modelling too late to have used the original Klear:sad:

Vaughan

[AFC]

Here one more vote for brushing. Haven't had any probs so far.

Cheers

[Dave W]

Im a Klear sceptic but have decided to give it another go.Brushed the new Klear on both sides of the canopies of a 1/48 P61 im just starting.Wicked away the excess with kitchen towel.Dried pretty quick and the canopies look great.

[Vaughan]

Hi Dave

You say you were a sceptic what problems did you have?

vaughan

[Guest]

Started brushing & seemed OK.

Latest model which is a largish area a Lancaster. Found much easier to airbrush & gives for me a better finish. Also found that by the time I had gone from one end to the other I could recoat & made 3 coats in one session.

Found it quicker & far less messy. Did not have to water down.

Downside wear a filter as it is not very nice & gives a horrible nose otherwise.

Laurie

[Vaughan]

Hi Laurie

I had thought about airbrushing but as you say the vapours, even I found, from brushing leave a nasty taste in your mouth. What size needle does your airbrush have? mines 0.3 as I'm concerned that it might clog my airbrush. What do you use to clean afterwards?

Vaughan.

[Dave W]

Vaughan.Problems i had were my own fault.I sprayed the stuff on a model and got some runs.That was down to me spraying too much on at once.Eventually i got two coats on.I was sceptical because i was expecting it to dry gloss on a matt paint job and it doesnt.For years ive been giving my models a high gloss finish to eliminate silvering problems with decals.So i was sceptical decals would go on this stuff ok.Due to overwelming evidence on this site that they do,Im going to try klear again.Mainly because its a lot cheaper than buying lots of little bottles of gloss varnish.

[Vaughan]

Hi Dave

Are you using the old Klear or the new stuff? the new Klear does dry to a to an almost gloss finish after two coats(see image). I've yet to try it with decals the replacement ones I ordered from Hannants have only just arrive. Will let you know how I get on.

Vaughan

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[Guest]

Hi LaurieI had thought about airbrushing but as you say the vapours, even I found, from brushing leave a nasty taste in your mouth. What size needle does your airbrush have? mines 0.3 as I'm concerned that it might clog my airbrush. What do you use to clean afterwards?

Vaughan.

Just finished Klearing Vaughan & with the filter on which covers nose & mouth. Also has the right filter for this kind of work. No problems.

Used a .4 & not had any clogging problems & as mentioned earlier I do not thin. Just Kleared the u/s of a Lancaster & gave 3 coats all in one session but I did adjust the needle movement considerably. When I started the session, stupid will I ever learn, I had it wide open & that was not good. I normally spray test on the plastic bottle.Fortunately no problems in wiping the small area off (thanks to B & Q decorators wipes a saviour in desperate situations).

Use water to clean out the bowl then fill up with Vallejo Brush Cleaner & blow thro which has worked well so far. This was using the latest Klear.

Laurie

[Guest]

I have both, an old bottle and a new, i've used both, i prefer to spray everything, APART from Klear, wide flat brush, quick swipe over the surface, I guarantee I could cover a large model faster than anyone on here could airbrush it, it self levels as it's water thin, any runs and streaks are quickly sorted by blotting with the dried bristles, a piece of kitchen towel or if dried, recoating with more Klear, it dissolves in itself.

For the record, again, the new and old stuff, despite the new being opaque and milky, behaves in exactly the same manner with no difference whatsoever other than the smell which is a more perfumed odour in the new one

Two to three coats WILL give a glossy finish, you will not get a mirror deep shine over matte paint, regardless, if a couple of sprayed coats isn't glossy it's not laid on thickly enough, problem with it being it's water thin is it's all too easy to create runs.

[stona]

if a couple of sprayed coats isn't glossy it's not laid on thickly enough, problem with it being it's water thin is it's all too easy to create runs.

Which can be caused by applying consecutive coats too soon. It dissolves in itself. As a floor polish the instructions advise 24 hours between coats. I find that leaving it overnight is long enough.

Cheers

Steve