Managing Expectations

[Beanie]

Good Evening all,

I seem to be struggling with clear gloss work and i'm just not happy with the results i'm getting.

Am I just being over-sensitive or expecting just too much out of this clear varnish?

I've attached some pictures of a vertical stabilizer that I Clear Coated today.

What do you think? Should I stop worrying and just get on with it?

Base: Mr Color C337 Greyish Blue
Varnish: AK 3rd Gen Acrylic Gloss Varnish
Thinned 50/50 with AK 3rd Gen Thinner
Air pressure 20psi using a Badger Patriot 105 with a .3 needle

This application: I used 2 light passes and then 1 wet pass separated about 15 mins apart.

Thanks all

Andy

[ATTACH alt="IMG_5649.JPG"]470683[/ATTACH][ATTACH alt="IMG_5650.JPG"]470684[/ATTACH]

[Komedy]

Hi Beanie,

What clear coat are you using and assuming this is Airbrush application, are you thinning?

Also what is the base paint?

If you can add that then I'm sure you will get some good pointers to help

Warren

[Mark1]

Gloss is a bit hit and miss for me, i tend to have better luck by not really putting on separate coats but by continously very lighty building it up until its just about wet and leave at that, the paint levels out as it dries and will look better than when its just been applied.

[Jim R]

Well Andrew it sounds as if you are doing everything right. Mark makes a very good point though. If your initial two mist coats are going on rough, maybe going on dry and/not flowing out, then your final wet coat will be less than good even if it levels out. It will be effected by the earlier coats. You could try Mark's single wet coat or lightly sand back the second mist coat with a very fine grade. That should give a very smooth base for your final wet coat to level out over.
Good luck.

[Andy T]

If you are using the Mr Color solvent/lacquer based colours then I'd stick with their clearcoat/varnishes as I've found them to be excellent. GX100 or GX112 thinned well with Mr Levelling Thinner are my favourites, and for me they were way better than the AK gen3

Also, as Mark & Jim mention, your application technique may not be helping as a wet coat will always have trouble flowing out over a dry mist coat. A couple of thin but wet coats will lay much flatter, giving your final thicker coat(s) much more chance of levelling out well.