Varnish disaster for newbie!

[Guest]

I have finished building and painting my F1 Revell car, and all decals been applied.

The paint I have been using is Revell's Aqua colours mainly, but also used Tamiya colour Acrylic paint for one of the colours.

I have just sprayed the model with Humbrol's Varnish Gloss spray that is meant for Acrylic paint.

The varnish has eaten into the paint a bit and has also eaten into some of the decals, practically dissolving them!

Can anyone advise as to where I went wrong and if there is anything I can do with the paint that has been eaten away?

Thanks!

[Guest]

Not a great fan of Humbrol Gloss, but when I have used it, I had to stir it for sometime, plus I found it better thinned, in my opinion its a very hot liquid, plus I think it was really designed for enamels or at least pre protected surface.Im sure the guys here who do use it will give a better idea to what happened, sorry about your disaster though.

[Guest]

I've never heard of enamel gloss coat eating into transfers before, and I really con't imagine what has caused this. You also shouldn't have any problems with enamel going over an acrylic so what is going on here I'm really not sure.

Unfortunately you are going to have to make a big decision and that is whether you can put up with it or whether you are prepared to bite the bullet and remove all the paint. If the acrylic has been disloved then all the paint back to the plastic will have to come off. I really don't think it is worth trying to go over it all with another coat of anything so cutting your loses and removing what you have is probably the best way forward.

[Guest]

Can't quite put my finger on it. I've used once a mix of enamels and acrylics on the same surface and Humbrol varnish on top and everything went just fine. I wonder of it has something to do with the underlying paint not being completely cured?

[Guest]

That doesn't explain the damaged transfers. The acrylic should be properly cured so should be at least over 24 hrs old so you could have challenges if it is too fresh but the transfers shouldn't be affected by clear gloss enamel.

[Guest]

Thanks for the responses. The humbrol gloss varnish says it is for acrylic paint, isn't the enamel one a different product?

[Guest]

Humbrol do an enamel and an acrylic gloss coat which are, as you say, quite different products.

[Guest]

I used the acrylic varnish, surely that would be the correct one for acrylic paint! I am starting to think that maybe the spray was just too 'strong'. I have used Humbrol gloss cote applied by brush on another part of the model and it doesn't seem to have had any detrimental effect.

[Guest]

Hi Pete , just catching up on the forum , not sure why you`ve had this problem maybe you went for one heavy coat straight off , although I`m no expert maybe a couple of miscoats ( letting each coat dry which would seal the decals ) and then a final heavy coat will work I`m yet to master this theory but a lot of car and bike buiders follow this rule , but sad to say it would be cheaper and quicker to get another model rather than try and clean this one up and try and source after market decals , I don`t rate any of the humbrol glosses but thats only my opinion , for cars and bikes I tend to use the zero paints for the main bodywork colours which is solvent based and for clear gloss coats I tend to use vallejo clear gloss at the moment and it wont attack decals , being acrylic based it does not give that super shine but with a polishing stick it makes it a lot better ,

Richy

[Guest]

Richy I think you are right, as it's my first ever model I have made quite a few mistakes, the main one being that I didn't appreciate the idea of building up using thin layers, and have just gone for one thick coat.

I notice you don't live to far from me, is there a shop that sells the products you mention, so far I have been limited to model zone in Kingston!

[Guest]

Sadly my local modle zone in Sutton shut down last year mate apart from that theirs one in Croydon and the one you mention in Kingston but I prefer to buy online and get stuff delivered because I hate shopping so getting things online suits me fine saying that just after xmas I took my little one to toy R us down the Purley Way to spend his xmas money and opposite was new big hobbycraft , it only had one isle dedicated for models and paints etc ( mainly revell & tamiya models & paints ) I could have spent a small fortune on a lot of other stuff like quality brushes diorama basics like plaster - cheap picture frames artist oil paints etc etc the list goes on,

Where abouts are you Pete , ps your McLaren looks very nice mate and like said before would be happy to have that on display , try a F1 tamiya car you will enjoy it - again only my opinion but I find the tamiya 1/20 F1 cars alot more enjoyable to build than the Revell 1/24 F1 cars

Richy

[Guest]

I'm in Sutton but work in Kingston so have bought everything so far from model zone there.

Yeah some of the Tamiya F1 cars look great, there is a yellow one that looks like it's from the 80s that I have my eye on for the future, the name escapes me though.

Am gonna try and recitfy the disaster I had with the varnish a little, but really don't think I can face taking it back to the original plastic though.

[Guest]

Your only a few miles away then , with your little disaster put it down to experience and move on, with a normal car without decals it might be worth stripping it back and starting again but for a F1 car if the decals are damaged it would be cheaper to get the same model again rather than make good and try and get after market decals which would cost more than the original model costs

Don`t be put off Pete we`ve all had nightmares where things go belly up even the top experienced builders on here have the odd model that goes tits up , and the great thing about this forum no one is ashamed to admit it and posts their problems , its how we try to become better modellers

as or the 80`s F1 tamiya yellow model you saw I think its the 1983 Renault that Prost & Arnoux raced , good choice , although I made it years ago (and long gone) its one that I`m looking for again to add to the stash

Richy

[Guest]

Talking of disasters and just to make you feel that bit better, many years ago when I was a young teenager my parents bought me the new Airfix 1/144th scale Jumbo Jet and the Apollo Saturn V rocket as my Christmas presents.

I quite often stayed at my Grandmas during school holidays so I took the Jumbo with me and set about building it on the small dining table in the lounge of her very small house. It was all going well and, as this was long before I could either afford or use spraying gear my brush painted gloss white on the fuselage was looking very good as I put it on one side to dry. I went out for a walk and on returning heard the sound of Grandma vacuuming in the house. Sure enough she'd vacuumed in the lounge and my perfect gloss white finish was thick with dust stuck to the surface. I didn't have enough thinners to try to wash it all off and couldn't afford the amount required at the time so the model ended up at the back of the cupboard until it was eventually thrown out.

[Guest]

Really sorry to drag up a 4 week old thread, but have either of you tried Mick Charles Models on the A24 in the worcester park/ ewell area? I live in kingston and avoid modelzone to shop at Mick Charles. They arent as large as modelzone but they are real enthusiasts and have some really useful bits and pieces in there. Infact if you drive from Sutton to Kingston for work then you may well have passed the place.