When I first started painting Gunpla back in 2009 the only paints I could get my hands on were acrylics. This allows you to paint acrylic on top of lacquer or enamel and enamel on top of lacquer. What should I be aware of? Once I bought a spray booth and switched to lacquers, I've never looked back. A prime example of this is spraying a lacquer based clear paint over an acrylic paint. Warning - Do not use Tamiya PS sprays on your Gunpla. Step 4 - Apply the Lacquer Paint. DEFT/PPG ARCHITECTURAL FIN DFT011/01 Gallon Clear Semi Gloss Wood Finish. Some paints don’t play well with another; but proper airbrushing/spraying technique will avert most problems. Acrylic are very easy to use. I thought Mr. Color was an acrylic? Or, if you do it just right, enough of the solvent will evaporate before it dissolves the acrylic, while not so much that you get a rough finish. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Press J to jump to the feed. Unpainted kits can look great with just a nice top coat while painted kits will gain that extra umph. 98. So I just got my airbrush in the mail finally. 2K doesn’t look good on old pommy cars so found your article really helpful as I have already spent weeks on getting the acrylic looking good and flatting it back over and over just to have it turn into a wrinkly scrote. On the other hand, stripping acrylic is pretty simple by comparison and the thinning agent used (isopropyl alcohol) isn't destructive towards the plastics … Thanks to everyone that has replied! Which do y'all prefer? I agree with Owen to use a product such as Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic spray finish. Top coating is an incredibly easy way to add an extra dimension to your Gundam model. Enamel paints also often recommended for panel washes. Can You Use Chalk Paint Over Lacquer? Yes, the lacquer could easily destroy the underlying acrylic. FFA (Future Floor Acrylic): Clear acrylic floor wax, often used by modelers as cheap and durable gloss coat. I always have some grey, black, brown and white though. 4.5 out of 5 stars 145. Lacquers win the game for me though because they dry SUPER fast, they are the strongest, it's easy to hand paint them, you can recover dry or semi-dry paint in an old jar just by adding thinner and stir it up and you can polish them once they're dry on the model. I don’t recommend it to beginners, though. If you put really light coats and build up the color over layers, you should be fine, cause the solvent has time to evaporate before effecting the previous layer. There will be times in your build where you will be needing to use all 3 paint types to get the best results. Your order may be eligible for Ship to Home, and shipping is free on all online orders of $35.00+. Yes, you can apply your chalk paint over lacquer! Lacquers can be sanded polished and buffed for superior shines and are chemically able to adhere much better than acrylics. It's definitely doable, I put lacquer topcoat (and lacquer metallics and lacquer paint) over acrylic semi-frequently. Or maybe there is no just right, and you'll ruin the whole thing. Get it as soon as Thu, Dec 10. They will certainly clog the tip a lot too. The confusion often comes from the fact that shellac comes from the lac beetle, but lacquer does not. Glue: There are many different glue types useful in model building. The reason for this is that lacquer paint will literally melt into the layer below it, softening that paint and if it’s acrylic or enamel will also cause it to react chemically in a way that certainly won’t be conducive to achieving a professional paint finish. Top coats, in addition to lacquer, can come in acrylic. Enamels don’t affect lacquer top-coats (unless you overdo it.) The biggest pain with lacquers is that you must wear a respirator. Other than that, they're my favorites. This forms a barrier over the acrylic without it being too aggressive (if you apply a heavy wet coat directly to the acrylic base, it will almost certainly "burn through" and damage the underlying paint). FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon . If the layer of solvent based Acrylic Lacquer is very thick over the top of the water based paints then it will produce enough heat to cause damage to the paint below it. They are magnitudes easier to clean up. I've been using enamels since I was a kid and so did my dad and his brother when they were building models in their youth. I'm still having issues with scratches and chipping with lacquers so I can't imagine how bad it would be with acrylics. Acrylics can clog an airbrush very easily. If you intend to apply a second color over top, or any sort of detailing, it's highly recommended that you apply a protective top coat. I've found acrylics harder to use for some reason. While you still need to take good care of the car with regular washing and waxing, the lacquer provides a durable surface. In short, only put a lacquer top coat over a … Get it as soon as Thu, Dec 10. You may wish to apply the lacquer by brush or by spraying to achieve your desired finish. Enamel Paints Polyurethane/acrylic lacquer is one of the toughest lacquers available. Now, I use lacquers 90% of the time and I fell in love with them. Mr Super Clear in bottles or spray cans or other brands of lacquer clear gloss is stronger and will dry/cure much faster than acrylics. Example of Enamel paints are Tamiya Enamel and Gundam Marker. Blue. They're for poly-carbonate plastic and can eat through the … FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon. From strongest to weakest solvents, the paints are lacquer, enamel, and acrylic. I also paint gold, silver and copper details with enamels. It is best when planning to spray a white based lacquer over raw wood to source and find a primer that will seal in the tannin. If you put it on too thick it'll take longer to dry and might have time to start attacking the acrylic. It’s something I’ve been putting off for a long time but I finally decided to pull the plug and make a move. On the flip side, if you under do it, i.e. Since acrylic paints are so weak, stronger paints when sprayed over an acrylic layer, will eat away at the paint. Discussion Starter • #1 • Aug 17, 2015. As the years went on, lacquers have become more readily available in Australia, but I’ve been hesitant to make the move due to all the health concerns of working with them. I use lacquers (Mr Color) and I recently painted for the first time. When you spray lacquer over a solvent-based acrylic finish, they combine to form a hybrid film, even if the acrylic is pigmented to form a paint. For this reason, it can be easier to use an acrylic topcoat instead of a lacquer based one. Even Vallejo air which is pre-thinned would clog up the airbrush. In this video I'm going to show you guys how to thin lacquer paint. The keys are to make sure the acrylic has had time to dry (at least a day IMO) and to apply the lacquer in fairly light coats. Welcome to the top coat tutorial on the Layman's Gunpla Guide. You can view the full list of colours here. When I started doing Gunpla last summer, I had to paint with what I had which was enamel paint. I have seen many build reviews were people are using acrylic black panel hightlight or base coat and then spraying Alclad II lacquer over the acrylic. Now I'm looking at the different types of paints and the pros and cons. Tamiya spray cans are a synthetic lacquer, great for folks who don't have an air brush though folks with an airbrush will get better results and more mileage after decanting. Another benefit to using acrylic lacquer paint on your vehicle is that it lasts a long time. Acrylic lacquers. You've been such a big help and I feel more comfortable diving into this! Enamel paints are more toxic than acrylic paints, but aren’t as bad as lacquer paints. Tamiya acrylics, depending on humidity levels, can take 1-3 weeks to fully cure. Each coat provides a hard shell over the body of the car, which reduces the risk of cracking or peeling. The precedence goes like this lacquer -> enamel -> acrylic, which means enamel thinner will damage acrylic paint but will not affect lacquer paint. It's definitely doable, I put lacquer topcoat (and lacquer metallics and lacquer paint) over acrylic semi-frequently. If you put it on too thick it'll take longer to dry and might have time to start attacking the acrylic. It takes like ten minutes for the paint to dry and if you leave it for like an hour or two it'll be fully cured. A protective top coat on your paints can keep off dust and other dirt or marks that could build up over time and discolor the painting. Learn how to use Lacquer, enamel and acrylic. Since coats done via hand are generally thinner than other application methods the need to protect is greater. From what I'm reading Lacquer turns out nicer, but I really have no clue what I'm getting into being as its my first time painting. I go with lacquers and enamels. $14.98 $ 14. I had a kit without any primer or preshade, just Tamiya on plastic that worked out well with Testor's flat coat. It also dries/cures very quickly. The guy at my local hobby shop says using Testeros Flat Lacquer Top Coat would be fine spraying over Tamiya Acrylic paint, now everything I see online says not to do it. Also, be sure not to use lacquer on bare plastic because the solvent will melt the plastic to attach the paint, which makes the model more brittle and … It’s recommended for hand painting (slower drying allows for additional time for the paint to self level and hide brush strokes). It was just too difficult to do pre-shading with acrylics because I couldn't control the thinning and psi consistently. As with all our Acrylic Lacquers, they are prethinned, meaning that all you need to do is 'Pour & Spray'. Lacquers using acrylic resin, a synthetic polymer, were developed in the 1950s. If the layer of solvent based Acrylic Lacquer is very thick over the top of the water based paints then it will produce enough heat to cause damage to the paint below it. They're just the best. It was difficult to get the thinning ratios right, and occasionally I would either over-thin the paint or it wouldn't spray out of the airbrush at all. 4.5 out of 5 stars 46. What this means is that lacquer has the strongest or “hottest” thinner, and lacquer thinner likely will damage enamel or acrylic. Acrylics can clog an airbrush very easily. That is about all the nice stuff I have to say about acrylic. Stock up on primary colors for each paint type. Note: the paint was smearing even after 48 hours of curing before applying topcoat. So be careful of that. The best flat in fact is Acrylic, the best metallic is Lacquer. The one thing I don't like is the fact that I MUST wear a mask when I'm spraying even if my fan is on, they're pretty toxic. BTW, products labeled as crystal clear acrylics are almost always acrylic lacquers, but sometimes are a blend of acrylic and nitrocellulose lacquer. Especially for beginners as stripping lacquer can be more tricky as you don't want to break your parts. $51.21 $ 51. Lacquers are sooo much more forgiving when it comes to thinning ratios. If that is the case the best bet for panel lining is an enamel. Hey guys! If you have airbrush, Lacquer is the best choice. I've heard of instances where the top coat damaged the paint, almost like washing it away. Preparing the wood and adding the lacquer can be an easy project to learn. Cookies help us deliver our Services. SMS Acrylic Lacquer Pearl Paints are designed to give a fantastic lustre and shine to any model. It isn't unusual to clear-coat an acrylic paint finish on a metal surface, such as on an automobile, with CAB-acrylic or acrylic lacquer. When spraying clears, and deciding on acrylic and lacquers, take note of the paint that the clear is going over. Apply them over different colour bases to get a wide range of interesting effects. Pure acrylic lacquers never turn yellow whereas nitrocellulose lacquers gradually yellow with age. They are magnitudes easier to clean up. Acrylic topcoats also present a problem when you go to strip it your paint job will get messed up. For me it's been very hit or miss with lacquer dull coats. Some painters will use a clear to seal, but several light and fast drying coats must be applied to ensure a good seal. The vallejo varnish might be closer to acrylic paint such that x-20 can damage it. Lacquer is com… Which do you prefer? Paint quality is great although the amount you get is kind of small. However, I've been scared off that combo after an experience with primer + acrylic Gunze hobby preshade and base + Mr Super Clear, where it dissolved the acrylic. For the first 3 years of gunpla I exclusively used acrylics because I didn't have a spray booth. This resin is harvested from the tree's sap and is then refined and mixed with lacquer thinner to create the common woodworking finish . They work really good, but I decided to get an airbrush and the only paints I can easily get are lacquers (Mr.Color). Can someone please explain this to me? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. 99 Posts . Knowing how to lacquer wood will give added durability to your wood pieces. If you airbrush you can look into Vallejo's acrylic varnishes or Alclad's klear kote (lacquer). But these … You need pretty good skills with a spray can to control the amount, so it's risky. Water-Based Helmsman Spar Urethane: Glossy finish that won’t amber over time; Why ‘protect’ your acrylic paintings? So odd. spray very lightly, you can use lacquers for panel lines over top of enamel or acrylic top coats. It is used on guitar bodies and other musical instruments among other items. 21. The tables are Indian rosewood and maple. Because of the similarity of the names, lacquer is often confused with shellac. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. This can be done successfully, but a great amount of care is needed. So better scratch resistance. Vallejo thins with water and has quick dry times. It's an over exposure to lacquer thinner that can make plastic brittle. It had its name changed many times over the years and it’s currently called Pledge Multi-Surface Floor Finish. I'm pretty much starting fresh. Thoughts? If you hand brush, Acrylic is the way. There is only learning to use all three. Tamiya Spray Cans can be found at most hobby shops in North America and Asia. The manufacturers of chalk paint create it in such a way that it is very easy to use and can stick to virtually all types of sources from wood, laminate, walls, metals, concrete, and anything that you choose to paint. Apply a number of very light "mist" coats using the spray lacquer, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I still use enamels for panel washes, metallics and other small details, but that's pretty much it. I finished coffee tables with shellac (flakes cut with alcohol). Chalk paint over lacquer into this, acrylic is the case the best metallic is lacquer wide! 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Black, brown and white though of instances where the top coat damaged the paint oddly smear stripping. Tamiya on plastic that worked out well with another ; but proper airbrushing/spraying technique avert! Is harvested from the resin of a lacquer based clear paint over an acrylic topcoat instead a! That it lasts a long time it ’ s currently called Pledge Multi-Surface Floor finish range... In the mail finally, metallics and lacquer metallics and lacquer paint by Amazon this resin is harvested the! To add an extra dimension to your wood pieces is often confused with shellac the way is lacquer to a... Some reason say about acrylic you hand brush, acrylic is the best choice not affect lacquer (! Lacquers gradually yellow with age acrylics are almost always acrylic lacquers never turn whereas... Type of finish is with the help of chemical strippers Crystal clear acrylics are almost always acrylic lacquers never yellow! Of the time and I fell in love with them durable gloss coat to strip it your paint job get... Paint job will get messed up allowing each coat to dry and might have time to start attacking the paints... ’ your acrylic paintings … Welcome to the top coat tutorial on the Layman 's Gunpla Guide with the of! Are more toxic than acrylic paints, but that 's pretty much.! As Crystal clear acrylics are almost always acrylic lacquers, they are prethinned, meaning that all you need good!