Base coat/clear Paint

For my race truck, I am using Scale Finishes acrylic base coat (air brushed). I have been using the Modelmaster Ultra Gloss clear (rattle can).

The color base coat goes down great, but I am getting a fair amount of orange peel on the clear coat. It lays down glossy, but then develops the Orange peel as it gases out. I am doing this with warm parts and the paint at room temp (65 degrees). I am laying down a mist coat, followed right afterwards with a heavier "wet coat". The wet coat is heavy enough that it is close to developing runs, so I don't want to go heavier.

Anyone have any suggestions on either a different technique, different paint temps or an alternative clear to use? I guess I am looking for something that lays down and "flattens" out to the high gloss.

I can salvage the parts I have done with polishing, but want to fix it for the main body parts.

All comments are welcomed!

I guess I am looking for something that lays down and "flattens" out to the high gloss. wrote:

Try 2 part automotive clear Pete. That's exactly what id does. Self levels. I rarely use anything else now.

You'll need some pure Argon gas to stop the activator going solid though.

Thanks Al.

I was going to stop by a good local paint store tomorrow after my weekly coffee with some of my retired friends. It is called Industrial Finishes, and carries a lot of automotive paint (BASF, PPG and others). I will see what they recommend for use with my base coat.

I looked into 2 part clear and got scared off with the respirator requirements. Dupont makes a clear for door jams etc which is one part to use in conjunction with their two part clears. According to Dr. Cranky it works great. Haven't tried it myself. Design Master sells a "Triple Thick" clear that I use a lot. It's sold at craft stores such as Michael's and Joann's. I do have the Testor's Wet Look and have had good luck with it but the Design Master is about half the price.

Have no idea how any of this will go with your scale finishes issue. Best of luck.

Pete, do you have a picture ( close up ) of what it's doing ??

The only clear I use any more is by Dupli-Color ( Auto Zone ) and haven't any issues with it at all. Goes over any type of paint and was no re-coat time, comes pre mixed but I thin it 50% more for airbrushing or use my touch up gun just the way it comes in the can.
Orange peel can be caused by either not enough air pressure or going too fast on the paint stroke. You might have a separation in the paint layers due to an oil in the paint your clear coating.

If your going to the paint store, take the painted part with you and see what they say is causing this.

Thanks for the hints, guys. I will go by the paint store tomorrow, and was taking a part that has the orange peel. It is not real bad orange peel, but it is not glossy smooth. Since it came from a rattle can, there is not much I can do about the spray pressure.

John, I will also look at the Auto Zone stuff. I have one of those stores near my house! Thanks.

I use automotive clear coat in rattle cans too Pete, I find that lightly building up the coats works best, then I polish it out with a scratch remover, instead of putting on a heavy 'wet' coat.

Pete since you are using Acrylic Paint you might stop my Walmart and get a can of the Krylon "Crystal Clear" I have used this in the past and it worked well. lays down smooth. The only problem I ever had was using it over House Of Kolor paint. It is very decal friendly also. it is an Acrylic Clear. Be sure you get the Gloss and not the Satin. Learned that one the hard way. LOL

Didn't make it to the paint shop yet. I did buy a can of what Buck recommended to try out. I also wrote to the guy at Scale Finishes to get his advice, but have not heard back yet.

What I did do with the part that I already cleared was to give it one more coat, mostly to give it a good thickness to do some color sanding and buffing. This helped immensely, and it is almost what I was looking for originally. Now, when I do the polishing on the surface, it is not by much!

I will keep working at it. I am part way thru the basecoat on some of the chassis parts. I may need some more special paint, as I am going thru a lot when painting the open chassis and other tubular parts (roll cage and front structure)! Time to call my buddy at Scale Finishes.

As an addendum to my last post, I did hear back from the owner of Scale Finishes. He said that all of his paints are automotive paints, so any clear should work. But he did add that if I was comfortable with working with it, nothing gives a better finish than a two-part urethane clear!

So off to the auto paint store today to see what they have!

Here is one more comment. I went to the paint store this afternoon and purchased a quart of PPG Omni Clear (2 part urethane clear coat). The paint shop dude said that this lays down the smoothest of all, and once I use it, I will never use anything else ...... just like you said Al!

So hopefully I can try it out this weekend, or early next week.

Sounds good. Keep us in the loop.