jchowdown Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Hi Everyone, I have a main color coat consisting of Model Master flat colors. I thought the finish was smooth enough so I started spraying Future in preparation for decals. It's been a good 4-5 coats of Future but my finish is still bumpy, which leads me to believe that I didn't prepare my color coat well enough. So now I humbly submit my questions: 1) Should I take my chances and put on the decals now? 2) How many coats of Future does it take you guys to seal off a flat coat of paint? 3) What sort of steps do you guys take to ensure that your flat color coat is ready for Future? 4) What is the air speed velocity of a swallow? Thanks in advance, Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spejic Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 1) Yes, probably. The Future coat is to make a smoother surface so there is less air trapped below decals to prevent silvering. This can work even if the surface is not even. Now, if the unevenness includes slight but steep depressions (even very shallow ones), then air can get caught under there and you will see a silver spot. There are things you can do to fix those individually if there are not too many. 2) Usually one or two. You may want to put another coat of Future over the decals to help them disappear. Future can be brushed on as well, and it may even be smoother that way than an airbrush. 3) The same way you check for seams - look at the surface with a good light aimed at a strongly oblique angle to the surface. Depending on the problem you may need to sand and repaint, just repaint, or do smaller fixes. 4) African or European swallow? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JesniF-16 Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Maybe if you spray a coat of blue windex the future will level out more. Just spray enough to get the surface wet with the windex. Also with MM flats, you must sand each coat!!! start with 2000, 4000, 6000 etc. It will make all the difference. Cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thorsten Wieking Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Thinning future with something like Tamiya X-20A does improve the quality of the future coat. Try to spray the future coat "wet" - enough so that you can see light reflection in the still wet future yet not to much so that the coat starts to run. Cheers and good luck. Thorsten Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 May be that the coats of Future you put on weren't thick enough. I always brush my Future on and usually over a dead flat surface it takes about 3 coats to get a nice surface for decaling. Get a nice flat brush about 1/2 inch or a little larger and lay the Future on. It self levels so as long as you don't glop it on and get a run it will lay out nicely and smooth everything out. Also agree with hitting the final paint with a round of light sanding, especially if you want a glossy surface. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Browning Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 2000 might be a bit rough for airbrushed paint coats, especially if there a lot of edges and raised detail. Brushed coats might be thick enough. My base paint coats tend to be less than perfect so I've adopted this approach to compromise: I lay down 2-3 coats of Future as described above and then wet-sand the dried future with 6000 to 12000. That way if you've had a few beers (I mean "press to hard while not paying attention" ), there's a bit of forgiveness. The future is like a mirror at that point. Two downsides: 1. The panel lines fill pretty easy with incredibly fine residue and you have to brush them all out again under running water. 2. Any little bit of junk in subsequent coats WILL drive you insane because you can now see them from across the room on your now perfect surface. Repeat: WILL. Happy landings! :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Triarius Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 1. I'd do something to make sure the Future is, indeed, smooth enough, unless you have extra decals. All the above methods will work if used with care. 2. One, occasionally two. 3. This is where your problem really is. There are two possible causes: You are spraying too dry or too far away. Drop the pressure, get closer, and maybe thin the paint more. The other possibility is that MM paints use a relatively coarse pigment, or are just not as well formulated as they might be. The latter is entirely consistent with the brand. The solution to this is to polish the paint as others have suggested. 4. 43 picokilometers per second in level flight, unless you are talking about the air to air missile, in which case it's about Mach 3. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
huntermountain Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 (edited) ... 4) What is the air speed velocity of a swallow? Thanks in advance, Jeff Never mind African or European, but more importantly: Laden or unladen? Edited May 21, 2012 by huntermountain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jchowdown Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 For my current project I will brush on my remaining coats of Future and wet sand in between. In the Future I'll be sure to knock down any flat coats before the Future. Thanks again everyone! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jchowdown Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 For my current project I will brush on my remaining coats of Future and wet sand in between. In the Future I'll be sure to knock down any flat coats before the Future. Thanks again everyone! Did you see my pun? I'm sure it's never been done before Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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