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What did I do to my Blackbird, and what can I do about it?


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If you have trouble seeing the discoloration, it's directly forward of the cockpit in photo 1 and outboard of the dorsal vent and the slot for the stabilizers in photo 2.

I shot gloss black enamel out of a spray can onto this 1/72 Blackbird. All the usual proper paint prep was done and it was shot onto standard issue gray primer. I went for multiple thin coats, and waited 90 minutes at most between coats, because the manufacturer recommended retaining within 2 hours or not until 48 hours had passed. Painting was done in a dry basement (no humidity issues) and I don't see the paint itself being the problem, because I've used this brand on other models with the same prep process and no problems.

24 hours after the last coat, these discolorations had formed, and they remained even after letting the paint cure for over a week, though it seems to me they may have become less prominent during curing.

  1. What caused this?

  2. What can be done about it?

The options I see are:

  1. Shoot one more thin layer, now that the paint has cured.

  2. Ignore it. It's not that bad and real Blackbirds look patchy. Decal and matte coat that sucker.

  3. Put a thin layer of gloss black acrylic over it.

  4. Strip it and start over.

Any answers or advice would be appreciated.

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I would go with option 2, maybe test matte coat, if you are not happy, maybe then strip & start over. As to what caused it, could it be the although humidity is regulated, that the temperature changed. I know that plays havoc with my models. As I am out in a shed with no temperature. But I am no expert. Thanks

 

Ashleigh

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I am having a hard time seeing it in the pictures, but what I see looks a bit cloudy or frosty.  Best guess is the undercoats hadn't cured fully before the next coat.  Moisture trapped in clear coats can cause this too.  You can try spraying a bit of solvent or flat coat to see if that fixes the problem.  Occasionally it does, but my experience is that it lessens it, but doesn't completely fix it.  You could call it weathering, otherwise, I'd reshoot a little black and go from there.

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