discussion AB Varnish

[slupanter]

Hey all

Airbrushing Gloss Varnish
What am I doing wrong, I have tried Tamiya x-22 50/50 thinned with Mr Hobby leveller, Mig magic and Alclad Aqua gloss.
I am using a 0.5 Rev CR on 15-25PSI depending, all seem to give me a gritty finish.

Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong or better still, if you live near the west midlands I will bring lots of beer to you if you can show me.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Alexander
I am certainly no expert. Many on here with far better airbrush skills.
However my thoughts would be that the varnish is drying before it hits the model or it is drying on the model too quickly for it to 'flow' and level out. If you are using a 0.5 nozzle then a fair amount of material will come through so there would be a tendancy to spray from a greater distance. This would tend to allow the varnish to dry too soon. The warm weather recently does not help. You do need to put on enough material to 'wet' the surface so that it will flow to a smooth, glossy finish but not too much to give sags and runs.
Jim

 

[flyjoe180]

Hi Alexander, Jim has posted all that I was going to suggest. Try spraying closer on a 'paint mule' to see if the suggested fix works for you. It can be a challenge to avoid runs and pooling of the varnish.

 

[Mini Me]

As my other two conspirators have suggested, you need to lay it down in wet coats. If it does not appear shiny when it hits the surface, you are either too far away or moving your airbrush across the working surface too swiftly. In either case you are not getting enough material onto the desired area. Hope this helps. Rick H.

 

[stillp]

Try using Windsor & Newton Galeria, straight from the bottle at about 15 psi.
Pete

 

[BarryW]

Alexander. I have used the Alclad Acqua Gloss before and I found it excellent, though it did 'pool' sometimes on some surfaces.

As others have explained spraying too far from the model can cause that and you might want to have the air pressure quite low at about 15psi, perhaps lower. You need to experiment on scrap with your a/b.

One other thing to suggest. before spraying it is always best to lightly sand the painted surface of the model with a polishing stick. That will nicely prepare the surface.

I currently use the MRP varnishes and the spray a dream and have never had any kind of issues with them.