Bandai Kits and Clear Coat Options???

Constantine

Well-Known Member
I have a number of Bandai Kits in my stash including the Perfect Grade Falcon and 1/48 X-Wing and I would like to find a safe and quality clear coat that won't hurt the Bandai plastic. My go to paints has primely been Tamiya and Krylon Clear Coats. From what I have read Bandai plastics have quite the reaction to oil/solvent based paints and clear coats. Paints aren't really my question since I have seen many well built kits with Vallejo. But some of the acrylic coats I have looked at have a solvent for the vehicle. Are there any quality acrylics that are water based out there? Any particle types of water based clear coats that you guys like and why? How are Vallejo's clear coats? I am thinking mainly of products I could use in my spray gun.

Thanks
 
I have used the Vallejo stuff. It is good.

I have also used Mission Models clear coats and they are good as well

I have not tried either of them on unpainted kits so I do not know how well they might adhere on their own to the plastic, but I don't think it would be an issue
 
I seal in my paintwork using Pledge Floor Care / Future through my airbrush. I can then spray acrylics on top of the dried Future, place decals and reseal with more Pledge Floor Care. I have had good results with it and it is water soluble. However, for clean-up in your gun afterward, put some glass cleaner with ammonia or just ammonia and spray it through clean.

I have read recently some folks worrying about yellowing- over time, but I have not had that issue with my models as of yet.
 
I love Future in theory, but I absolutely hate that it darkens colors. All that hard work and time agonizing over just the right paints/colors/shades and then it's all undone in by a single application of Future. Why I'm moving away from using it.
 
It darkens colors? I've never noticed that. I've used it on lots of models prior to applying washes. I haven't done a Bandai kit yet because I still use enamel paints and I've heard too many horror stories about the kits disintegrating after painting.
 
Yeah, see, I'd say any gloss coat darkens colors. That's how gloss coats do. And it generally comes back with the dull coat. However, it's almost like the "return" of color is like the "return" of the flat finish. It never gets back to the finish of the original flat color. Sort of to the same degree that the hue never gets back. But I find this of all gloss coats and dull coats. A trade-off I live with.
 
I concur, I've not noticed significant 'darkening', so perhaps it is a matter of the gloss coating itself? In any case, I've been using the Pledge aka Future for a very long time, especially nice it doesn't yellow with time. I had a bottle yellow, but it was the *bottle* that yellowed!
Regards, Robert
 
I agree about Vallejo. It has served me well for many years and didn't appear to make any colours darker. Just my thoughts.
 
I think rather than "darkening" stuff, what a gloss coat does is turn up the contrast, at least in my experience.

You lose subtle blending between colors and a lot of the more subtle weathering seems to disappear
 
I've tried tons of different clear coats/varnishes over the years, and my current favourites are the Mecha Color varnishes from Vallejo. They're water based, easy to use, very durable and scratch resistant once fully cured and the matte varnish is REALLY matte.

For weathering purposes, e.g. washes, I prefer Tamiya or Gunze gloss coats, though.
 
I'm just really picky about colors/shades! Future is good for sealing finishes and decal applications, though. I guess the larger issue is that I have a hard time getting a non-pebbly finish with it. Just can't seem to get it to lay down smoothly, but maybe thinning would help.
 
Those of you who airbrush Future (or similar), do you shoot it straight (unthinned)? And what pressures do you use?
Essentially it is good to know that Pledge/Future is essentially liquid plastic. It has the most incredible leveling properties I have seen in anything I have painted. In fact sometimes I mix future in with my acrylic paints with water if I want a great level of paint around details. I shoot Pledge/Future straight through the airbrush direct from the bottle at around 18-20 PSI. If you want to thin it - again, ammonia is what thins and also cleans out the airbrush. I have found that glass cleaner with ammonia works great for both thinning the Future (which I rarely do) and for cleaning the airbrush.

However, once dried it forms a great seal perfect for decals and weathering. If you need to strip it from a model for repair work or to fix a mistake - again, ammonia from either glass cleaner or straight ammonia will strip even hard and cured Pledge/Future from the model kit.
 
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