Protecting weathering on Graflex or bare aluminum

[sjensen]

I'm still new to some of this, but couldn't find a great answer using Search so forgive me for digging up something that has probably already been covered ...

I just finished weathering with acrylics over a KR Graflex (TROS conversion kit)... it looks great, but the acrylic wipes off when I'm cleaning. On a painted surface, I'd just clear coat it and be happy. But, on the bare metal, this seems like a bad idea. I found a several post saying clear coat will dull the finish, and I'm thinking there's likely a texture or film that would show on bare metal as well.

I did see a post suggesting wax. Does this work? If so, where do I get it? How do I apply it?

If not wax or clear coat... what do you use to protect the finish?

 

[Psab keel]

I know a lot of saber builders use clear powder coating to protect the finish on their saber hilts. This is a favored technique especially for those with weathered hilts.

 

[thd9791]

Renaissance wax or something buffer over probably wouldn’t hurt anything. Or a Tamiya TS clear coat. Johnson’s paste wax has solvents in it though, took off my gun blueing on a new aluminum piece

 

[sjensen]

Renaissance Wax sounds like what I was looking for, but the clear powder coat idea has my wheels turning and may have revisit this as a thought some day. Thanks!

 

[Joek3rr]

I've done clear automotive primer then a clear coat over that. Make sure you give it long time to dry. Like a week or so. I had problems because I would go by the time on the can. But it takes longer then what it says. After I did that, I got a durable clear finish.

 

[sjensen]

I've done clear automotive primer then a clear coat over that. Make sure you give it long time to dry. Like a week or so. I had problems because I would go by the time on the can. But it takes longer then what it says. After I did that, I got a durable clear finish.

Clear primer? Never heard of that before. A Google search lead me to "Dupli-Color CP199 Clear Adhesion Promoter Primer"... is this on the right track?

 

[Joek3rr]

Clear primer? Never heard of that before. A Google search lead me to "Dupli-Color CP199 Clear Adhesion Promoter Primer"... is this on the right track?

As I recall, yes that's the stuff! Couldn't get my clear coat to stick until I used that. It would just scrape off. But after that, everything held up fine.

 

[BudaFett]

This is the clear coat I use for my acrylic paint ups. Love it and I’ve never had an issue and it drys quick!

 

[4str0m3ch]

My advice would be to not worry about the acrylic coming off and just reapply to add new layers of grime. It adds more character over time and really pushes the dirt into crevices.