Matt and Satin finish Varnish/lacquers for Live Steamer.

[StephH]

Hi all,

Taking advice from a post in the Painting section I'll repost my question here!!

Now I have been playing around with a loco' today and now wondered if anyone had any favourite varnish/lacquer for finishing a live steamer. The paint on the body is acrylic based so need something to finish over that.... It needs to be matt or satin (I will be using both finishes eventually). Normally I use Humbrol 49 for matt and GWorkshop Purity Seal for satin on most projects but I'm not convinced on the hot bits, so need advice?

The next loco will be enamel finished so need ones for that too!!!

ATB

Steph'

 

[Chris Bird]

Hi Steph
I recently tried out both of the Humbrol aerosols - the one for acrylics and the one for enamels.
I found them both horrible to use!
The most important thing is that thinners based acrylic cannot be used over enamel, but the enamel one can be used over acrylic. But then, of course, thinners based acrylic gloss (car sprays) is totally unsuitable for boilers.
For the small area I was dealing with, I used the Humbrol water based acrylic which seems OK.
Good luck!
Chris

 

[StephH]

Interesting Chris.... I have never had problems with the Humbrol... but I've never used the gloss one....

I reckon I'll go with what I know and see what happens! After all you can always start again.

I run into paint problems very rarely in my day job as everything is water based, or oil and I never mix the media but when it comes to models its a different discipline.... Mind you I have had the same type of paint react for no apparent reason so sometimes its just a mystery!

Thanks

Steph'

 

[stevedenver]

Re:Matt and Satin finish Varnish/lacquers for Live Steamer.

hey steph-while i have no advice on paint-(i touched up my roundhouse using testors gloss enamel over primer, both hand applied with great successs for an almost invisible blend and it has held up better than the original paint-i did not use a heat resitant type paint) I too have found that painting over things can result in unforeseen crazing etc-despite using the smae type paint allowing plenty of time for gassing-i prefer mineral -seems to adhere and tolerate heat better-while i hate gloss, i used it as my loco (#24) came gloss-it is however, a delight to clean

here in the US i have seen flat black paint specifically designed for BBQ and it is touted as heat resistant--perhaps a consideration depending...

i just toured your rr site-its wonderful and charming
your work is superb
and

your line and approach to the landscale will serve as inspiration to me this season as i plan to integrate my line permanently , and i too have a rather undulating garden area, and i too want my line unobtrusive at best- i like the starght ahead approach to simply using boards, as well as posts for support-

could you tell me
1 about the charming Darj coach-is it a kit? i would like to do something like it but in 1:22-

and 2
can you tell me the approx dimensions of your line-
i will be running LGB-not only my FRR stuff, but also larger things as well

 

[sir haydn]

Re:Matt and Satin finish Varnish/lacquers for Live Steamer.

Steph, Have you tired Phoenix precision paints?

I can recommend them

 

[StephH]

Re:Matt and Satin finish Varnish/lacquers for Live Steamer.

Steph, Have you tired Phoenix precision paints?

I can recommend them

I tried their aerosols and hated them... But I will be using their paint via airbrush for my new build...

I was just trying to dull down the finish on an already finished model! Think I'll just go the whole hog and repaint the thing

Thanks all!

Steph'

 

[StephH]

Re:Matt and Satin finish Varnish/lacquers for Live Steamer.

hey steph-while i have no advice on paint-(i touched up my roundhouse using testors gloss enamel over primer, both hand applied with great successs for an almost invisible blend and it has held up better than the original paint-i did not use a heat resitant type paint) I too have found that painting over things can result in unforeseen crazing etc-despite using the smae type paint allowing plenty of time for gassing-i prefer mineral -seems to adhere and tolerate heat better-while i hate gloss, i used it as my loco (#24) came gloss-it is however, a delight to clean

here in the US i have seen flat black paint specifically designed for BBQ and it is touted as heat resistant--perhaps a consideration depending...

i just toured your rr site-its wonderful and charming
your work is superb
and

your line and approach to the landscale will serve as inspiration to me this season as i plan to integrate my line permanently , and i too have a rather undulating garden area, and i too want my line unobtrusive at best- i like the starght ahead approach to simply using boards, as well as posts for support-

could you tell me
1 about the charming Darj coach-is it a kit? i would like to do something like it but in 1:22-

and 2
can you tell me the approx dimensions of your line-
i will be running LGB-not only my FRR stuff, but also larger things as well

Hi Steve.

That lovely Darj coach was a scratch build, built by the late Peter Coulter, one of the pioneers in 7/8ths. But there are I believe a few kits knocking around in 16mm... one of those might work I suppose.

As to the size its a very small railroad total area covered by the line is only about 30foot by 15foot, with mainline minimum radius of 5 foot. Turnouts though are R1 for now but i hope to rebuild with larger radius!

I'll add a track plan and a bit more detail to my line thread in the photo's area asap!
http://www.gscalecentral.net/m197259 ATB Steph'

 

[GTB]

Re:Matt and Satin finish Varnish/lacquers for Live Steamer.

Normally I use Humbrol 49 for matt and GWorkshop Purity Seal for satin on most projects but I'm not convinced on the hot bits, so need advice?

The next loco will be enamel finished so need ones for that too!!!

Humbrol 49 is polyurethane, like their gloss 35. I've used the matt for years in small scale, but have stopped using it, as recent tins were frosting when applied.

I've gone back to using Estapol Satin and Matt varnishes over enamels. I like the yellow colour of polyurethane varnish, as it gives a nice rich antique effect to the colour coat. Estapol is an Aust. brand, but there'll be something equivalent in the UK (Ronseal?). I don't use acrylics, but the polyurethane I use is compatible with alkyd enamels.

If you look at the little Baldwin in my avatar, I used rapid enamel for the colour coat, over etch primer on metal parts. The rapid enamel is gloss, so it was finished with satin Estapol. The black bits are Pot Belly Black, sold for use on cast iron stoves, which needs to be oven dried after application to cure it properly.

I've only taken up large scale in the last couple of years, so I guess I'll find out the hard way how these paints work in the long term. The loco has been steamed about 15 times without anything nasty happening to the paintwork so far...........

Regards,
Graeme