How many gloss coats

So, with all that in mind, which would improve the looks of the decals more? Doing a second gloss coat before putting them on thus, in theory, improving the surface they're adhereing too or doing a second gloss coat over them thus, in theory, 'blending' them into the kit better?

This is a first for me, no replies! Mods, could you move this to either Paint or Decals, whichever you think might suit it best? Thanks a lot How about one coat of gloss and affix the decals while still wet, the drying klear should pull the decals down and then a further coat to seal in the decals. The problem IMHO is that decals will still look like stickers and not blend in unless you spray a very thin coat of a buff colour over the entire model and I don't know what to recommend to replicate this with brush painting only.

Personally I give one or two coats of klear before the decals. The number of coats depends on the paint below, some paints kind of "absorb" the klear in, other don't. With two coats I'm usually fine over any kind of paint while still having a thin enough layer of klear not to hide details or anything. On such a finish, the decals work very well using microscale products. Or better, those decals that work fine with this system work very well.

Some decals need more aggressive stuff and for these I use gunze's Mr. Mark Softer. I then add a third coat over the decals not always. If by brush you need 3 or more coats before the finish is gloss enough for the decals, then the paint you're using really absorbs a lot!

Look here Swanney suggests thinning with Isopropol alcohol. Yeah, it can be a little harder with a brush to get a thin coat. To be fair, if I only do 2 coats one before and one after decals I'm happy with the 'look' of the Gloss coat, but sometimes the Decals aren't as 'painted on' as I'd like, and I'm wondering if an extra Gloss coat before or after the decals would help. Would using Micro Set as well help improve things? Depends, mainly on the decals. With some decals I used micro sol only with no problems.

Now I'm using both and sometimes the gunze product too and most decal work fine including some of japanese kits. Keep in mind that not all decals are equal in terms of thickness and adhesion. Some will always stick lile a sore thumb no matter how many gloss coats and setting agents you use.

Just so long as the underlying adhesion between the wood and the paint is sound, so it doesn't flake off then it sounds like a reasonable idea. If you are painting new wood or over very weathered old paint, consider "Ranch Paint", which is microporous.

I used it on well weathered paint several times having removed the flaky bits and rubbed it down. Worked a treat and didn't "peel". From past experience, ordinary undercoat and gloss would have. Ranch paint isn't cheap but you don't need an undercoat and the finish is good- albeit satin rather than gloss. Probably not good over good old paint as you'd have to do some serious sanding. I strongly disagree. After a lot of experience in painting wood, I came to the conclusion that what painting does, is pretty specialised, and goes like this.

This stabilises the wood and prevents resin creeping under the paint. Filling removes major imperfections. Priming mainly has to stick to the wood, and provide a key for other coats. Top coat is there to fine tune the colour, and to provide a tough surface to protect what is below. On cars, you often see that as a clear lacquer, with the normal paint actually being the 'undercoat'. Now in an outdoor situation, if the top coat gets compromised the underlying coats will fail.

Typically UV attack splits the top coat, and water gets into the wood dwells it and splits the paint off. Specks of dust, pet hair and flying insects can all conspire to ruin the best-applied paint.

A vacuum cleaner and a tack cloth will be your best defence against them. Arm yourself before you start. After all that, the actual gloss painting is straightforward. Lay new plastic disposable dust sheets in the area you plan to work in. If you use material dust sheets make sure they are completely dust free. Use grade sandpaper wrapped around a sanding block, where possible to put a key onto the surface so the undercoat will adhere to it.

Always sand in the direction of the grain. This surface had a couple of coats of wood stain on it and it was straightforward to key up. If the surface you plan to paint has several layers of old paint on it, you may have to start with a coarser grade of paper to get rid of any imperfections.

Wear a dust mask for this part of the job. Use a sharp Stanley-type knife to cut the tape neatly into the corners. This will stop any paint getting on the glass and allows you to flow the paint on, rather than the tentative daubing thats associated with cutting in.

Use a tack cloth to remove any dust before you begin painting. This window frame looked clean; the tack cloth proved otherwise. Brush sizes 12mm, 25mm and 50mm will cover most undercoating and glossing jobs. The better the brush the better the finish, so buy the best you can afford.