Hello,
I am looking for a good tip for a product to finish up my tank projects. I use acrylics (Tamiya and the like) exclusively and have have good success spraying them out of my badger 200 and Iwata airbushes. After this I spray "Future" acrylic to seal the paint and gloss the surface a little before applying decals and weathering. What would be an appropriate product to finish up with to give the model its final matt / dull coat? I have tried testors dullcoat but this is for enamels and has to be used VERY carefully or the acylics will be damaged. I also had the bright idea that Tamiya flat base, X-21, thinned a lot, and sprayed on would do the trick. All it did was frost the model and turn it white. [X(] Turns out this product is used only as an additive to paint.

So is there another choice?

Chris

i use this it drys very dull might want to test before going on emamels. i use acrylic waterbased paints to paint my tanks so this stuff goes on great no worries

X-21 has bit a lot of people like that. Future doesn't like the ether in Tamiya 'acrylics', sometimes it clears up on it's own.

Doesn't Testors have matte clear under the Model Acrylic brand?

I use Vallejo only at this point, between their Panzer Ace range and their new tinted Poly primers, they have all I need. They have 3 types of acrylic clear.

One thing I used to do years ago with static models was 'dust' them with Tamiya buff. That knocked the shine off the Future and dulled the color, adding a realist dirt appearance. Dry pigments do the same. I'd experiment a bit if you wanted to try that route. Dusting with an AB can get away from you quickly.

Chris
I think that if you are painting with a Badger then doesn’t make sense to use spray cans, will leave an orange peel that you tried to avoid when airbrushed.
I used Tamiya acrylics since many years ago and 15% X21 on X22 ( clear) to get the matt varnish. However being a 1/16 tank a big boy under many stress contrary to a static model, I recommend a hard paint, for example Model Master, that is a hard enamel.
I use to mix Model Master with some Tamiya enamel to get the good properties Tamiya have. For example two bottles of Model Master OD with 3 of Tamiya OD.
For the gloss base I only plaint the area where I will apply the decal, then I mix X21 + X22 in a way that match perfectly the dull surface. Remember that for weathering you need a flat surface, in contrary what some people say. The gloss surface is useful to apply oils in model cars and 1/48 airplanes, however tanks needs a flat surface to get a realistic weathering. Just my sight on this.

I'll limit my comments to what I've actually used.

Firstly, I find that rattle cans suit my needs best for applying the dull finish, as I don't like getting out the airbrush after the paint dries. So...I like rattle cans for the dull coat.

I've tried Rust-oleum "frosted glass", and found it didn't work so well . It left an unwanted white sheen on my tanks, no matter how light the coat...especially the darker colors like dark green or olive drab.

I've tried Army Painter anti-shine matte varnish (rattle can), which has nearly zero gloss. It was beautiful, BUT the varnish formulation apparently has the nasty habit of dissolving water slide decals.

I keep coming back to time and again to Testor's Dull Kote. It's a bit too much gloss for my liking, but it dulls with age. It comes in a small sized rattle can, but is handy and reliable and works with decals.

I use the DULL COTE on most everything ... very satisfying results.

Having only used the Frosted Glass effect on a few special projects to give it that unique, one of a kind look. Too many layers or sprayed too close will ruin what you're trying to accomplish. Also, the brand I used changed the color to a certain extent, which was what I wanted to see.










~ Jeff