When I was a little Clipper my dad ran a Vocational College and I had run of the facilities and teachers on my off time. I remember learning how to paint cars in the auto shop one summer and the instructor was very glad to teach me how to paint my own motorcycle tank and frame. It started with a lot of sanding and priming, wet sanding and more priming. When it came to the color I was instructed to spray a light tack coat, let it set until it was sticky to the touch, then spray a medium heavy "wet" coat on, being careful not to allow it to run. As Ii drove the 900 miles back from Boise the other day/night my mind began to wonder . . . the problem we have with the Shapeways WSF is its porosity. The surface is made up of tiny granules of plastic the are fused together and there are zillions of micro sized holes that need to be filled. Am I right so far Zoe? Now we give out models many coats of "filler" which seals the material and builds up a "skin" on the surface of the model. What if you could put a "tack" coat of very sticky and super fast drying paint, follow that coat up with a "wet" coat of super fast drying gloss paint. The tack coat would stop the wet coat from completely soaking in before the layers set. After 10 hours of driving I began to believe it could work. But what paint? The trick is having it dry super fast and not completely have one layer dissolve the previous one and let the first coat cure without blushing the second one. Most of our paints are water based acrylics which have a slow drying time and some will dissolve the first coat if it is not completely dry when you add the second. With me so far? Enter the latest order from Shapeways, 8 Fokker DVII's!
After a quick wash and dry I went out to the shop to do some looking on the paint shelf. Lots of left overs. In and amongst them I found a set of cans of spray acrylic lacquer from my old Bronco that I had done some body work on, one of the cans was a linen white . . . Dupli Color Brand (solvent based acrylic lacquer)
What to do? Risk a model? That's not how Clipper rolls, why risk just one when you can risk several at once? I decided to risk 8. In this next picture I try to show the impact, the gloss of the paint is easy to see on the board under the model.
Here on the bottom of the model you can see the gloss from merely 2 coats of the paint applied as planned . . .
Here is the top side, you can see the gloss and the fill to a small degree
Or here
Meanwhile now I have a squadron of 8 Udet DVII's!
The finish is hard, smooth and very shiny! It worked! Two coat finish! Now to give them a light roughing up with fine steel wool to allow the water base final colors to work! I have used these paints before on wood models, the only shortfall is that some spray dull coats will crinkle the surface. I have since switched to a brushed on clear acrylic for a dull sealer. Imagine sealing your Shapeways with two spray coats in 30 minutes!!!! The elves are VERY nervous!
Here it happens in blue
See the gloss on the lower wings!
Could it be true? I'm sold, no more layer and layer and layer for me!
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