Clear sprays over Acrylic

[Butters]

One for the tribe.... I know acrylic paints will 'out gas' for some time after painting, so how long should they dry out and 'set' before they are clear coated? The clear will probably be generic Walmart clear in a rattle can, as that's what I have. My other choices are clear bottle varnishes from the craft section, again, it's what I havee in stock.

Another thing to consider is that the subject is not a model, it will recieve some, limited, handling and so needs to be somewhat durable.

[TurkeyVolumeGuessingMan]

So what is this Walmart stuff in a can? Acrylic? Lacquer? I'm rather hesitant to use cheap stuff from various stores that isn't specifically made for hobby painting. I mean, Krylon may be okay, but I am hesitant to use hardware store type stuff on models without knowing it will work well or not.

As for letting an acrylic sit, I would wait a few days. After that, it should be hard enough to withstand even a lacquer clear coat if misting coats are applied.

[Butters]

So what is this Walmart stuff in a can? Acrylic? Lacquer?

You got me. The color label on the back says Clear and the front simple says Fast Dry Spray Paint. The directions on the back of the can (which are the same as on a can of red oxide primer) call it a spray enamel.

[TurkeyVolumeGuessingMan]

Gee, I dunno what to tell ya. Enamels go on acrylics easily enough, but just grabbing something off the shelf at a Wal Mart ---to me, anyway--- sounds like an invitation to disaster. A clear enamel would be great, but fast drying? Enamels tend to not be fast drying like lacquers or acrylics. Even when dealing with hobby stuff, you may run into problems. Testors Dull Cote is notorious for yellowing whites on models, for example. The stuff you have... is it intended for furniture and such? It may be meant to be sprayed onto varnished wood or ceramics, but not model acrylics. Did you buy it in the crafts section?

[SpaceRanger1]

The only thing I would use over an acrylic is another acrylic. But you can always test first on a piece of scrap plastic.

[TER-OR]

http://www.starshipmodeler.net/talk/vie ... hp?t=60853

There's a whole thread for clear coats.

[Butters]

http://www.starshipmodeler.net/talk/vie ... hp?t=60853

There's a whole thread for clear coats.

Saw that, but don't want to read four pages of posts.

[TER-OR]

Two weeks ago I did this with a resin model:

Testors Acryl White Primer
Next day: Testors Acryl Green gloss.
Two days later: Testors Model Master British Racing Green Metallic.
Three days later: Future Acrylic gloss.

And it looks great, no problems at all.