Paint Lifting

This week i ran into a problem i have had numerous times before.

paint lifting.

what is paint lifting?

paint lifting is what happens when you try to cover a cool paint with a hotter paint.

the terms hot and cool are based on their carrier fluids

acrylic= water or rubbing alcohol = cool

enamel= mineral spirits = warm

lacquers/acrylic enamel/acrylic lacquer = lacquer thinner/ acetone = hot

you can spray cooler paints over hot ones without a problem 100% of the time.

also conventional acrylics can be overcoated with anything once they dry fully.

the problem i had was actually because i didnt do research and assumed Tamiya acrylics were like others i have used.

the long and short of it was i laid a base coat of tamiya aluminum on a P-51 i am building and then went to clear coat it with duplicolor clear.

the base coat …

 

 

i then decided to clear the kit after it had sit to dry for a few days

i grabbed a can of duplicolor clear and decanted some into the airbrush

3 light coats and everything looked good for a couple minutes, then the chemical reaction started.

 

 

 

now any other true acrylic on the market would not have done this. Tamiya’s acrylic is a modified acrylic ( dilutes with rubbing alcohol/ water but is in truth solvent based. because that solvent was colder than the solvent in the duplicolor, the solvent attacked the basecoat and started to lift or crinkle it in a few assorted areas.

some areas will be sanded and repainted, others will get a bath in purple power down to bare plastic and then redone.

live and learn.. or in this case.. i live and you learn from it =o)