finish coat ona boxcar repaint

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi everyone… I am n the process of repainting and decaling some boxcars; my question is, after decals have dried, should I use a flat finish or a satin finish product as the final coat on the boxcar? ( I laid the decals over a glossy finish as recommended

, and I do not want that to be the final coat.

Thanks for any suggestions,

Mr.Mick

2

Flat.

3

I would suggest first adding a second coat of clear gloss over the lettered car. The reason for this is that the gloss on which the decals have been applied is seldom the same degree of glossiness as the decals. When a flat finish is added directly over it, it usually does a substandard job of hiding decal film, with the gloss of the decals easily seen as being slightly different (not glossy, though) than the gloss over the paint (also not glossy, but not matching the appearance of the decals either), even though both were coated with the same clear flat.
Overspraying the entire sides and ends of the car (all of the areas where decals would be applied) will give the entire car a more uniform finish, which can then be overcoated with a flat finish. This does help to hide decal film, better than just an overspray of flat.

Another option would be to apply the second overcoating of clear gloss, then a spray of semi-gloss - useful if you wish to represent a recently-built car, as most were fairly glossy when new. By mixing gloss and flat clear finishes, you can create whatever degree of either is most-suited to what you’re trying to show. A slight amount of weathering would still be appropriate on such a car, if you wished, but I’d limit it to a little road dust on the underbody and lower portion of the sides, along with a little wheelspray on the car’s ends.

This scratchbuilt boxcar car still needs a bit more weathering (there’s a little wheelspray on the ends)…

…but even under oblique lig

4

Absolutely use a flat finish.

I used to swear by Testor’s #1260 spray can Dullcoat, but it is not as good as it used to be. It is not completely flat anymore.

Krylon flat finish was terrible,I would avoid it again.

I am now airbrushing Testors Dullcoat from a bottle with OK results.

I will try Tamiya’s flat finish soon, and hopefully that will be a winner.

-Kevin

5

Thanks for the suggestions and discussion - I think I will try the 'GL - Decal -GL - FL" approach on these two cars.

Mr. Mick

6

Testors DullCote. I tried another brand of flat clear finish once and it made the decals crinkle up. Since then I have used nothing but DullCote and the decals stay flat and happy. Give the entire model an even coat.

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Note that the advised procedure, to give the model a thin coat of gloss over the decals, would likely prevent any crinkling or other reaction between the decal film and the ‘final finish’.

8

My favorite flat finish is Vallejo matte applied with an airbrush.

However, nothing will beat the old Floquil Flat Finish. I loved that stuff and used it for many years. I miss it.

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I miss that stuff too, It was a great product.

-Kevin