Like many, I often use Dullcote to kill the shiney or over-bright appearance of plastic RTR’s and kits. But it has a drawback when used on large smooth areas, such as the roof on a coach, that it will easily pick up finger prints that won’t come off, and show shiny spots from minor abrasions. I try to keep people at my club from helpfully re-railing my errant passenger cars so I won’t have to re-spray them.
Do you know of more durable products or better procedures for dullling plastic surfaces? Thanks.
Odd. I have never had these experiences with DullCoat. For me it dried to a hard solid paint-like finish and minor abrasions do not wear it off to show the shine underneath. Yours sounds almost like it is still tacky. Perhaps painting in damp surroundings could case this. I have had issues with weathering powders that were, evidently, not adequately secured or covered by DullCoat. There I do see evidence of fingerprints and smudges and the like.
Then again I understand that DullCoat changed its formula a few years ago and perhaps I am still working off an older supply. There are other spray fixitives that might be worth exploring.
I would point out that if you DullCoat a model that already has fingerprints on it, in a sense it preserves them there forever. I wonder if what you are really experiencing is seeing the DullCoat-ed model in better lighting conditions and notice built in issues? Just a thought.
This is not helpful or responsive but it is rather surprising that given the value and delicacy of our trains, they are permitted to be touched so often and by so many. At the risk of having us all look like art museum curators (or for that matter, look a little like Mickey Mouse) a case can be made that we should all be wearing those light white fabric gloves that you see at art/antique shows and auctions. People who handle raku pottery in particular use those gloves because body oils destroy the raku finish. So the gloves are on to handle a $100 vase, but we use bare hands to manhandle a $200 locomotive.
Maybe boxes of those fabric white gloves should be just as much a part of a well-used layout as cupholders and waybill boxes.
I haven’t noticed that happening with my Dullcoted stuff. Which is not to say it’s not happening for you…
Makes me wonder, does your club serve pizza on ops nights? Because I could see greasy fingers affecting the Dullcote enough to make the marks you see. The only cure for that is likely telling 'em to keep their mitts off your stuff.
Minor abrasions? My guess is there’s nothing that will help that. Flat finishes just do that. I have a mil-surplus 1/4 ton trailer that I had sandblasted, then painted with OD. Yep, every abrasion shows on it.
A weathering brush with steel bristles works particularly well. (Especially for “woodsided” painted pieces) Micromark has several varieties. But scratch carefully on an old piece for practice first.
It sounds to me like it’s an application issue. If the Dullcote goes flat right away as you apply it, you’re not getting enough of it on the model (moving too fast or too far away) It sounds like you’re just dusting the model… It should go on “wet” (just like any other coat of paint) and then dry to a “matte” finish.
Does sound more like the “pizza night” oily fingers causing this. I will only use Dullcoat to work w/ alcohol weathering technique. Most all of my clear coating is done w/ Floequil flat finish airbrushed. The finish ends up perfectly smooth and quite durable. A drop or two of gloss gives a more satin finish for that newer look.
I’ve used spray Dull Cote a lot over the years. I found it best not to use around clear “windows” on the models however. I also found that towards the end of the can you can get minute globs as opposed to a fine spray. Not always, but it has happened.
For models with windows, I brush on bottle clear flat finish. You do need a long flat brush, work in even strokes, and work fairly fast. Oh, and have some ventilation going just as you would with the spray.
Jay, I know what you mean, but I’m using enough application close enough not to get the “dusting” effect.
Re: fingerprints - they’re usually only visible on smooth surfaces. Pizza oil isn’t necessary to leave prints, just the accumulation of natural skin oil, so I wash ny hands or put on gloves before handling a passenger car. Sometimes prints will wash off with gentle application of Dawn, sometimes not.
But I also dislike how easily Dullcote rubs off. I’d never put a car back in a factory box with a plastic support form,
Graham Line, I agree Model Master matte gives better results than Dullcote, but havn’t been able to get it lately. Bob K, you’re the second one to recommend Floquil Flat Finish, so I plan to try some on the next job.
I’ve been spraying equipment with flat finish for decades, and have never seen or heard of a problem with fingerprints like you’re describing. A car sprayed with dullcote should be no more likely to show fingerprints than say a factory decorated car that wasn’t sprayed. I normally weather my equipment with powdered charcoal then seal that in with flat finish, so it may be the weathering helps hide fingerprints.
Of course you need to use a paint handle to paint the equipment, and depending on weather conditions, may need to let the finish dry a couple of days before handling, or you can leave fingerprints in the finish.
If you use an airbrush, an option to consider would be Alclad’s line of clears. They outperform many of the products that have been on the market for years. Cool factor is that there’s no mixing involved. Just shake the bottle, pour into your airbrush jar or cup, set your air pressure between 15 and 20psi, and spray on medium wet. Flows out well and smoothly, but always test on a scrap piece.
The #314 FLAT AND #313 MATTE give you a choice of a totally flat finish or a flat finish with a tiny amount of reflectivity. These work very well over stock paint finishes on plastic and metal models. Just make certain the surfaces are very clean.
I ran out of Dullcote yesterday and my Hobby Lobby no longer stocks it. I tried today a can of Krylon clear / flat and won’t use it again…it has a bit of sheen to it when dry. Will find or order more Dullcote.
