Hello gents, my situation is as follows.

I've airbrushed a basecoat of grey enamel paint on to a kit I'm building. I'd like to proceed by adding light washes of black to gradually darken recessed areas and add a bit of dimension to the vehicle but first I plan to airbrush a matt clear acrylic to protect the enamel coat from the black I dilute with mineral spirits. Does this sound like the correct thing to do?

Also, once I've painted my first black wash and let it dry, will I have to spray an acrylic matt coat after it, and another matt coat after each additional wash?

One more thing. As I'm using enamel paint, should I be using mineral spirits with my washes or is there another product which wouldn't affect the base enamel coat?


TIA

Peter

Hi Peter!
I use enamel base coats all the time and washes are quite easy. 2 ways to proceed after base coat:
1- let dry 3 or more days and then use anything you like. Enamel is very tough when fully dry and mineral spirits will not bother it.
2- let dry 1 day or so and then seal coat with flat clear acrylic. Wash till you are happy.
Multiple washes with enamel can be done following the above steps.Enamel is enamel wether it is a base coat or a wash.
Options- first wash enamel,one day later wash with acrylic using water for solvent or wash with water mixable oils such as Winsor&Newton brand.Next day seal w/flat clear and repeat.
Sometimes I will base coat enamel,wash acrylic,wash water oil,seal with Dulcote then repeat acrylic or water-oil.
Decals after base coat.Gloss Future where decal goes,apply decal.Seal with gloss future if wash is enamel. If water solvent wash,just run with it!
In the old days when I had nothing but enamels, it was just accept 3 days between washes or risk damage.

HTH,
Rick

This is exactly the sort of information I was hoping for.


Cheers

Peter