I have just completed my acrylic base coats and was wondering if I should put on a layer of Testors Dullcote before applying the various oils (I thin using white spirits).
Has anyone had any trouble working over Dullcoate?
Cheers
Jon

Hi Jon,
Having just today done my first ever oil washes on models #2 & 3, (#1 was my introduction to an airbrush and pigments), I believe you actually need a gloss or satin coat for the wash to flow over the panels and into the recesses and grooves properly.
After reading numerous threads here, Missing Lynx, Hyperscale and PMMS, I decided to do the acrylic base coat, future (yep floor polish, has a satin look), decals, future and then the washes.
I used Van Dyke Brown mixed with Artists Turpentine from an art supply store. I'd read of people using white spirits, and turpenoid??? but the composition of these products seems to vary which continent you're on, so rather than risk eating up the base coat, I went for the Artists turps (only 9.99 for 500ml).
I'm pretty happy with the results, may even develop some cojones and post my builds when they're done, just to show I can walk the walk, or in my case, stagger the stagger.
Matthew Toms has posted an fabulous thread called "Finishing and Weathering Sequence" that's pinned to the top of the forum and although it contains more steps than I'll currently attempt, it's a great reference.

Jon,

I've never had any problems applying washes made from artist oils thinned / reduced with ordinary mineral spirits over dried acrylics or over Testor's Dull Coat. Having said that, I usually, but not always, apply the Dull Coat last (i.e. over the base coats, cammo, color modulation, general and pin washes, and detail painting - to include chipping) in order to avoid an unnecessary build-up of paint. I do occasionally apply a layer of Dull Coat as an intermediate finishing step to protect earlier layers (like oil paint color modulation) from later layers (like general and pin washes) or to act as a fixative for earlier pigment layers that weren't fixed using some other material.

In either case, Dull Coat is the last layer before final light pastels / pigments and fixing to a base. I use the Dull Coat to even out and tie together the finish layers and achieve that final, flat finish that works well to hold light, dusty pastels. If you want a satin or semi-gloss finish, you can add Testor's Gloss Coat to the Dull Coat at whatever ratio is needed to get the desired level of sheen.

So, if your acrylics are completely dry, you can go either way with the washes and Dull Coat. This is a good thing since it frees you up to order / sequence your finishing layers to achieve your desired effects rather than as pre-determined by how the various materials react with each other.

Mike

Jon,
Since oil/spirit weathering can stain and darken your base coats, your best bet is to add one more acrylic layer - Future clear acrylic - then go right to oils.

Thanks chaps,
I did have a good read of the painting and finishing post above which is a great source of different possibilities. I will give the model a coat of Pledge One Go (future) and take it from there.
Jon

Got the future coat on. Funny thing I noticed was that the future attacked/removed tiny parts of the Tamiya Red Brown acrylic paint areas - it almost seemed to be a paint remover! However the Tamiya green rattle can base coat and Vallejo Middle Stone colours were totally unaffected. All the paint had been on the model for at least 3 days now. Anyone seen this before?

Some thoughts on why some paint areas lifted off.

• Was the model surface cleaned to remove oils, prints..ect?
  
• Did you prime the model? I like to prime the model for use with acrylic paints. It really does give a nice surface for the paint to bite into and hold.
  
• The areas affected. Were they higher points such as ridges, rivets? The reason I ask is I have found Tamyia paints tend to rub off easily on surface points that are handled or rubbed.
  
• If the future removed the paint it was probably becuse it just desolved it at those locations and I might just contribute it to one or a combination of the above.
  

I have found using Tamyia acrylics both a joy and frustrating. It sprays on nice but in my case tends to rub off easily. I found that if I will be handling the model a lot or even just repositioning it on the workbench I probably will spray a light coat of future on it to fix the paint. Tamyia acrylics seem to be the only brand I have encountered this problem with.

Tamiya rattle can paints are lacquer. The acrylic red brown may not have adhered well to the lacquer green. Skin oils would contribute to the poor adhesion as well.

It must be just one of those things! The model was primed black enamel (generic can I always use) then sprayed with the Tamiya Green rattle can. Then I applied the Tamiya Red Brown acrylic by brush, followed by the Vallejo Middle Stone acrylic by brush. The whole process took a week. At least the areas are very small and will actually aid the chipping/weathering process