Hello guys,

yeah, i know that this has been discussed again and again before but the search function didn't help. So i hope that nobody will blame me for another topic.

i did a lot of tests with hairspray in the last months in order to get a feeling for this kind of weathering. The problem is not that i do not know how it is supposed to work but that the top colour coat gets chapped just moments after spraying it. Must be a reaction of the hairspray right under it but have a look yourself:



Colours are Tamiya acrylics in combination with original thinner (mixture is about one to one) and Gunze drying retarder. The base coat is german grey, followed by a coat of hairspray applied with my airbrush and finally a sand tone mixed with Tamiyas. I gave the base coat and the hairspray a few hours to dry each and then applied the sand tone in THIN!!! coats.

No matter what i do, this happens all the time when i spray the top coat. I just don't have an explanation for this problem because so many modellers do this technique without any considerable problems, especially like this one.

The only fact i can tell: it seems that the problem mainly appears in areas where the hairspray is applied a bit thicker than on the rest of the part. Basically i applied the hairspray in two thin coats to get a feeling for the technique first and to avoid that the paint comes off pretty hard when starting to work with water. So i think that those flaws should actually appear all over the turret shouldn't they?

In all my tests this always happened. So what am i doing wrong???


Greetings from Germany

Bernd

I don't understand your problem, but here is the way I have best MHO. I don't care for the hairspray technique. Apply a layer of clear gloss over your base coat and allow to dry. Apply hairspray. Let dry. Reapply hairspray and let dry. Apply top coat(s) and allow to dry. Use a stiff brush, there are some available with steel bristles or stiff nylon ones, and draw the brush from front to back concentrating on the edges and worn areas. Seal with clear coat. Alternatively, you can apply hairspray over the base. Just be sure to use a gloss clear coat. The longer you leave the hairspray on the model, the less of a effect you get. Hope this helps.
P.S. never "scrub" the paint off of the model. This is not how paint would wear away.

Sorry if my description was a little bit opaque.

The problem is that the colour gets chapped before i've finished spraying the top coat. When i've sprayed a few thin layers (i'd say pretty "dry" and not "wet" layers) on the hairspray it takes a few seconds and then those flaws appear. I have not reached the actual point of applying water and chipping so far. I already tried different hairsprays... No chance. The problem is always the same.

like crack lines? possibly your hairspray is too thick, and your top spray may be a little too wet?

Yes, they look like some kind of crack lines. You think i applied the hairspray too thick? Then i don't understand how people can spray right from the can . And like i said, i sprayed the top colour in thin and not wet coats.

there is definately a reaction there, And by the sounds of it, if your painting is going how you explained it is quite odd.
Do you let the hairspray dry before painting?
I personally, Brushpaint everything, and the few times i used hairspray nothing like this happened. I always made sure to dry it with a hairdryer before applying mt final coat. The enzymes in hairspray react with warm water allowing it to be removed when you no longer want your hair hold. so it shouldnt matter how long it is left to dry .

Although i've read that people only give about 10 to 30 minutes for the hairspray to dry I always give it a few hours, possibly on a radiator. For the colous: i usually let them dry over night.

Bernd;
If you strip the paint by soaking the model in Brake Fluid it will remove all of the paint and you can start over fresh. Make sure to wash all of the brake fluid off with water well and let it dry over night.
Also you might give this another read through:
http://migjimenez.blogspot.com/2009/11/hairspray-technique-vol1.html
Hope this helps and I hope the next round works well. Cheers.

Thanks Damon for the tip but i got a much cheaper and less (ecologically) harmful possibility to remove acrylic paint: solute a dishwasher tab in warm water, put the model/parts in and see what happens --> magic

Works much better than alcohol. Believe me, i had to do that a lot because of the hairspray tests which went wrong...

I have always decanted the hairspray and applied it through my airbrush. This allows a much finer application of the hairspray and keeps me from getting it too thick on the models surface.

I then clean the airbrush and by then the hairspray is dried and I can apply the paint.