Some questions:

-. Apply a lacquer surface to the base coat?

-. One or two coats of hairspray?

-. What is the maximum drying time of the top coat?

Thanks

Hi Schwarzadler, following are some answers to your questions:

1) I have the best results spraying a lacquer based primer such as Tamiya or Alclad, followed by a lacquer base coat. You can use either enamel or arcylic base coats, but it is critical to make sure they have time to cure, normally a few days depending on the paint, to make sure they do not lift with the top coat.

2) I always give the model two coats of hairspray letting the first coat dry for a few minutes before applying the second coat. Here it is important to make sure you spray a mist to avoid the build up of drops. If you are using a hairspray can this is pretty easy to avoid as cans tend to spray at high pressure. Hold the can around 12-18 inches from the model and make quick passes to mist the hairsparay on. If using an airbrush make sure to up the air pressure to around 25-35 psi so the hairspray atomizes better.

3) I have found I have 1-1.5 hours of time to chip the top coat before the hairspray barrier has evaporated enough that it makes chipping difficult. I always use arcylics, either Tamiya, Lifecolor or Vallejo for my top coats when chipping using the hairspray technique. You can start chipping as soon as the top coat is dry to the touch. Using a glove is a good idea to avoid leaving prints on not yet cured paint.

Hope this helps,
Ernest

Yes to the 1st 2 questions and about 3-4 mins for the last.

If you don't put a laquer over your base coat, you will have lots of problems. The base coat will not be protected. I used Klear.

I give 2 light coats of hairspray letting it dry briefly between each coat.

Taking off the top coat and hairspray is a little trickier. If you wait too long it is difficult to remove them, not long enough and it turns messy and looks nothing like chipped paint. 3-4 mins works for me, but try it yourself and play about on a spare bit of plastic......not a £44 kit. I have seen guys doing testers for paint finishes on plastic spoons, a great idea.
Good luck, and keep trying at it, as when you get it right you can get some very convincing results.

Cheers Pete

Ola Schwarzadler

Usually I try to work with an Enamel basecoat but since I only airbrush acrylics this of course does not happen all the time. With Enamel it is really important that it has cured fully because you have a big possibilty of the Hairspray reacting with it giving odd results. Acrylics I usually protect with Tamiya Lacquer. Good protection and dries really fast.

I usually give it 2 layers of hairspray. The stuff dries very fast. Then I spray the top layer. which I let cure fully as well. It being Acrylics this goes quite fast as well.

Here comes a little tip that nobody ever seems to mention on forums when it comes to the hairspray technique. Here in the Netherlands Hairspray is graded from 1 to 4 or even 5 or 6 (I don't have much hair anymore I really only use it for scalemodelling So I don't know really). Where 1 to 2 usually is one gust of wind and your hair is out of shape and the heaviest grades hairspray are tough enough to protect paint on cars. If you go for hairspray method of chipping buy one of the lower graded hairsprays. And use a bit of warm tapwater. It will make your life so much easier.

T(h)anks you all!


I never saw numbers on a Dutch hairspray can which indicates it's strength. Until now I only saw "Strong hold" or "Extra strong hold" hairspray.