Servus folks,

my current project is ready for weathering. Since i couldn't find my bottle of future i was kinda forced to go with Tamiya X-22 for the clear coat. Of course it worked but as you know the overall drying time is just way too long.

Yesterday i wanted to spray the tracks and smaller parts and stumbled over some bottles of Vallejo clear gloss which i must have forgotten over time. One of them is just numbered 510 and is at least eight years old for sure but still absolutely white in the bottle.
The other two are numbered 70.510, about three years old or so, of thinner consistency and look much more like some kind of light flesh tone:



Being suspicious of using it on the model i gave 70.510 a try on a test hull first this morning and checked it when i came back from work and now i know what spider-app can do. It also has a slight orange taint:



I don't know if it's me or the paint? I shaked the bottle well and applied by brush without thinning.

How old was the paint on the test hull? What brand? Same as the clear coat? Was it fully dried/cured? Looks like a reaction between two different brands of paint.

I airbrushed it with Tamiya acryls and sealed it with X-22 a couple of weeks ago.

Perhaps it didn't like going over the X-22. Do you have something painted with Vallejo colors you can test with? No other type of clear used just vallejo paints that are completely dried and cured. If you do try the vallejo clear on it. Also do you have something you can paint with Tamiya colors, no x-22, then hit it with the vallejo clear after they're dried and cured This is to test compatibility with other paints.

Just did what you suggested. I'll report tomorrow.

Results after letting thick layers applied to Tamiya XFs dry over night:



The left plate has been painted with 70.510, the right one with 510. Note the brownish taint on the left one. It's not a wash but the gloss coat itself. As you can see no cracks occurred.

To test the compatibility with X-22 i also did a second test with 510 on the first hull right beside the spot where i tested 70.510 before. Again, no visible cracks. The bubbles where already in the when i applied it. Didn't really take care of them because i just did a test.



You bet, it's 70,510. But not only that one. I looked in the bottles with 70.520 (matt varnish) and 70.522 (satin varnish) which i halso have just to notice the same fleshy tone. Can't tell if the paints have been expired, from a bad batch or just improperly stored where i bought them.

Well, paints can go bad and formulations change and sometimes just aren't compatible. I'd get new bottle because it will drive you crazy trying to find out what's going and can take too much time. This is one reason I usually Future and Testors Glosscote and Dullcote. They pretty much go with everything with out any problem.

I believe acrylic types of paint do not have the long shelf life the old solvent based paints had and when separation of ingredients do occur then with arcylic they cannot be reinstated regardless of how hard and how long they are agitated. The main cause of instability apart from age so I understand it is low temperature.

Try not to keep your paints stored in a place which is prone to very low temperatures such as sheds, garages etc. Of course you can never tell what happened to your paint on its journey from manufacturer to when you obtained it.

I seem to remember some Canadian members suffering with a batch of Vallejo paint that had probably been stored in a unheated warehouse before reaching them.

A friend just gave me one of his bottles 70.510 today. The varnish inside the bottle is milk-white as it should be.

Maybe storing my stuff in the cold basement wasn't that good. If so it won't happen again because meanwhile i got a hobby room furnished in my apartment.

Here is the safety page for Vallejo Acrylics, go down to shelf life for storage temperature range:
https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/safety/