Greetings,

I am building my first tank which is a Tamiya Abrams. I did some reasearch on how to paint the tracks but have one question. I am using the kit tracks. For the first step, I washed the tracks with soap and water and sprayed them acrylic flat black. Before I go any further with the washes and such, should I gloss them with future? In the several painting threads I have read, all talk about washes but none specifically mention a gloss coat. Is this just an assumed step or am I missing something?

Thanks for any help,

Chuck B.

No Future glosscote needed. You can put washes straight over the flat black paint.

Chuck,
No, skip the Future. As a matter of fact I never use the stuff. That's not saying some convention doesn't call for it. It's just a matter of personal choice. But I believe in your case it isn't necessary.
I recommend pressing on with your weathering. Remember, only the track connectors and guide teeth will show any evidence of rust.

Mike Kirchoff

the glosscoat is pretty much only to have a smooth layer to apply decals to. since you have no decals on tracks, no need for the glosscoat.

however, if your wash uses the same thinner as your base color, then you will need to seal the basecoat somehow in order to keep the wash from stripping it. But a flat coat could do that job and be more realistic for tracks than gloss. if you use a waterbased paint for the wash over oil enamals, then no need to seal. and if you use a water based wash over water based enamals, you are actually still fine without a clearcoat if you let the base dry more than a day or so.

About washes and whether you need a "barrier" layer:

Vance explained it very well. However, I would like to
add a couple of points that may help you understand
the whole ball of wax re washes over a previously
painted plastic model. As Vance said an acrylic wash
over acrylic paint is no problem. The acrylic wash will
not attack the acrylic paint as once it is dry it is pretty
hard. You could even put an oil wash over the acrylic
paint with no problems or no eating of the mineral
spirits and oils into the acrylic paint. So a barrier layer
for protection isn't necessary.

However, if you painted the base coat in enamels and
wanted to make the wash an oil wash using artist
tube oil paints and mineral spirits, you would need
to apply a barrier layer since the enamels would react
in a harmful way to the mineral spirits. It would eat
thru the enamel paint base coat. But I previously said
that oil washes don't affect acrylic paint once it is good
and hard. So that means you could use Future Floor
wax as the barrier layer over the enamel base coat and
feel safe that once the Future is good and hard, the
oil washes wouldn't harm the barrier layer because
Future Floor Was is actually acrylic liquid. I am sorry
this took me so long, but hope it makes everything
more clear for you. It's a good question that needs to
be mentioned here on the Big A from time to time,
IMHO.

Well,call me the dissident and Mr. Contrary as I am going to disagree somewhat on the subject of enamels and washes.I have not had a problem with enamel base coats and washes if 2 conditions are satisfied.1-Prime the surface to be painted.2-The enamel base coat MUST be allowed to dry for 3 days or so(I do 3 minimum) before any washes are applied.After that,you can pretty much use what you want as far as washes and solvents.Enamels are designed as pretty tough wear surfaces that stand up to repeated bathings of common chemicals.It's why they are the paint of choice for kitchens,bathrooms,doors,and door jambs/frames.Model enamels are no differant.I always use enamels for base coats for this reason and have never had any problems.Builders get into problems when they get impatient and move ahead before the paint has fully hardened.Some people prefer the Future coat to promote 'flow' of the wash.I personally don't see any differance in the action of the wash,but if you feel more confident with it,then by all means use it.
I still wait the 3 days before I use Future for decal prep just because it's not worth it chance-wise.
cheers!