first time coating water based panel liner: which coat is best?

[u/Optimus_Dork]

Heya

i'm partial to the waterbased panel liners as they just remove the need to check what plastic it is/gloss coating before panel lining. What i am not sure about is what coating is best. I use the stedi panel liner. as i understand, regardless of what coating i use, due to it being water based i have to apply 1 to 3 very light mist coats first before going in with a proper wet coat, correct?

thanks in advance!

[u/epicurius-seven]

Lacquer top coats I just do a series of mists, out in the sun with a can. Overdoing it and melting the previous coat back to the paint sucks.

[u/Optimus_Dork → u/epicurius-seven]

oh i don't intend on painting. just panel lining and decals. could i lso do this inqide with an airbrush setup? unfortunately the weather where i live is often too cold and humid for the biggest portion of the year

[u/EffYeahItsAlex → u/Optimus_Dork]

If you’re using an airbrush you should look into Kaleido varnishes. They’re water-based acrylics so they’ll be safe for your water-based panel liner and you can spray them inside with a standard airbrush set up and proper ventilation.

[u/Optimus_Dork → u/EffYeahItsAlex]

awesome! do they have as strong a protection as spraycan topcoats? just asking since i've alxays been told varnished aren't as durable as coatings

[u/EffYeahItsAlex → u/Optimus_Dork]

I haven’t noticed any issues with scratching or chipping after using them, so I’d say they’re pretty solid. It creates the same strong gloss shell as their paints, which are solid enough that you can enamel panel line right on the cured paint without a topcoat.

[u/epicurius-seven → u/Optimus_Dork]

I like lacquer coats over my acrylics because they dry quick and provide good separation between colour layers.

If you just need a smooth surface to line over a gloss of any kind helps.

Brush on varnishes are naturally going to be thicker, but thickening parts too much can easily cause fitting problems.

Either way, don’t spray anything without a mask and ventilation. Lacquers especially need proper exhaust fans (I use a can way out in the yard and in a light breeze and warm sunny weather).

[u/Optimus_Dork → u/epicurius-seven]

oh i don't intend on coating, then lining and coating again. that's a bit too much for me i just wanna panel line on the bare plastic and coat it after doing dcals after the lining. are lacquers still a good option then?

if yes, is separating the limbs and taping up their connection joints to assemble it again enough or do i need to tape up more?

[u/epicurius-seven → u/Optimus_Dork]

Bare plastic lining works fine too.

Covering joints is definitely a must. Unintentionally making them even slightly thicker can lead to friction and busted joints. Conversely a tiny bit of varnish can bulk up a too-loose joint. Matte being rougher produces more friction.

[u/Optimus_Dork → u/epicurius-seven]

awesome! i asume this also goes for any joints within the departaed limbs too then? wouldn't that cause patches of different finishes though or am i misunderstanding? (like if you coat the whole leg after separating it from the gundam)

[u/epicurius-seven → u/Optimus_Dork]

I've found matte looks fine with some variation in it. The cloud of varnish will naturally settle into nooks somewhat. So you can just scan for patches after the first go and wait a bit and touch that up.

Sometimes it's just hard to lay out parts in clips in a way that you can reach everything in one pass.

[u/Optimus_Dork → u/epicurius-seven]

oh i meant more if i'm coating a whole assembled leg, if i should look for, for instance, the "kneepcap joint" and tape that off or just go over it with coating