micro-flat???

[ratpit]

Hi All
I'm after a bit of advice regarding micro-flat.
I'm coming to the end of a P-47D build and last night applied two coats of micro-flat to seal the job. This has worked great to tone down the bare metal foil I've used, which I was quite surprised at. However, it has left the OD anti-glare panel with a lovely satin sheen. I originally painted the OD panel with Tamiya acrylic, which had a much better finish. Is this a common problem and if so how do I recify this?
Cheers for any info
Adam

 

[Wayne Little]

Haven't used it Adam, but a quick solution if your other coatings are robust is to mask and redo the OD to the required sheen you started with.

surprised that a flat coat done twice gave you a satin finish on the tamiya paint?

 

[meatloaf109]

Interesting.
I agree with Wayne, Mask and repaint.

 

[Airframes]

Do you mean the 'Microscale' product? If so, then like any matt varnish, particularly if enamel type, it needs a lot of stirring in order for the matting agent to mix into the carrier fully. Even then, very often a semi-matt finish is the result.
I 'binned' all forms of matt clear some years ago, for this very reason, and also because, after time, yellowing will occur. I now use Tamiya Flat Base, mixed with Johnson's Klear (Future), to provide anything from a slightly subdued gloss, to full matt.
It doesn't need much of the FB to achieve a full matt, but too much will cause a 'chalky' appearance, so some experimentation is needed to achieve what's required, then test on a piece of painted scrap.

 

[meatloaf109]

Yep, I always test my "matt" before use. It can go yellow from one day to the next.