Varnish to admiralty paints

[Wahka_est]

Hi

 

Do you varnish admiralty paints (acrylic).It seems that varnish is allready in there.
Not painted parts on my Cruiser will be covered with matt Admiralty varnish.

 

Thanks for the help!

 Vahur

[Wahka_est]

Any experience with this?

[allanyed]

Wahka, What material are you painting, plastic or wood?

 

The type of paint may be different for each, but the principals are the same.  If wood, I have used acrylic quite often and then give at least four coats of a polyurethane topcoat finish.  Once each coat of the clear is dry, I rub it with steel wool, spray the next coat, dry and steel wool, spray again, and so forth.   

 

If there are to be two colors side by side, I paint one color (the lighter shade) close to the line it is to follow, going just over the line.  A few wiggles will not matter.  Once dry, I place painters tape to form the line, placing it on the painted portion.   Then I hit it with a couple coats of clear, drying between coats,  which seals the edge of the tape so there is no bleed through when painting the next color.  Even if you have the tape perfectly flat, it is still a good idea to seal it as described to be sure there is no bleeding under the tape.   Once the sealing spray process is complete, I paint the darker color.  Once that is dry, I remove the tape and finish with the multiple coats of clear topcoat.  Hope this all makes sense.   

Allan

[Wahka_est]

Hi

 

Thank you for the answer.

I use it on wood(my Caldercraft Cruser build).

Reason for asking is that i remember someone saying its allready there so no varnish isnt needed. But if needed then i should varnish deck fitting before glueing them in place.

 

Vahur

[allanyed]

I am sure you realize this, but just in case, I would never varnish anything before gluing unless being VERY careful not to get varnish on the surfaces to be glued together.  Any finish such as varnish will likely prevent the glue from getting into the wood itself so there is no wood to wood bond.

Allan

[Wahka_est]

Yes for sure know that. 
Just visible surfaces are easier to varnish When you can turn and tilt them.

 

[wefalck]

Varnish essentially is a 'paint' without pigment. The purpose of varnish is to protect (wood) surfaces.

 

Modern acrylic paints are acrylic resin suspensions that have also very finely ground pigments suspended in them. They will form a uniform layer of physically (not chemically) cross-linked and intertwined strings of acrylic resin with the pigment imbedded. So, under normal circumstances no 'varnish' is required.

 

However, if an item is to be handled frequently, an additional layer of varnish will be a sort of wear layer, protecting the actual paint. But this is likely to be relevant only for RC models and the likes.

 

Most acrylic paints dry up with a satin sheen. If you want to have a high-gloss or real mat surface, one could apply respective acrylic varnishes to obtain the desired sheen.

 

It is always wise to stay within one paint/varnish system. If you use acrylic paints, use acrylic varnish for the above mentioned reasons.

[Wahka_est]

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

Varnish essentially is a 'paint' without pigment. The purpose of varnish is to protect (wood) surfaces.

 

Modern acrylic paints are acrylic resin suspensions that have also very finely ground pigments suspended in them. They will form a uniform layer of physically (not chemically) cross-linked and intertwined strings of acrylic resin with the pigment imbedded. So, under normal circumstances no 'varnish' is required.

 

However, if an item is to be handled frequently, an additional layer of varnish will be a sort of wear layer, protecting the actual paint. But this is likely to be relevant only for RC models and the likes.

 

Most acrylic paints dry up with a satin sheen. If you want to have a high-gloss or real mat surface, one could apply respective acrylic varnishes to obtain the desired sheen.

 

It is always wise to stay within one paint/varnish system. If you use acrylic paints, use acrylic varnish for the above mentioned reasons.

I use only Admiralty paints and varnishes (at least so far). And they are both water based.

I wont varnish then my fittings.