Matt Car Lacquer

[John Cook]

I was in Halfords the day before yesterday, for an entirely unrelated reason, but noticed aerosol sprays of matt, and gloss, lacquer for use on car paint finishes. 

I normally avoid sprays but was wondering if matt lacquer might be a more durable finish than the Vallejo brush-on matt varnish I use at the moment.

My question is, has anybody used a matt car lacquer on their models and what was the result?

[howayman]

If its solvent based i would not recommend using it. If its acrylic or water based you could give it a test.

[Ithoriel]

Short answer, yes and it was fine.

Shake well ( the can, not you), spray in several short, light bursts (don't drown the things), spray at the recommended distance (it's recommended for a reason), spraying when it's cold or damp is not a good idea, Confucius he say,"man who spray into wind get his own back."

If the varnish turns cloudy, brush it with brush-on varnish in the affected area(s) and that, in my experience, fixes the problem.

I use spray cans a lot, because I'm too broke/ cheap to buy a spray gun, and have had no real problems with them.   

[toxicpixie]

What Ithorial said - I tend to use a dull coat as I prefer a more very flat Matt finish (I use a gloss "magic wash" a lot and it needs the edge taking off!), but the Halfords Matt is a solid finish other wise (and if you like a gloss "toy soldier" finish them the semi/gloss and gloss are also good!).

Their black Matt spray is a good primer as well, as is their grey!

[John Cook]

Thanks for that.  I was hoping it would be more durable and avoid the notorious clouding that affects model spray varnishes sometimes, which is always a danger if there is a 'r'in the month or the moon is on the wane.  I might give it a go on some buildings.

[toxicpixie]

I've had as much cloudy varnish issues with brush on as I have with sprays! Which isn't much but enough to always make me wary and do a test batch first...

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

The army painter spray I use only goes cloudy on transparent plastic...