Teaching Techniques #1 Part 3: Painting basics, Decals & Pin Wash 

Cheers, there's some more advanced stuff coming too down the pipeline

@@scalemodelcinema9900 Right on- I'll be in class, ready to take notes. Thanks for the reply, and enjoy your coming weekend.

cheers :D

Cheers, plenty more in the works....hoping to do a bit of a burst soon

Cheers :D

no short answer I'm afraid :D : So, yes you do want to change the 'type' of varnish that you put on so that there is no possibility to bleed through the varnish layer, BUT acrylic based products are the most sensitive to all other ones....essentially it goes acrylic -> enamel -> laquer. There is a chance that the acrylic paintwork may react (crack, dissolve) to the other 2 types and enamel may react to laquer but laquer is king and will withstand all others. I would highly recommend using laquer varnish over the top (I use gunze super gloss in a can) but first test it on a mule or spare bit of plastic painted up....and leave it for 1-2 days to see if it cures without later cracking. The benefit is that you will have a inpenetrable barrier for everything u may do for the weathering - and u have a undo button that can go almost to full reset. Then just do a matt can over the top to finish it off. Otherwise if you want to be safe use a acrylic based one. My personal experience has been no reactions to acrylic below, especially the latest modern brands...but I put on multiple thin layers and let each dry for 30 secs which might help deminish any chemical reactions

So I have a few questions in response...What brand plastic is it? as some react to the bonding better than others. Did you rinse with warm water after IPA? I find that if there were oils on the surface and the IPA dissolved it but no rinse, some residue of oil may remain. Was the Surf 1000 a nice wettness on the surface when applied - you should see a 'water' reflection for a bit when applied (but before it pools or runs :P ) If all else fails sand it down with 4000 - 6000 sandpaper without buffing and this will give something for the primer to grip too (4k will grip well but be a rougher finish so not ideal for Bare metal) Hope this helps :D

@@scalemodelcinema9900 Thank you very much for the tips - The primer did go on very dry, almost like a damp powder, so good chance that's a problem. I used a really cheap airbrush, have a new Iwata coming soon so I'll try again with that. Also rinsing after the IPA too, as I didn't think of that.