Will a clear coat solve my problem?


eric2448

Member
A few months ago I asked a question about paint not drying correctly. I'm using Floquil Silver Enamel through a dual action airbrush. The paint has been on the cars for months and I was just able to strip them clean with 91% alcohol. I normally have to use Super Clean to get the enamels off but not with these cars. When I respray these cars, if the paint continues to not dry properly would applying a good clear coat help? If the base coats don't dry properly will it cause the top clear cot to not dry either?
 
I've never had either the old formula Floquil or the current formula Floquil not cure so I can't say for sure if a clear overcoat will help or not. Must be a reason why it does not harden up. Are you using the correct thinner and mix ratio? Presuming you are then it just may be a bad bottle of paint. If you get the same results on the repaint I'd toss what you are using and change to the same color in another brand like Scalecoat or whatever. No sense in having the same problem in the future every time you use the silver paint.
 
It might also be a good idea to test paint something else to make sure it's the paint and not the car body.
 
Eric,
As Mike above said I've never had a problem like that either in the past. But wait, I just remembered, that I may also be having the same problem now? I've painted the cylinders of my new little AHM/Rivarossi Dockside a couple of times now using the Floquil Weathering Pens, Enamel, and I always make sure I shake them back and forth to allow the little mixing cylinder inside to freely move before using the Weathered Black or other colors.

Now that you mention it, it seems I'm having the same problem as the paint doesn't seem to want to dry throughly and I don't k now why either but seems to stay in a gummy state.

Although I don't consider myself an expert about painting, it would seem to me that if the prior paint layer won't dry for some reason, putting anything over it would only seal it more to further prevent drying.

I was thinking that maybe calling Floquil to inquire about the problem, isn't a bad idea?

These threads do come in handy!
 
Everytime I have ever used Floquil enamels I have had the same experience. When I painted the 3 locos I am currently working on last week, I am still having to be careful handling them as they are JUST now almost finished drying! I don't believe its a bad jar of paint unless all of them are bad. Maybe it is something with their gloss paints that cause this. The paints I am using are engine black, old silver, BNSF Heritage Green and BNSF Heritage Orange. All of which are giving me the same problem....(However, it seems quite less with the engine black which is a flatter color). Yes, any help on this matter would be great!

-Rich
 
Thanks for all the reply's! I have used the color Soo Red with much success at the same time I was using the silver. The silver did feel gummy for quite a while after. The finish looked great, but would rub off in my hands when I would handle the cars. I bought another bottle last week, Im going to try using it and if it works see if I can mix in a bit of the older stuff to see what happens. I do notice that the two stock cars I didnt strip, they got a real good extra coat back when I painted them, seem pretty good with the old silver right now. Im guessing that I didnt lay the initial coat on the flat cars thick enough. The flats are the problem. For reference, the color I think is Bright Silver and it looks like a flat finish.
 
I should mention that I get lazy and didn't clean the surface of the cylinders first and this was a previously owned Loco so that could be a problem in itself which is my fault too but even around the edges of the walkway along the boiler of the little 0-4-0 Dockside the same thing seems to be happening? Again I didn't clean the area before painting there either though.

I was also wondering if it could be a problem with the solvent Floquil is using? The reason I say this is that the Rust that I've used from a pen doesn't seem to be having the same problem when applied to Kadee couplers and a couple of spots on the loco but I think I had to redo some of it the Loco too so maybe it has something to do with the plastic that AHM/Rivarossi used but I'll have to clean the surfaces good first to really know.

But what is interesting is that we are all having very similar problems! Again, I'm no expert on paint, but it would seem that whatever thinner Floquil is using in their Enamels is too oily and isn't evaporating anywhere near as fast as it should?
 
Everytime I have ever used Floquil enamels I have had the same experience. When I painted the 3 locos I am currently working on last week, I am still having to be careful handling them as they are JUST now almost finished drying! I don't believe its a bad jar of paint unless all of them are bad. Maybe it is something with their gloss paints that cause this. The paints I am using are engine black, old silver, BNSF Heritage Green and BNSF Heritage Orange. All of which are giving me the same problem....(However, it seems quite less with the engine black which is a flatter color). Yes, any help on this matter would be great!

-Rich


Say Rich,
We may be on to something here? In the past have always used Floquil Enamels with great success and never really cleaned any of my prior models before painting unless I new I got them Oily or Greasy.

But since getting the different Weathering paint pens I've been using them and I always tightly cap them right after using them so it wouldn't possibly dry out the thinner in the pens. It seems to be these newer paint pens & their mixture of paint that is causing the problem!?

Lets talk with Floquil as well as Josh Baakko[?] Smoke and other painters to see if their experiences match?
 
I use the Floquil enamels through an airbrush all the time. They generally dry to the touch in 20 minutes, and I wait a day before masking or recoating just to be safe. Hurrying is the easiest way to ruin a paint job!

If your paint is staying tacky too long make sure it is mixed well. I have one of those little battery powered mixers from Micro Mark. It works great. Watch the humidity where you are painting. The higher it is, the longer the paint will take to dry. Make sure what you are painting is clean. I wash everything in soap & water (usally Dawn diswashing soap as it cuts grease & oil nicely) and blow dry or air dry. Let everything stand a day to make sure the pieces are dry. You might also try priming with Floquil Foundation. It's a nice tie coat that will stick to most any surface and take Floquil finish coats nicely. If all else fails, try a new bottle. The paint is the cheapest part of this process. When in doubt, discard it and use a fresh bottle.
 
The first question I would ask is what are you using to thin the Floquil? Also make sure the paint is really mixed well in the jar before using/thinning it.

I prime everything I'm painting - usually Floquil primer and if I'm using an acrylic paint after the primer I let the primer sit for about a week to allow the primer to completely flash off. If I'm putting something like Floquil over an acrylic I let the acrylic sit for 48 hours to flash off; I have found some Floquil colours take longer to cure and Silver is one of them, for some reason some of the Silvers can take uo to 4 days to dry properly. Putting anything over any colour that isn't properly dried is just asking for a mess to happen as the paint underneath will never actually dry.

Colours that are stubborn in drying I put in my paint booth and turn the drier I have on low and let it sit in the warmth for at least a day which seems to help get it to dry.
 



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