Tamiya TS-80 flat coat white powdery/cracks

[Daigo Cannon]

I coated my first tactical squad with Tamiya TS-80 clear coat, after doing it I find 2 issue and would like to know the details on what I did wrong to avoid it in the future, too I would like to know if there is any advice on how to undo the undesired look without having to repaintclear coat. All my work is done using Vallejo paints and brush.

1.- Some of the minis ended with a white powdery look. Can it be solved with a gloss over the current matt finish?

2.- I see cracks and clogs caused by the clear coat, in this case it just affected the paint in the cloak of my mini which is a different color just used on the coat and nowhere else on he mini, everything else I fine, but when mention it into my local store they told me this has happen before to someone else.

Thanks in Advance

[Webmonkey]

I'm guessing that the powdery-ness is actually a problem called "frosting". It has to do with the amount of humidity in the air (or lack there-of). See,.. when the air is too dry, some of the particles dry in the air as you spray. These dry particles then hit the model and get glued into place by other wetter particles. This causes a frosted white look to the clear coat. You can sometimes fix this by holding the can upside down and spraying for a few seconds until only the propellant comes out. Hit the model with just the propellant. This can sometimes "melt" the frost and get it to lay down flat again. (Doesn't work in all cases, but it's worth a try). Otherwise, you need to strip/repaint and go again. (As a tip, always test-spray something to check for frosting BEFORE you hit your models with it)

Possible problems with cracking,.. if it's only happening on the cloak, and nowhere else on the model, then I suspect a contamination issue of some kind. Did you have a little butter on your fingers from that piece of toast you ate? Did you touch the model a some point and not realize that you left a thin coat of butter residue behind? Did the cat sneeze on it at some point?? Also,.. could be a paint issue. If your paint is oil based, and your clear coat is water based, (or vice-versa) oils and waters don't always play well together.

Just a few thoughts,...