Problem with clear coat spray and Reaper Bones minis. Need help!

[sonofmoradin]

I have a question that I hope someone can help me with. I used Games Workshop clear coat spray to try to protect several minis - 2 metal minis and 4 Reaper Bones minis. After spraying a couple of coats and letting them dry I noticed that the Reaper Bones minis had what I would call a "frosted" effect on them - the spray had dried white, and made the minis look like they were covered in dust. However, the metal minis did not have this effect. I sprayed them all equally.

My question is - is there a known issue with clear-coat spray and plastic/resin minis?

Has anyone else seen this?

Is there by any chance a way to clean this off without damaging the paint jobs? Thanks.

 

[Webmonkey]

It has to do with the relative humidity, (or lack there-of). Frosting is something that happens when the clear coat hits the air and the air is too dry. This causes a large percentage of the droplets to dry before they hit the model, leaving a grainy white "fuzz" on the surface of the model. First,.. try waiting until the next day or so before clear coating the rest of the models.

As for the models that have already been frosted,.. (again wait for the humidity to come up).. then take your spray can, turn it upside down, and spray for a few seconds until just the propellant comes out. Then hit the models with the pure aerosol. This can sometimes have the effect of "melting" the frost and getting it to lay down proper. If this doesn't work, however, you may need to strip the models and start over.

 

[Zab]

^^^What Webmonkey said^^^ and you can try a thin gloss coat and then try the matte again. Also, Testors Dulcote. Always Testors Dulcote.

 

[sonofmoradin]

Thank you for the help! I live in Fresno CA, and we have nothing but dry air in the summer. I will try the aerosol trick. If that doesn't work, what can be used to strip the resin/plastic models? I know how to strip metal, but not resin/plastic.

 

[Webmonkey]

The short answer is "simple green". Let soak in a small bowl of simple green for a few hours. It's caustic enough to affect the paint, but not the plastics. Its safe, so if you accidently forget your pieces overnight or whatever, you don' have to worry about it melting your models. Then, after they've soaked for a while, get a toothbrush (or anything with stiff nylon-esqe bristles that are strong enough scrub the paint without damaging the plastic beneath.) and scrub the pieces. If anything doesn't come off, simply re-soak and re-scrub. Depending on the paint you've used, it may take several sessions,.. but be patient,.. it'll come along soon enough.

 

[KruleBear]

Webmonkey and Zab Hit the main points. The bones material should not effect the protective coat...however, the PVC used in bones does not play well with some paints. Things like poor adhesion or ongoing stickiness. It is possible that the undelying aint on the bones reacted and affected the clear coat or part of the mini had exposed base material that reacted with the clear coat.