[Model Man]

The lacquer over enamel thing always gets me. I need to burn it into my head. Acrylics are safe to use with either, yes?

tried using the 'beer before liquor' rhyme, but the only thing I can think that rhymes with enamel is 'mark hamill' ... or lacquer and 'margaret thatcher'... So that route has been useless.

Anyone got a hammer to pound this in my brain with? :hat:

 

[Mark McGovern]

MM,

I've never had a problem using any of them in combination as long as the first application was dry before I painted the next one. I suppose that's because figure modelers don't apply paint as heavily as, say, car modelers do. Some of those guys spray some pretty "hot" lacquers that will attack the plastic of the model if it wasn't primed first or if they spray too heavy a coat.

So the mnemonic I think you're looking for is: CAUTION. The surest way to tell if one paint will adversely affect another is to test them on an old model or just a scrap of plastic. The merest idiot can accomplish that much; I do. :tongue:

 

[frankenstyrene]

The lacquer over enamel thing always gets me. I need to burn it into my head. Acrylics are safe to use with either, yes?

tried using the 'beer before liquor' rhyme, but the only thing I can think that rhymes with enamel is 'mark hamill' ... or lacquer and 'margaret thatcher'... So that route has been useless.

Anyone got a hammer to pound this in my brain with? :hat:

Enamel then lacquer, a real butt smacker.

 

[Spockr]

Not a catch phrase but it does seem to explain the interaction...

"The main difference is the way it behaves in the solvent, and how that affects the process.

Enamels go through a "cure" process where the polymers in the paint set up longer chains and bond together. Enamel, once hardened, won't soften back up. So laying another coat of enamel on, you want to scuff the existing coat for good adhesion.

Lacquer dries by the evaporation of the solvent. Lacquer will soften the existing coats slightly, and you get a bond between coats that way.

Putting enamel over lacquer = ok

lacquer over enamel = Mad Mad Mad"

The complete thread can be found here:
http://forums.gideontech.com/index.php?topic=32026.0