Has anyone used Klear Kote?

[FokkerFodder]

Hi

The range of products can be overwhelming for a newbie and I'm doing some research on finishes (I'm not always happy with what I've tried to date) and seek the views of others. The Alclad range of Klear Kotes looks promising and seems that it can be used with acraylics/enemals/lacquers, comes in a range of finishes and doesn't require thinning.... too good to be true?  Have others on the forum used this product?

Any feedback appreciated.

cheers

[uncletony]

I use them they are part of my arsenal, they are good. They are acrylic lacquer. All precautions using lacquer based products apply. Test on an analogue first if you are not sure how it will behave & be sure to have adequate ventilation, respirator etc. Unlikely thst you would want to, but do bot mix them with Alclad metallics in the pot, you will get a weird mess. (Don't ask how I know.)

More discussion here:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234951583-alclad-clear-kote-over-acrylic-and-klear/

[Rob Hart]

I used the semi gloss over Misterkit acrylics and it never cured. I ended up stripping it off after waiting a couple of weeks for it to dry. All of the underlying layers of Alclad primer, Misterkit paints, and Future had been on for weeks when I applied the Klear Kote. I won't be using it again.

[Andi Little]

I used the semi gloss over Misterkit acrylics and it never cured. I ended up stripping it off after waiting a couple of weeks for it to dry. All of the underlying layers of Alclad primer, Misterkit paints, and Future had been on for weeks when I applied the Klear Kote. I won't be using it again.

Actually I had exactly this problem too - it does dry down to a lovely flat matt, but it somehow stays "green"! - and if you handle it much thereafter it just seems to turn into a sticky mess. And again here I had to strip the whole lot off ... it's made me a bit "gunshy" of it as a product. I was waiting for an opportune moment to ask what it was I was doing wrong.

I do happily use it as a spot finishing product but not sure how I'm going to solve any large area finishes yet. Lot's of pic's of beautifully matt finished models abound on these pages - just how are they done?

[uncletony]

Other popular options to try are:

Testors Dullcote (rattle can)
Tamiya Flat Paste mixed with Future / Klear (about 1:4, but experiment, too much paste will cause the finish to be opaque)

I'm sure others have other faves

[Ian from Doncaster]

I use Johnson's Klear, brushed on.  Then if I want a more satin finish I use Humbrol Satincote spray, or the mattcote liquid mixed with humbrol thinner for smaller areas.

I tried diluting the mattcote product once with Klear and it turned into a sludgy mess - fortunately this was on an experiment on a bir of spare plastic and not on a model.

[petrov27]

Clears used to be a huge issue for me - I never had consistency with acrylic clears, future, nor enamels.

I started using the Model Master clear lacquers in the bottles, thinned significantly with their thinner and airbrushed and have had successful results repeatedly. Definitely need a fume extractor and mask for these though - smell is not good...

[Nigel Jackson]

Like Ian, I brush on Klear (here it's Klir). I tend to use as broad a square-cut brush as the situation permits, always going chord-wise on wings and along the length of the fuselage. In doing so it is really important to apply it very sparingly to avoid runs; better to go for several very thin coats.

Best wishes
Nigel

[Des]

My clear coats of choice are the Humbrol range. These are the clear coats that come in the bottle (not their little tins), they have a gloss, a satin and a matt. I always spray the product and if they need thinning I use lacquer thinners. A very good product but does take overnight to dry, to get the low sheen I like I mix 50/50 of the gloss and the matt.

Des.

[lcarroll]

   I am really glad I read this thread. I recently invested in 3 bottles of the Alclad Klear Kotes and it sounds "fraught with peril" from what I see here. I always come back to Model master Acryls, using Future as the gloss sealer and decal base and finishing it off with the Acryl Semi Gloss Clear or Matt. I've tried Micro Gloss and Micro Satin (from the good folks who make Microsol and Set) and that turned out very badly for me. Of all the steps in finishing a model the final finish coat scares me the most!
   I'd like more info on the Model master Clear lacquers, do they come in gloss, semi-gloss etc? I've never seen them in the shops available to me but that doesn't mean they weren't there.
Cheers,
Lance

[uncletony]

I did some experiments after reading Andi and Rob's posts. I got the same results I expected -- after letting the stuff dry for an hour it seems to be completely dry and apparently cured. No problem with handling. Specifically I tried Matte over a fully cured Future coated mule part.

Not doubting your results, just curious what we are doing differently.

Environment : 70 degrees F /21 C, 30% relative humidity
pressure: 10 psi
Application: shook bottle for 1 minute, airbrush flushed (2 bowls) lacquer thinner, sprayed approximately 4 in / 10 cm from surface, applied "just wet"

Test subject is a scrap wing primed with Tamiya rattle can primer, followed by several sprayed coats of Tamiya acrylic, followed by 1 coat of sprayed Future /Klear /Klir.

[Rob Hart]

I don't know. I tried Klear Kote after reading glowing reviews on the internet, but my experience was almost identical to Andi's. The Klear Kote was dry to the touch, but when I began to handle the model, it seemed as if the heat or oils coming off my finger tips caused the Klear Kote to become tacky. I tried wearing thin cotton photo developers gloves, but the loose fibers in the gloves were sticking to (and remaining stuck in) the Klear Kote. When I tried to buff out the finger prints with micromesh, the Klear Kote rolled up like a rubber eraser. I usually airbrush at 10-12 psi, always stir the paints with a battery powered cocktail mixer, allowed at least a week for each of the underlying paint coats to dry, and I live in Southern California where the humidity rarely exceeds 50%. I used the Klear Kote during this past August when I guess the temperature may have been as high as 85 degrees F. After I stripped the Klear Kote, I resprayed with Testors semi gloss clear lacquer with no issues. I know Alclad had some quality control issues a few years ago with a bad batch of their Gloss Black primer refusing to dry and I wonder if I got a bottle out of another bad batch. I have used other Alclad products in the past and they always performed well so I was quite disappointed when the Klear Kote failed.

[uncletony]

Thanks Rob. I will try handling my test piece a little more vigorously and report back.

[FokkerFodder]

Thanks all. Lots of interesting information here!  I have ordered a matte, gloss and light satin from the Alclad range but will proceed with extreme caution!  I will explore some of the other suggestsions as well.

Once again, thanks for the input.

cheers

FF

[Andi Little]

Thanks Rob. I will try handling my test piece a little more vigorously and report back.

Bo' ....

As an addendum to the posts of yourself and Rob'. My experience was because of the resultant handling of the item, and my description that it seems to stay "green" despite appearing to be fully cured
Rob's description mirrors my own in it's entirity. I spray indoors so humidity shouldn't be a problem, but I have been using slightly higher pressures (15/20psi). Only upside to all this is that when it came time to "strip" it off - it came away easily with "White spirit/Turps substitute (of all things).

So it appears to be particularly intolerant of handling. I do have some Testers dulcote ... which works happily as a "spot" finish, but again I'm very wary of using this in a broad application.

Personally I'm lacking any experience in this department, and would be grateful of all or any advice and opinion.