Hasegawa, P-47D Thunderbolt “Nose Art”, 1/48th Scale, Kit No. 09305 (Part III)

In the last installment, I extolled the virtues of Vallejo Metal Color Airbrush Colors.  Vallejo says that they should be sealed with this product:

On previous models I used Microscale Micro Satin Clear Finish with good results over these Vallejo metal colors.  Micro Satin sealed the paint and the decals well enough that I was able to do some weathering with enamel based panel line paints.

In this case, I had two issues with this Gloss Varnish.  First, it takes a long time - several days - to dry unlike all other acrylic varnishes I have used.  Second, I used the Microscale system to apply the decals on this model.  I found that the Microscale solutions slightly softened the varnish making shifting the decal into position somewhat dicey if not done immediately.

That is a deal killer for me.  I will stick to using these metal colors in the future, but I will go back to my preferred sealing coat - Microscale Micro Satin.  Micro Satin gives me a realistic sheen, and it protects the underlying decals and paints from oil based paints and stains.  I intend to top coat this model with it.

Well, the decals are on thanks to an AeroMaster sheet I had in my collection, and I am close to getting it done.  And, thanks to the corona/Wuhan virus, I still have plenty of bench time.

As always, thank you for visiting my blog.  Comments are always welcome.