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Rafi posted an update in the group
Q/A & Help Group 6 years, 10 months ago Sorry if this has been asked before; I suck at using the search function on this site. 🙁
New to gunpla here, and I was wondering if the white on all the Gundam kits yellow with age? All the kits I’ve made are unpainted and I only started to worry about this after making my PG Unicorn and then ordering the Full Armor later; is there any chance the shade of white will differ? Not sure what causes yellowing in the first place, but I live in Dhaka (Bangladesh) which is both humid and dusty. I store all my kits in a closed room with minimal entry for dust and safe from sunlight. Nothing I can do about the heat and humidity though. 🙁
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Q/A & Help Group
As far as I can recollect, this hasn’t been asked before and if it is, no worries 😉
The problem is, yellow is the dominant color in the color spectrum. The plasticisers in plastic will attract sun rays and collect the yellow rays, oddly enough…
Even indirect sunlight might discolor the plastic overtime. The only option is to use a clear coat. Acrylic are no use for this purpose. You might consider an enamel or a lacquer based clear coat. Be it a gloss or a matte, or something in between, that’s up to you. There are a few brands which make specific clear coats for this purpose, Mr. Hobby has a “UV’ protection clear, if I’m not mistaken. A bit of a hoax if you ask me.
Good luck and happy building!
PS, if the Full Armor set is from Bandai too, it’ll surely be the same white. Not sure if it’s from a third party though…..
Awesome! Thanks for the advice! 😀
Just a further query though. I see a lot of different types of coats on the shelves like lacquer, enamel and acrylic coats. If I paint my kit with acrylics, then is there any rule that I must use an acrylic coat and not a lacquer/enamel one?
Yeah, they are BANDAI kits. Thank you again; was beginning to think I would regret ordering the FA unit later. 🙂
Weird.. I could have sworn I responded to this.. :-S
Thanks for the response and advice! 😀
Water Based Acrylic < Alcohol Based (synthetic) Acrylic < Enamel < Lacquers
^that right? And reverse also 'ok' for layering. Got it! 🙂
Anyways, I checked my canned lacquer coat and it says '100% Acrylic' below the line that says it's a lacquer coat… Such confuse. I assume this means it is acrylic coat but looks like lacquer?
Tested it on the old kit I use for testing out stuff. The paint seems fine, but even a day after the surface feels a bit oily to the touch. Is this normal? Or did I overdo it? Q__Q
You’re welcome 😉
That is the right order indeed.
In case of your spray can, that means it’s a synthetic Acrylic paint. This means the binder/vehicle (what the paint is made of) is Acrylic based and the solvent (which keeps the paint liquid) is cellulose (lacquer) based.
In order to sell the product in some countries, they say it’s Acrylic to avoid laws. In some countries Lacquer based paints are illegal….
In concerns of the tested piece, if you press rather firm on the paint, does it leave indentations of your finger prints? If that’s the case, the paint hasn’t cured fully. If you sprayed the initial coat on too thick, this may occur. In that case, for future reference, spray two very light coats, with half an hour in between then and after another half an hour, spray the final fully covering coat. Then leave to dry for two days.
If not, it could be the how the product behaves, some acrylics (like Vallejo primer) tend to dry to the touch in a few hours, but take several days to cure (harden) fully.
It also could be that the paint is reacting to the surface which it is sprayed upon. Some manufacturers still need to have a release agents in their mold, preventing the runners sticking to them after the injection. Resin kits have this “problem” 99 out of 100 times, polystyrene not so much anymore. If the two first options aren’t the case, try preferably with a cheap kit from the same manufacturer and wash the kit in lukewarm water with some soap. Any will do. Then just rinse the soap off, let it dry and you can paint the part. Remember, if the water is too hot for your hands, it’s too hot for the plastic.
These are the only few options that come to mind at the moment. If they don’t help, please let me know, also the name of the product, so AI can do some digging.
Good luck and happy building
@teetee580 , thanks for all the help! 🙂
Tested part seems more dry than day before. Lets see what happens after a few days more. 😀
Glad I could be of some help 😀
It looks like it is behaving like the Vallejo primer, it then surely will harden in the course of a few days. That’s great to hear, no need for crazy or elaborate solutions which may cause more damage then good.
Should you need any more advice, please let us know 😉
Good luck and happy building!