Alfa Romeo 2900B Stabilimenti Farina

Alex K
If I commented each and every one of your Alfa projects, it would soon become tedious, but please be assured that each and every one is appreciated and admired - great work in collecting all these fabulous machines / works of art... 👍 👍 Cheers, keep it up - A. (< born and raised in a Giulia Nuova Super 1600...)

Treehugger
If possible, I would consider gentlysanding the gloss coat, and give it another layer. It would be important to remove the dust before adding another layer of gloss coat, else the dust will get stuck in the panel lines.

Jordi Aragones
Hi Treehugger, the problem was the painting under the coating. I used Vallejo paints and they behaved different from the Tamiya I'm used to. The coating didn't smooth the roughness of the paint as I expected...

Jordi Aragones
Thanks Alex. Comments always welcomed ! By the way, I was grown with a Giulietta spyder, replaced quite fast by a Giulia, and with some contact - as a passenger - with a Junior Zagato !

Alex K
Dear Jordi, it sure shows that you have the unmistakable "cuore" of a true Alfista! 🙂 👍 👍

Treehugger
It is a good idea to take the time and remember to knock down any roughness with some fine sand paper, as early as the primer layer and after that. I have had great results spraying on Vallejo glossy black, for a super nice finish, but I added a lot of flow enhancer so it had to try for longer, and became very thin. I also ALWAYS sift the Vallejo primer paint, one loose paint bit and the airbrush will apparently clog.

I like airbrushing on Humbrol Clear gloss coat, at around 8 psi, close up, to apply it in wet patches, but not runny ofc. Also, I have to make sure my Vallejo primer is dry enough, so that I avoid cracking pattern after airbrushing on a gloss coat. In my experience, once the paint is left rought, the gloss coat layers are so thin, they don't really make the surface smooth if the base layer is rough.

An obvious problem, if trying to sand down the top of a gloss coat, is that, one risk sanding away the paint color below, and into say, black primer, then you get black dots. One can fix that by airbrushing on more basic color though, before airbrushing another gloss coat. In my experience, when sanding basic color layer, it all looks good in the end, when adding a gloss coat over that, assuming you don't create a discoloration by using some sanding stick with some other color stock on it.

Jordi Aragones
Thanks for the advices, Treehugger. Painting with glossy finishing doesn't forgive you any mistake, but if the color paint is matte (like Vallejo's), then it's even more difficult to see deffects that will show up after the glossy layer. This is a continuous try and learn 🙂

Treehugger
So Vallejo has another black primer, they have one that is glossy for metal paints. I like using it for anything actually, but I have come to desire a non-black primer when airbrushing on white, because thin white doesn't cover black in one go it seems, or, not when I airbrush it on. 🙂 Flow enhancer is said to act more like a retarder, and thinner, more like drying the paint, so I've had great success using more flow enhancer and less thinner. 🙂 Most important part, is imo to sift the primer to avoid clogging. I used to fear airbrushing on Vallejo primer, now I think it is super nice.