Alclad 2 Finishing Varnishes

Review By: Les Venus

Our thanks to Alclad2 for supplying the review sample – www.alclad2.com.

ZOOM - Move your mouse over image

Products Currently Available

ALC 310: Klear Kote Glass

ALC 311: Klear Kote Light sheen

ALC 312: Klear Kote Semi-Matte

ALC 314: Klear Kote Flat

ALC 600: Aqua Gloss

Breaking News: All other varnish is now obsolete (well I think so anyway)!!!

All that hard work during construction followed by care and  attention to the paintwork and it’s time for decals and/or a wash and, of course, putting a shine on a canopy or other piece of clear plastic to bring up the clarity.

The big question now is: what varnish shall I use? For me, it’s always been Johnson’s Kleer floor polish for canopy dipping and gloss varnish and Vallejo water based acrylic for my matt coat.

This was until early last year, when Alclad2 Clear Kote Gloss came along and became my preferred gloss, though I felt it didn’t really give as good a shine  to canopies as Kleer. Now I know that opinion is varied but this was my view and my preference and I thought that was that – job done!

Then recently, two new varnish products arrived in the post from Pete Green at Alclad; one called Clear Kote Matt (Batch 1 and Batch 2) and a product called Aqua Gloss. I was asked to trial them, so I thought ‘game-on’ and since their arrival, I have been giving both a hard time……..and they have won!

I have always been a huge fan of Alclad products, using them exclusively for any natural metal or now transparent colours. They spray beautifully and with care I defy anyone to get a better finish with any other product (although in the interests of fairness if other manufacturers want to change my mind, send your products in to me and I will pit it against the benchmark!).

Anyway, back to this new stuff – first up was the Clear Kote Matt. The varnish is a thin milky white and after a good shake can be transferred straight to the airbrush without thinning. Yes, without thinning! Both batches sprayed with absolutely no clogging or spitting in my Iwata HC1 airbrush and my smaller cupped (ooh err, missus) Evolution airbrush both dried to an ultra smooth flat finish without runs or ponding and it was dry ready for weathering within 5 minutes; 3 minutes on batch 2.

I soaked the dry varnished areas with White Spirit and acrylic thinners and there was only a slight stickiness after soaking in white spirit which only occurred after a vigorous rub with a cloth. I also soaked them in a number of decal setting agents and these had no effect on the varnish at all. They took pastels well and also weathering powders and pre-mixed washes!

In short, they were faultless.

Next-up was Aqua Gloss. On the bottle it says for dipping and, given my views on Clear Kote Gloss and given that Aqua Gloss is a milky substance that is far from clear, I was confident I was going to win this round. Wrong!

Once again, after a good shake and with no need to dilute I sprayed this on a model and in two coats had a mirror-like finish that was ready for decals and also took the same abuse as the matt varnish.

 

 

But the big test was the dipping. I took two old canopies straight from the spares box and simply dipped each in a small pot filled with Alclad 2 Aqua Gloss. You can see the milky ponding and I thought that it just wasn’t going to work.

After two minutes, the ponding simply disappeared and there was just a faint sign of creaminess on the canopy. After seven minutes, both canopies were high gloss and totally transparent and the best I have ever seen. I hadn’t finished though and I dipped both in turps and again rubbed vigorously. All that I got was that lovely squeaky noise when something is spotless!

This is truly awesome stuff and has redefined varnishing for our hobby.

Conclusion

I think it’s obvious Alclad 2 has set the new benchmark in varnishes and is exactly what every modeller needs in his inventory. They are both incredible products and if anyone wants my stash of Kleer and Vallejo you’re welcome to them as, from now on, they will simply be gathering dust!

I think these state-of-the-art varnishes will fly off the shelves once Alclad2 release them for production.

I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Les V.