Dull Coat

Jay K

Jay K

Active member
I'm in the process of completely rehabbing, restle coating, and re-painting a foam Brant gunning rig. Ideally I'd like to have this rig last forever. I've processed them as follows: 1) Patched/sanded with fairing compound. Heads were re-attached and some replaced with Liquid Nails. 2) Restle coated with Titebond III and ground walnut shells. 3) Primed with Kilz grey outdoor primer 4) Painted with Behr indoor/outdoor latex. I am debating coating every decoy, top to bottom, with a dull seal coat.

2 questions I have:

1) Does everyone find that this really extends the life of the paint/finish?
2) What is everyone's preferred brand.

I'd love to see pictures of decoys with dull coat to gauge the lack of shine/sheen.



View attachment IMG_5122.jpg
 
I,ve had really good luck applying testors dull coat over all birds i,ve restle coated. No real shine to it just have to be consious of humidity levels when spraying. Best done at around 25% humidity or less. Any higher and sometimes it will get an opague cast to it. Couple light coats seems to work best. And yes it helps preserve paint.
 
I've used Testor's Dull Coat for 1:48 scale model aircraft (back in the day) and for decoys.
Like noted, you need to make sure to control humidity:
I once applied it to a very nicely painted F-4U Corsair fuselage, outside on a hot humid day. It fogged over, completely messing up a very nice paint job!
Never made that mistake again, always used it on low humidity days or in an AC'd room (with ventilatiOn fan going).

Is it really needed if you are using truly flat paints? Probably not, but I think it helps protect the paint on decoys and certainly take any sheen off if your paints are not truly flat.

I've tried a couple of other brands of dull coat and none come close to the "flatness" of Testors.
 
Thanks so much gentlemen. Currently weighing the pro's and con's. It dawned on me that re-touching might not be so easy in the event they get dinged/chipped if I dull coat. Still trying to decide which way to do. However, if I do dull coat, it seems the Testor's is the way to go.
 
Another vote for Testor's Dull Cote. Been using it since the early '80's on decoys and it has never disappointed me. I don't find that it offers much protection to the underlying paint, but it sure puts a "dull coat" on the birds.
 
thomas wilkins said:
Apply Dull Coat Sparingly. It will yellow over time.

Tom
Click to expand...

Have decoys that have worn Dull Cote in the marsh for more than twenty years. Some of them have it applied pretty thick.
I've never seen yellowing.
Maybe something in your water?
 
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Just so I understand the general consensus:

- It doesn't seem to really preserve the paint that well.
- Primary purpose really is to dull the finish, not protect
- Yellows over time.

Given that Brant aren't terribly vigilant, it seems like maybe the best thing to do here is let them be as is?
 
Mr. Jay K
I've used this
Polyvine Oil-Based Extra Pale Varnish Dead Flat
It's flat! I did notice that when applying a dead flat finish you lose color saturation and contrast.
Your blacks are no longer a nice rich black and colors are a little less vibrant.
Also this product isn't as yellow as a regular oil based varnish
Pat
 
Jay K said:
Just so I understand the general consensus:

- It doesn't seem to really preserve the paint that well. Yes, general consensus.
- Primary purpose really is to dull the finish, not protect Yes, general consensus.
- Yellows over time. No, not general consensus. I've been in a lot of forum discussions about Dull-Cote and this is the first time I've heard of a complaint of yellowing.

Given that Brant aren't terribly vigilant, it seems like maybe the best thing to do here is let them be as is?
Click to expand...

I'd hit 'em with the Dull Cote, but it's your choice..
 
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