Problems With Antiquing And Airbrush Finish

[sarahjb]

I bought an airbrush and wanted to try using it to spray on my finishes. The airbrush finishes great on dyed pieces, but when i try to use it on antiqued finishes, it causes the antique to pool together and make the project look permanently smudged and "dirty".

I can't quite figure out what I'm doing to cause this as I have searched this forum and found that airbrushing an antiqued finish turns out quite nicely.

Here are my steps:

I tool my leather

Let Dry

Apply a coat of Tan Kote

Let Dry

Apply Sheridan Brown Antique paste made by Fiebing's.

Let dry/set for a while.

Buff

Then apply another coat of Sheridan Brown Antique Paste made by Fiebing's

Let dry/Set for a while (in the case of the picture, days)

Buff

Try the Spray finish with Eco Flo Professional Finish Clear Gloss

It still turns out looking like this. it does the same for application with a brush. it causes it to look dirty and streak.

Would love some pointers. Thank you.

[Colt W Knight]

I believe you are spraying your clear coat on either too thick or way to wet. Its much better to apply several thin coats. An airbrush can apply coats so thin, its hard to notice if you are even getting anything no there. I suspect this is happening to you, so you go over the spot over and over until you see it forming a wet coat.

[sarahjb]

Thank you, Colt.

I will try applying thinner coats. Will let you know how it turns out.

[Halitech]

are you thinning the tan kote to 10:1 water:tan kote? regular tan kote is way too thick in my experience to act as a resist. You'd be better off using something like supersheen and letting it dry for 24 hours before applying the antique or top coat

[thefanninator]

I don't spray but I use Clear Lac then antique and then Tan Kote. Then a final finish of Clear Lac.

Edited March 1, 2016 by thefanninator

[Doc Reaper]

How I apply antque 

1. Apply Antique 

2. Remove excess

3. Use damp cloth to remove leftover excess (it is an important step).

4. Apply sealer (do not drench)

it has worked this way for me for decades! cloth, dauber, or spray; just don't turn it into soup.