weathering over decals?

The decals won't react to water on the model the way they do while still on the sheet. However, you should still have topcoated your decals before attempting to weather, possibly with Future or other Gloss medium.

I forgot to mention this is on Armor, so I hate to have a shine too it..

Any suggestions for an overspray coat?

Polly Scale flat finish works very well if you want an acrylic, or Testors Dullcote which is a lacquer.

QUOTE: I forgot to mention this is on Armor, so I hate to have a shine too it.. Any suggestions for an overspray coat?

Mix Future and Tamiya XF-21 Flat Base together at about 4 parts Future to 1 part XF-21 and the finish will be flat as can be. More XF-21 gives a flatter finish, less moves it toward "Semi Gloss". Play with some scrap until you get the mix you like.

For a perfect dull finish I use Krylon Matte Finish 1311. It is an arts & crafts dulling finish in an 11 oz. spray can that says, "Matte Finish provides a permanent, non-gloss finish. Eliminates light reflection. Dries fast and clear." I don't know how you would classify what type of paint it is. It is weird. The ingredience contains, 'Resin, Hydrocarbon Propellant, Toluene and Acetone.'

I don't think I would eat the stuff.

QUOTE: I don't think I would eat the stuff.

I don't think I'd even want to breathe it! Those are some nasty ingredients.

Krylon is some rough stuff, that's for sure!

Testors Dullcote has always worked really well for me as a final overcoat.

Forst, you should have gloss coated your model before applying decals. Next, seal the decals, either with gloss or flat. Weather the model with paints...washes and drybrushing. Seal this with dullcoat. NO, tiy can use pastels.
You need to have a glossy surface for your decals to lay down flat and not end up with silvering, where air pockets are trapped between the clear carrier film and the almost microscopically uneven surfac of flat paint. You need to seal the decals to portect them from wear and tear and to get them to have the same reflectance as teh rest of the model, so they don't LOOK like decals. A gloss seal will help a wash run along panel lines, but I have found this to not always be necessary, though it's not a bad idea.

For armor, after the basecoat, I brush on a localized glosscoat, where the decals will go. After that, a localized dullcoat over that area is applied, and once that is fully dry, the wash/drybrush/weathering process is done.
But, as Rick said, once decals are on a model and dry, they will not react to water the way that they do when on the decal sheet.

QUOTE: Originally posted by rjkplasticmod Polly Scale flat finish works very well if you want an acrylic, or Testors Dullcote which is a lacquer.

Hi. Someone told me at my LHS that when dry brushing i should have a rough surface and i should use flat colors. I've bought already all the colors and all of them are gloss. Can i apply dull coat to make the surface rough?