SEARCH FINESCALE.COM

Enter keywords or a search phrase below:

Decal help

623 views
4 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: British Columbia,Canada
Posted by bstrump on Monday, August 16, 2004 9:21 PM
Assuming you can get all the dust off, I'd clear coat the model first. This helps hide the decal film better than just overcoating with flat. You don't need a heavy coat. If you're using Testor's Gloss/Dullcote, I'd spray them through an airbrush.
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: USA
Posted by senojrn on Monday, August 16, 2004 7:29 PM
Thanks for your input!

Actually, the models that I have built without the overcoat of gloss and/or flat show very little, if any silvering at all. The only indication of the decal not being painted on, is that the decal reflects light and the paint job does not when turned in the light.

Would you suggest that I gloss coat the old models FIRST, (let cure/dry) then apply the flat coat? Or would it be okay to just apply the flat coat over the model and decals [after protecting the clear parts]?

Thanks again for the input!!
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Hayward, CA
Posted by MikeV on Monday, August 16, 2004 7:28 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by senojrn
Also, I am a little hesitant about spraying Future through my airbrush because even acrylic paint clean-up in it is an arduous process.


Cleaning the airbrush is no big deal.
Spray an acrylic cleaner through it, then backflush it, then spray some water through it and you're done.

Mike

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. " Charles Spurgeon
  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: The cornfields of Ohio
Posted by crockett on Monday, August 16, 2004 4:58 PM
Nate:

If you have been using "nothing" to prep your surface or top coat your models for years, then your kits probably show "silvering". If you are happy with this, enough said. However, to your point of "preserving" what you have built -
I can only tell you that I have been using both Testors Dullcote in the can and more recently, Poly Scale Flat for years on all my builds and I have never had an issue. I dont see any reason why you couldn't dull cote an older finished model. PROTECT CLEAR PARTS BEFORE HAND!

Future cleans up far easier in the airbrush than paint, even laquer and acrylics. I just spray some windex glass cleaner through and then go through the usual steps. Do yourself a favor, on your next kit, apply future to the decal areas and let it cure for a day or so. Apply the decals and then topcoat with Testors or the flat coat of your choice. You will be rewarded with a much more realistic build.

Steve
  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: USA
Decal help
Posted by senojrn on Monday, August 16, 2004 2:10 AM
I have been model building for years, but do not regularly use a gloss coat or flat coat. I paint the model, apply the decals, then call it good. Why, you ask.....I tried a flat coat years ago and it screwed up a really good (or so I thought at the time) model! I was so irritated that I had ruined a good model that I had spent so much time working on, I vowed never again to use a gloss or flat coat.

But as the years have passed and my models are stacking up on the shelf, I would like to preserve them a little better. Since I already have applied the decals, is it still possible to apply a gloss coat, let dry, then apply a flat coat as necessary????

Also, I am a little hesitant about spraying Future through my airbrush because even acrylic paint clean-up in it is an arduous process. Does anyone recommend Testors Gloss and Dull Cote in a spray can??????

Any help and/or advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

SEARCH FORUMS
FREE NEWSLETTER
By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy.