Tamiya CLEAR

Hello Walamma, nice to hear from someone from 'over there'..! Tamiya paints should be thinned with the Tamiya thinner, but failing that, Isopropyl Alcohol will do the trick. As for consistency, everyone will tell you to aim for milk consistency... but you may experience with more or less liquid...

Tamiya Clear is a gloss varnish, so obviously, your models will look glossy. Tamiya has a flat base jar that can be mixed with other Tamiya colours and give them less shine, but I've never been very successful in using that product... I therefore always (other than for airliners and cars) paint with flat paints and cut decals really close to the design (or I paint my markings) in order to minimize 'silvering'.

djmodels--I've tried the close-cutting of decals, but some decals shatter in water after. I think the maker used a clear coat over the color coats when printing, and the colored ink was not resistant to water.

jcarlberg - I know what you mean about those decals that break apart... If you know it's happening, maybe a coat of future over the whole of the decal sheet would help? I use VERY sharp scissors when I cut my decals out (sometimes with a bit of support from X-Acto knives). Anything less might damage the design anyway...

jcarlberg, Microscale makes a decal film that you can brush over-top of decals to create a new film/barrier. This will protect them from 'shattering' when they hit the water.
If you can't find any, I could get some at my local hobby shop and send it to you?

M.

mkish--I've used the Micro Decal Saver, but I've found that any clear coat aplied lightly will do much the same thing. I was just trying to point out that waterslide decals are like a sealed envelope, and once you get into the envelope you can affect the contents. I think they usually use a white bottom layer followed by the color layers with a clear overcoat to hold it all together.

jcarlberg - I get it now...

That's never happened to me (if I understand correctly). What your saying is that when you cut decals VERY close to the ink, it somehow damages the protective clear that covers the entire decal. I assume that the water then seeps onto the ink from the edge that was cut so closely (causing it to shatter...)??

M.