Decal Reflection

The best method to even out thick decals and get rid of the raised edges is to use Future. I brush several light coats of Future on the entire model. It leaves no brush marks and looks smooth as glass. Let the Future cure for at least 2 days then put your decals on and use decal solvent solution. When dry, brush on Future on the decals and let them dry a few hours. Use  very fine sandpaper and carefully sand the decal area (specially the edges) until is a little dull. Clean the area and remove all dust and sanding residue, then brush on Future again. Let dry and spray clear flat and no more raised edges.

I find dullcoat does as good a job of sealing decals as glosscoat, so once the decals are down well and in place, I just dullcoat without further glossing.

If the decals are silvered from unsufficient gloss preparation, I have not found glosscoating OVER the decals helps. In that case I sand off the decals and get new ones.

I think it may had been something to do with covering/sealing the decals before weathering the model.

John

Don;

I was thinking of the gloss coat to help even out the decal edges, and then finish with the dull coat.  I remember reading somewhere about gloss coat(s), then decals, then another gloss and then dull to finish if you want a dull finish.  If the dull coat will even it out, then I can skip the second glossy step.

Thanks!

John

Not sure why you are using glosscoat or future on a 109.  Don't you want a flat finish?  My guess is that using dullcoat or some other dulling finish, you'd be less likely to notice the edges of the decal.

Yes, these are thick and from an old kit.  Academy 1/72 Bf-109E3/4.  the crosses for the fuselage are so over-sized, that I cannot get the sequence of three in the space allotted.  Very poor.  I am going to spray future on them and then see if that more matches their glossiness.  Microsol didn't even knock them down.

Brings up the question of when do you go aftermarket and just skip the ones that come with the kit?  Probably as much of an art as a science.  Thanks.

John

Unfortunately, some decals are very thick and you may need a couple of coats of glosscoat.  That may be undesireable, depending on genre of model.  So part of a decal mfg's reputation is how thin the decals are.  Thin decals conform to compound curves better too.  BTW, I find the film sold for homemade inkjet decals quite thin.  Good quality- so thin it is a bit hard to keep it from folding back on itself if you are not careful.

John,

It's a good thing you put some gloss coat under the decals, but sometimes they silver anyway. But if it's only under certain angles, it might just be a difference of "reflectability" between the decals and the underlying coat. Anyway, if the decals are not overcoated, the thing to do would be to find a compatible decal setting solution and try to use it, and after everything is dried throughly, to overcoat the whole model (you have to mask the clear parts, if any are present. then it should give you this "painted on" look everybody is lookin' for. Hope it helps, have a nice day

Paweł