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Silvering/frosting after several days

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  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Silvering/frosting after several days
Posted by Don Stauffer on Thursday, July 27, 2017 9:01 AM

I had put an Alclad aluminum finish on a 1:32 scale F-80. I had put it on fairly thick to represent a more weathered finish.  I was a little worried about decals silvering over the resulting semi-matt finish.  I had always had good luck with shinier Alclad finishes.

I decided to just try some of the smaller sencil decals first.  They looked good immediately after they went on and dried. In fact, they still looked fine four days later!  But, they were pretty glossy.  Thus, you could see the decal carrier on all the stencils.

I decided I would try a coat of airbrushed dullclad.  I tried a small area and it looked fine.  So I did the areas around all the decals.  After about a full day or two, the decals developed a frosty appearance behind the carrier film.  National insignias still look fine, but stencils and the big USAF decals on the wing look bad. I wish now I would have left them glossy :-(

 

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    March 2015
  • From: Close to Chicago
Posted by JohnnyK on Thursday, July 27, 2017 12:44 PM

I don't use Alclad. I use Bare Metal Foil instead and I have similar problems with decals. Since my model is finished in foil  I cannot spray the finished model with either a gloss coat or a flat coat. I have tried to paint the individual decals with a brush, but the carrier film is still visible. What I have started doing regarding the large "USAF" decal is to cut out each letter. That way there is no more carrier film. 

Your comments and questions are always welcome.

  • Member since
    May 2009
  • From: Poland
Posted by Pawel on Thursday, July 27, 2017 2:23 PM

Don - Sorry to hear about your problem. Did you use any decal solvent to melt the decals? In my opinion this sometimes helps, but of course there's also a danger that the solvent will react with the metalizer layer. NMF is a risky business!

Have a nice day

Paweł

All comments and critique welcomed. Thanks for your honest opinions!

www.vietnam.net.pl

  • Member since
    March 2015
  • From: Close to Chicago
Posted by JohnnyK on Thursday, July 27, 2017 4:25 PM

Don,

Following are some examples of applying decals. 

In the top photo the carrier film on the USAF decal is very noticable and ruins the look of the model. In the second photo I cut out each letter of USAF and the decal is nice and clean. Also, I partially cut out the top and bottom carrier film on the U-222 decal. I think that since the carrier film is no longer in a straight line it is less noticable.

I do not know how decal solvents affect Alclad, but Micro Set, or maybe Micro Sol, turns Bare Metal Foil black if it is rubbed on the foil too hard.

 

 

Your comments and questions are always welcome.

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Friday, July 28, 2017 11:33 AM

Yeah, in retrospect I should have cut those large USAF decals out with individual letters.  That wouldn't have been possible on the stencils, but they are so small they wouldn't have been noticable.

 

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

  • Member since
    March 2015
  • From: Close to Chicago
Posted by JohnnyK on Friday, July 28, 2017 1:07 PM

Once I tried to cut out "U. S. AIR FORCE". That was a bad idea.

Your comments and questions are always welcome.

  • Member since
    May 2009
  • From: Poland
Posted by Pawel on Friday, July 28, 2017 1:24 PM

Hello!

In older modelling "how to" books they always tell you to cut out the decals, but I have always thought it kinda defeats the purpose of decals. Then there are the stencils - either you can make the carier film disappear with proper chemistry or you might as well cut out some masks and paint everything on.

Have a nice day

Paweł

All comments and critique welcomed. Thanks for your honest opinions!

www.vietnam.net.pl

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Twin Cities of Minnesota
Posted by Don Stauffer on Saturday, July 29, 2017 9:40 AM

I am finding decal adhesion to my Alclad very poor.  This is new to me- previously I always had good luck having decals stick to Alclad.  But I had a lot of problems with the Alclad on this model, and I believe the roughness of the surface this time caused the poor adhesion, even if it did not, at first, cause silvering.

I am guessing now that the poor adhesion and partial lifting caused a lot of the dullcoat to wick in under the decals and cause enhanced flattening compared to that that just went down in no-decal areas.

 

Don Stauffer in Minnesota

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