Dull coat did NOT work, now what?

Well, three coats of Testor's dull coat from the rattle can have lessened but not eliminated the gloss coat shine around the decals. I think at this point I'm just going to chalk it up to experience and move on to replace the mysteriously vanished fligt deck decal ... sigh ...

Fruno-I've used Dullcoat occassionally that doesn't dry flat. Bad batch, maybe? I also trim off as much of the clear film around decals as possible.

What you might be seeing is "silvering." That happens when the finish beneath the decals is not as glossy as it could be, and you get very thin layers of air between the gloss and the decal. Or, I have found that good ol' Testors dull cote in the spray can does have the odd reaction with some decals. I used it with no problems for several models, then when I sprayed it on my Harrier, it made the decals "pucker" and lift off the model. These had been on there for a long enough time (several days) so I know I didn't do it to quickly. Now I airbrush a little Gunze aqeuous flat, and I don't have that problem any more.

another take on this that I use with aircraft... don't just gloss around the decal, gloss the entire model or in this case maybe just the hull... when you dull coat it, it will look uniform.. sometimes even thought you keep spraying the dull coat it will still look different over that little patch.... if it is all uniformly applied over the enitre part then it will not stick out...

(future is the cheap way to do this... if not using an airbrush then lightly spray the gloss on the areas in between the decals, just enough to give them a sheen... it will lessen the difference in shines)

OK, I'm going to try another thin coat of flat clear tonight ... let it dry and see what happens. I guess since it's just the hull and there are really no details, I can just keep doing that until I use up the entire can?

Just kidding! Sort of.

MFSOB-do continue to "dust" the dullcoat on-it helps with the refraction that makes 'flat" finishes flat. Remember to agitate and heat each time. Gloss finishes require a heavier coat to 'flow out'.

Edit: in the future (not Future) just free spray gloss in the decal areas -no need to have squares about your decals.

I just slap on thick coats to make sure the decals won't show at all. Dull coat can turn the glossiest coats to a dead flat finish.

Shook the can for a good 2 minutes after preheating in warm water. I've only done one thin coat so far - I thought that was supposed to be all you needed? I'll try another coat this evening. Thanks for the advice so far!

Apply a gloss coat before and after you apply decals. The flat coat is the very last thing you want to do.

Sorry if my question may offend you, but did you shake the can enough? Did you try multiple applications? Thick enough application?