Any ideas what I need to do to letter some of my building that are painted with acrylic paints? On two of them I discovered that some of the edges were peeling. With that peeling, the decals were also peeling the paint off the buildings. First, did I misapply the decals somehow? (I custom made the decals and used Microscale’s setting system.) Second, does this type of decal not work on acrylic paints? Three, would using dry transfers instead solve this problem or am I stuck using pieces of stryene attached to the building to letter these buildings? Any help would be very welcomed.
Did you seal the building before you decalled? I don’t know of there being a problem wih acrylics, and haven’t noticed an issue with mine.
Sxratch that, I did have one decal set peeling up, the issue was how long it soaked, but the other decals I ran off on comperable cars have been fine.
If the paint is peeling, perhaps you didn’t wash the completed structure before painting. Mould release agents on the plastic and oil from your hands can have a negative affect on paint adhesion, especially with water-based paints.
As for the decals not sticking, you’ll find that they’re easier to apply and will stick better to a gloss or semi-gloss surface - on flat paint, the microscopically rough finish results in lots of minute air pockets between the paint and the decal. Also, it’s been my experience that it’s almost impossible to over-soak a decal.
If you’re having trouble with the decals sticking, dry transfers will likely fare no better, and, unlike decals, you won’t have the chance to re-try with the original ones. [;)]
Wayne
Dr W, once again you have struck the truth smack dab on the top of the head; every case I have ever had of paint peeling boiled down to not applying that paint onto a clean surface; I don’t know what you use but I give my surfaces a thorough soaking and scrubbing with vinegar both before painting and before decaling.
There’s no reason decals shouldn’t work on acrylic surfaces. Yes, they will sit better and look cleaner if you use a gloss or satin overcoat before you apply the decal, but sometimes that’s not what you want. I find that applying decals to rough, uneven surfaces results in exactly the painted-on, weathered look I want.
Don’t always expect the decal to settle in fine right away. On uneven surfaces, you may need several applications of Micro-Sol to soften the decal and get it to settle down, particularly at the edges where it wants to curl. I apply the Micro-Sol with a small brush, which also helps push the decal down into the grooves.
Once you’re happy with the decal, it’s important to seal it. I use either a clear satin (semi-gloss) finish or Dul-Cote, depending on how I want the finished model to look. This will permanently keep the decal and paint in place.
The paint oughta stick no matter what. If I read you right, your decals are pulling the paint off the building. If the paint is peeling then you have a paint problem. Insufficient surface prep, old paint, applied too thick, wrong thinner, something.
Surface preparation for plastic is hot soapy water and a brush, followed by a rinse in clear water. A trip thru the dishwasher is effective. Don’t touch the plastic with bare hands after washing, the oil in fingerprints can spoil the paint bond.
Paint ages. After some years in the bottle the magic chemistry that makes it dry and stick degrades. Paint can pick up a lotta years in your basement, and even before you bring it home it can pick up a lotta years on the store shelf. I remember checking dates on cans of shellac at my friendly local hardware store and finding all of them were out dated, in one case by four years.
Use thin coats. If one thin coat doesn’t cover, use two thin coats. A thick coat doesn’t dry well and peels more easily.
Acrylic should thin and clean up with water. I don’t know what alcohol, windshield washer fluid, or soap does to the paint chemistry, and I never wanted to find out. My tap water is pretty good and I use it for thinning. I can imagine tap water so hard that it does bad things for paint, in which case distilled water from the supermarket might help.
I would ask one more question on the paint. What kind of acrylic paint did you use? I have used Polly Scale or similar on plastic without a problem after washing the plastic but found out the hard way that craft paint doesn’t stick to plastic all that well without a primer coat, particularly if brushed on.
On my last project I tried a couple of very, very light coats with automotive primer from a rattle can and it fixed the problem. But you have to be careful because the auto primer is a lacquer that will attack plastic.
George V.
To answer the paint question, it is a craft-type paint. (FolkArt from my local Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, I am in a place that doesn’t have a local railroad shop.) The paint was also originally sealed with a clear finish. I never noticed any problem until I tried putting the lettering on it. As long as I don’t try to do any lettering on the paint, would I need to worry about the paint peeling. (Other than maybe resealing it.) Given that the buildings in question are already painted (without primer, of course), is there anything I can do short of stripping the buildings and starting over (which I don’t really want to do.) if I want to letter these buildings?
Well, you can always touch up the paint, but often that doesn’t look so hot, because colors from different batches are frequently not quite the same. Plus, it’s awfully hard to blend the edges of your touch up into your original paint work.
Unfortunately, you have hit the nail on the head when you say “start over”. That will be far and away your best option, although you probably don’t need to completely strip it. Use a swab and some denatured alcohol to clean the area which is peeling, making sure you get all the loose paint off. Then you can repaint the whole structure and reseal it.
Also, ditch the Wal-Mart specials and invest in some higher quality paints. There are some places in our hobby where the cheapo solution is better, but for my money, paint isn’t one of them. Most craft paint isn’t a true acrylic, but a blend of acrylic and tempura. ModelMaster Acryl by Testors or Polly Scale are excellent brands; Taimya is more readily available and cheaper, but not as good. Any halfway decent hobby or craft store should have them, or be willing to order them for you. You also have several on-line options.
It’s really all about your level of perfectionism – what can you tolerate? And, in some cases, a crummy paint job may make a structure look more realistic.