I do not know why, but I have a mortal fear when it comes to applying decals. This is absurd since I applied decals often to model planes and armored vehicles as a kid and do not recall it being a big deal. However, I hesitate to apply decals to my model railroad structures and cars. I have Micro-Seal and Micro-Set as well as all the tools I need to apply decals, but I keep putting off doing it.
My biggest concern is applying a layer of clear gloss to the object I am going to apply the decals to. Do I spray the whole object with clear gloss or do I mask most of the object except where I am going to apply the decal and just spray that area? Likewise, when the decal is done, how should apply the clear flatāover the whole object or just in the non-masked area?
Instead of using my air brush, should I just use a regular brush to apply the clear gloss and the clear flat over only the area I will be applying the decal?
In particular, I would like to apply car numbers to all the Waltherās passenger cars I now own.
Hey! Iād recommend spraying the entire model with gloss coat with your airbrush, then applying the decals, then another layer of gloss coat followed by a flat coat. Its better to spray the whole model, so there arenāt raised spots along the side where the coats are applied. Also, make sure you remove or mask the windows while working on the passenger cars, otherwise those windows will get rather frosty! If youāre really worried about it, Iād recommend trying applying them to a car you donāt have a strong attachment to as a test! Good luck!
Iāve managed to get away with not applying gloss coat when Iām decaling. Iāve only had silvering twice and thatās been many years ago. Just apply lots of decal solution to the model before you put the decal on.
Being a protolancer I have painted and decaled many models over the years.
When working with decals on models Ive always used this tamiya product. with the brush in the cap you create a pool of the solution and with a pair of tweezers you float the decal on top of the pool. this will give you time to move it around for its final resting place. the pool then dries kind of a matte finish.
Does anyone else use this product?
Hello JPD, I have roughly 100 rolling stock cars that has many decals on them. 98% came out looking as expected, and the couple that didnāt work were easy to remove and start over with something else. But I have never applied a clear gloss coat to any rolling stock. To me that doesnāt make sense to do. Before applying the decal to the car, I dot some drops of water on the car where the decal will be applied. When the decal starts to separate from the backing card, I slide the decal up enough (with my fingers) so I can grab onto the bottom of the exposed decal backer with tweezers. Now I can position it exactly where I want it. After I apply the decal, I take a cotton swab (on a stick) and start in the center of the decal and roll it to the right then to the left to remove the water thatās underneath the decal. Once dry, I hit it with Dull-Coat spray to take the gloss off the decal and help to cement it in place. It works great. Hereās a couple photos.
OK, as a freelance modeler I do a lot of painting and decaling.
I prefer to paint with gloss paint, apply decals, and then coat the model with clear flat or satin.
BUT, if a model has a satin/semi gloss finish, like a Bachmann painted but unlettered steam loco, I have found you can simply apply the decals and then spray it with clear. No gloss basecoat required.
So depending on the finish currently on the model, it might be worth a test.
In a few days I will be going to a train show. I think I will pick up a couple of cheap box cars, remove the old decals, and experiment applying new decals using some of the suggestions I have received. This way, if something goes horribly wrong, I am only out a few dollars.
That is an excellent approach. I did exactly that recently with a damaged passenger car before actually decaling 12 good passenger cars. In fact, I experimented with extra decals all over the test car to make sure I could get it right. Be sure to report your results back to us.
Yes, but there is no one best method, there are different things that work in different situations.
My prefered method, as you know, Scalecoat gloss paint, decals, clear flat or satin (passenger cars and locos).
When I was using Floquil decades ago, which was a flat enamel paint, I added their gloss into the paint, again like, like Scalecoat, this eliminates the extra step of a clear gloss coat before the decals.
Iām in the ādoes not apply gloss coat before decalingā camp, because (1) Iām lazy, (2) I donāt own an airbrush, and (3) Iāve gotten away with this for years without silvering with very limited exception. Generally, factory paint is smooth enough that silvering is not a problem. I use some Micro-Set to get the decal in place, then carefully press on the decal with a folded paper towel to get all liquid out from under it, and finally use plenty of Micro-Sol to seat it over any details. This worked so well on this HO scale General Lee model that I built that I was even scared to clear coat over the decals. Still havenāt to this day. Did I mention that Iām lazy?
Hope this helps you get over your understandable hesitation and fear. The only thing you have to lose is some decals if youāre dissatisfied. Just donāt apply clear coat over the decals until youāre 100% satisfied, and you can always easily remove them with some Micro-Sol and some scrubbing.
This set of locomotives was painted with Scalecoat, decaled and coated with Scalecoat clear (a mix of gloss and flat for a satin look). Now for the rule breaking part - one of the locos was an undecorated model, the other was factory painted in Southern Pacific Daylight colors - I did not strip it. I simply painted it grey over the factory paint, painted the red, etc.
So was it the A unit or the B unit that was SP Daylight?
If itās a pre-decorated car (i.e., painted and lettered by the manufacturer), it will probably not be decaled, but ink-stamped or some other method. You can remove the lettering with Solvaset and a rubber pencil eraser (and a lot of patience) BUT probably be easier to track down an ādata onlyā car (painted with generic data, you add roadname related decals), or just a car with very little lettering, and use that for practice insteadā¦or just buy an old pre-dec $3 Athearn āblue boxā car and spray boxcar red over it and try lettering on that.
If you have an airbrush and are comfortable with it, use it for the gloss and flat coats. Otherwise, for many years Iāve used Tamiya spray can paints on my models. They are specifically made to paint models, and produce a fine spray compared to older style ārattle cansā.
Once the decal is on, use lots of solvent like Solvaset to āsnuggleā the decal down. If itās like a riveted car, after the decal is pretty much snuggled, I take a single-edge razor blade and lightly cut the decal along the rivet line, then apply more Solvaset to make sure itās all smooth. On a wood-sided car, I run the blade down all the grooves between the boards of the car.
