So here’s my deal, I’m an unapologetic brush painter, at first I couldn’t afford an airbrush, now I can, but I live in a small place, I have not patience for masking and I’ve come to enjoy the challenge ot figuring out ways to do different schemes justice. My one weakness in my method is that the only spraying I do is a dullcoat to seal in pastel weathering, I’ve been using testors dullcoat in the can which means I have to seal in the weathering before I do the decals after learning how well that spray can eat decals which leads to obvious problems when weathering should go over a decal. (I’ve been going over the decals after with a hand brushed dullcoat at this point)
So the big question is, will any spray bomb dull coat eat my decals or is this reserved for testors? Any help would be great as I’m really looking for a way to make my method a little less a-- backwards. Thanks.
Ive been using Testor dullcote over my decals and never had a problem with them, could it be you are spraying too thick or too many coats too soon? I actually like the way the dullcote flattens out the decal and gives it that painted on look.
I agree with carsanab above. It sounds like you have the order of your processes mixed up too. After your paint is dry, you should gloss before decaling, then apply decals. Once the decals are dry, dullcote over the decals to seal them and blend them in. Sometimes, I apply another cote of gloss over the decals since it tends to blend them in better, then dullcote. Once the dullcote is dry, then start your weathering. This way the decals will appear painted on and be weathered with the model, not sit on top of the weathering.
Testors Model Master Dullcote (Lusterless Flat #1960) in the rattle-can, works great. Apply it in this coats and don’t let it pool up on the model and you will have no issues with it affecting the decals.
Im going to triple the motion (and agree w/ the other two posts), I’ve been using Testors dullcote for a few years and have never had a problem w/ it damaging decals. Could you be using brittle decals to begin with? Sometime after I decal (and before I do any real weathering), I’ll hit the kit with another light coat of future to seal the decals. Afterwards, I usually use just a few light coats of the dullcote after the decaling/weathering are done and it seems to seal the decals/weathering well. You do have to mask clear parts, because the dullcote can fog canopies. Are you using Microsol or Microset with your decals? These assure a good adherence of the decal to your paint/finish, and may help protect the decals when you do your finish work. Just a thought. Frank
Sorry guys, I’m sticking with my distrust of testors dullcoat on decals, I’ve seen on here with others having found the same problem, even if it is rare, the one it really did a number on was the 1:48 Tamiya RAF Mustang, granted those don’t seem to be great decals anyway, but when I sprayed over the decals the blue in the roundels did this white bubbling type thing. I did do some experimenting on my junk plane, I fired on a couple different sourced decals on a futured up surface and sprayed and oversprayed far in excess of what I would nomally do but it didn’t do it then, but I did have some very slight showing of the same problem on my Halfiax, which I was spraying very thin, cause like I said, I still don’t trust the stuff. Anybody else who’s had the same problem feel free to speak up so I don’t sound crazy.
Been using Testors Dullcote for over thirty years and never had a problem with it harming decals. I do use an airbrush most of the time these days, but still use spray cans fairly frequently when I don’t want to mess with getting the airbrush out.
Some thoughts:
Make sure you’re not laying it on too heavily. Dust on several light coats. If it looks wet when you spray it on, then it’s probably too much/too close.
Be careful of the temperature & humidity; high humidity can cause the Dullcote to “fog” and be splotchy. Didn’t realize how much of a problem this was until I moved to hot & humid Florida
Shake the can thoroughly before starting and re-shake frequently while spraying.
The only real problem I have with Dullcote is that it yields a dead flat finish. Usually I’ll mix it with some Glosscote in the airbrush to get more of a semi-gloss or satin finish.
Never had a problem in my many years of modeling, sounds like you may not be giving your gloss undercoat time to cure or you do not let your decals dry thoughly
I alway let the paint dry for three to four days before I apply the decals. I let it day another couple of days before I use Dullcote or gloss, depending on what I working on. I have never had a problem. I agree with the others than you may not be waiting long enough. I was always told my other modelers than paint had to dry for at least 48 hours.
It was mentioned that you like to brush coat first so this may not apply. I airbrush Model Master enamels and like to thin 'em just a bit more than some folks do and then use just a bit more air pressure than some folks do. Why do I point out these details? Because what I get is a ‘satin’ finish while using ‘Military Flat’ paints and I skip the glosscoat before decaling. I use several applications of MicroSol (more aggressive than MicroSet) and watch for any areas of the decals that show silvering and sometimes that means I’ll stiple the decal with a stiff nylon paintbrush to get it to lay down real nice. Let everything setup (including pastel chalk weathering if applied) and then use the good ole rattle cans of Testors too.
Only problem I ever had was with a set of MicroScale decals which were silver in color. Those ran when I applied my usual medium wet coat. I adjusted for that with multiple dry passes on my redo and it was okay. I see so much emphasis placed on laying on a gloss base before decaling that I’m not really sure why I’ve gotten away with this approach all these years? But I like not building up any additional paint coats and anyone who’s seen my work has never questioned the results even after I’ve shared how I do it? Even extra clear coats eventually hide details, texture and whatnot.
It sounds like you are against using Testers dulcote , maybe the lacquer in it caused your problem . There is Acrylic dull coat available . I’m not sure if they come in a rattle can though . Look in a craft store maybe .
Ok, there’s enough people on here with dissimilar experiences that I’m going to have to admitt that I just might be wrong about this stuff, hmmmm. That mustang was a long time ago, maybe there was something else I did that could have been at fault that I’ve forgotten about and blamed it on the testors dull coat for so long. I guess I’ll have to take what you’ve said and giver another go. Thanks all.
