I’m currently finishing up on a Tamiya 1/48 Beaufighter and have come across something I’m not familiar with. The RAF rondel decals supplied come in 2 parts. A large blue and yellow circle with a white center, and a smaller red ball that is to placed in the center of the larger decal in the white area. I’m not sure what the best way to do this is, never having applied a decal on top of another one. Should I put a coat of gloss finish over the first decal before applying the second one on top of it? Getting the “red ball” decal directly in the center will be critical to making it look right, so Im hoping I don’t run into issues with not being able to adjust the 2nd decal to get it right. I thought about masking the first decal and painting the red ball on it, but foresee trouble trying to mask it right because I won’t be able to see the underlying decal when I’m applying the mask. What do you folks think is the best way to do this?
And while I’m at it, what are your thoughts on how long one should wait after applying a decal before putting a finish coat on it. I usually wait about a day to make sure that the decal is dry. But I just happened to look at the directions for decaling from an old Revell kit, and they say to wait at least 48 hours. I’m sure that factors like temperature and humidity play a part in how long one needs to wait. But two days seems like a long time to me for a decal to dry under normal conditions.
OK, so you think I should just apply the second decal directly on the first decal without putting a clear coat on first? My concern with doing that was that I thought the sort of flat finish of the decal might cause problems with moving the second decal around a bit if it needed adjustment. Thanks for the help.
Thanks, and I agree with what you said. In this case what I was questioning was how long one should wait after applying decals before painting a sealing clearcoat over the decals.
Many older decal vendors limited the number of colors in decals to reduce the silkscreen costs. A decal with a lot of colors would come in two or three parts, with a couple of colors on each. I put second or third ones on when the first were dry enough that they stayed in place, with no coats of anything except maybe setting solution in between.
My bad, I usually let the decals air dry for a few hours minimum before clearcoating. I also second Dons suggestion on applying setting solution to assist in moving the second one. Be careful as those solutions usually make the decal do funny things as it works…RESIST THE URGE to play with them once the stuff kicks, everything will be fine when it dries.
Thanks again for the information. I followed your advice and applied the second decal over the first without clearcoating. I used a bit of Microset to allow the second decal to be positioned directly in the center. It worked like a charm and was much easier than I anticipated. I used a fine microbrush applicator to make fine adjustments to the decal. I’ve found they are great for that use, allowing me to move the decal around without taking much chance of damaging it.
From the conveniently-located Kalmbach Hobby Store:
They’re handy critters…sort of like synthetic mini-Q-tips. Great for manipulating decals – since the synthetic fibers usually won’t ‘grab’ – and my most frequent use, touching up/removing washes in tucked-away corners and angled recesses.
They’re pretty commonly available at most hobby and drug stores.
Registration on decals has also been haphazard over the years…including (occasionally) ‘specialty’ decal producers. Very common to find British roundels, in particular, with the center ‘dot’ printed off-center.
