I am building a 1/48th Revell OS2U Kingfisher and am having a problem with the decals. I painted the aircraft topside with master master blue grey enamel and then same day applied Future clear coat. I waited until the future was dry to the touch and then started applying the decals. After a couple of minutes I applied a thin coat of micro-sol to each decal. The fuselage and rudder decals worked fine but the wings turned light grey where the setting solution pooled up. In waited an hour and then tried to wipe off the grey which I thought was excess decal glue, but it had stained the painted surface. Has anyone had this experience? Did I move to quickly? I 've never had this happen before.
Most likely the setting solution just oxidized the Future–very easy to do. If you brush a little more Future on, that greying should disappear.
Yeah, you did too much too quickly. Enamel should’ve been allowed at least a full day (or 2) to dry before applying Future. So, you had those 2 things intermingling on the surface followed by micro sol? You’ve got yourself a chemical soup there.
I’ll leave it up to much more experienced members to help you correct that, if possible.
As for the Future and decals; I actually apply my decals using Future. I’ll put a dab of Future on the spot where applying decal, place the decal on the wet Future, quickly position it and once the Future has set up some (few mins) then seal the decal with more Future, being careful not to move it as the fresh Future may reflow the original stuff. When I’ve done this, my decals turn out awesome and are not EVER coming off. Oh, and no need for decal set solution after that.
I tried applying a little more Future that didn’t work. I am going to start over, strip the decals and repaint the wings. I’ll give it a couple of days between future and paint and decaling solution. I need to mask the canopy and that will keep me busy while it all dries. Thanks guys.
Wouldn’t you agree, gregbale, that enamel painting, clear coating and decal set application all in one day is "too-much too-soon and just begging for problems?
Usually a touch-up with Future will disappear that cloudy area, I have no idea what happened that it wouldn’t.
I try to leave a minimum of 24 hours between each Future-decal-overspray step, 48 hours being more preferable for my tastes
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A fresh paint job I’ll let cure and out-gas for days before doing anything else over it.
I would. The thing to remember about any coating, whether enamel, acrylic or other, is that “surface dry” doesn’t mean the chemistry in layers beneath has stabilized. My own guidelines, based purely on personal experience, would suggest a minimum of 12-24 hours for the enamel coat to set & cure (enough to be able to topcoat, at least), and anywhere from 4-8 hours minimum for the Future.
Even when Future is fully cured, stuff like setting solutions or even plain water can “fog” it, depending on temperatures, contact time, and so on. If that happens, a little more Future on top—before other solvents are used to try to “remove” the problem area—will generally make the fogging disappear like magic.
Keep in mind that there is a forum just for decals, decaling, and its problems. It is a forum worth browsing every now and then. These kinds of problems are frequent threads.
Thanks Don. We newbies need those reminders. (Especially those of us from Minnesota [*-)] )