Glossy to Flat looking Decals help ?

Ask other modelers for a little help / knowledge ?

Glossy to Flat looking Decals help ?

Postby SpiceMan » Sat Nov 15, 2014 11:20 pm

Greetings to all my fellow Guillow's model builders & friends. :!: :)

I could use a little help with my current dilemma. So here's the scoop ...

I'm in the process of finishing-up my little Bird Dog ( as a 3-channel RC ), and have covered it with the kit tissue, and spray painted it with Olive Drab Flat Acrylic. Looked pretty nice to this point :D , but ... adding the "glossy decals" kinda screwed-up the "flat" look of the little gal :cry: , when viewed from the certain angle. :oops:

So my question is ... can anyone recommend a compatible liquid / paint :idea: that I could gently brush over the decals to transform the "glossy" look, and make theme appear more "flat" looking?

Suggestions appreciated. :)
SpiceMan
 
Posts: 110
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:52 am
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Glossy to Flat looking Decals help ?

Postby Brenda » Sat Nov 15, 2014 11:43 pm

Flat coat clear paint. Comes in small spray cans. Do whole ship and problem solved. :)
Brenda
 
Posts: 120
Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2014 1:02 pm

Re: Glossy to Flat looking Decals help ?

Postby davidchoate » Sun Nov 16, 2014 6:31 am

Had the same problem. Is it a newer kit
,I had wrinkle problems as well. I did a P-40 500series in acrylic OD,and it wasnt too glossy,but i cleared coat it anyway cuz it was for displaying. My BirdDog i wanted to fly and so i removed the defective decals
davidchoate
 
Posts: 1263
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:41 am
Location: PHiladelphia PA

Re: Glossy to Flat looking Decals help ?

Postby Mitch » Sun Nov 16, 2014 10:38 am

I realize you want to fly but there are always compromises. I am surprised you where able to paint it. Did you dope it before that? I am also surprised that the decals stuck to the flat paint. My answer at this point would be another coat of dull cote. In the future, you could make color copies of the decals and apply those instead. I have done that on a few models with satisfactory results.

Good Luck, Mitch
Mitch
 
Posts: 1347
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:16 pm
Location: Kent, WA

Re: Glossy to Flat looking Decals help ?

Postby SpiceMan » Sun Nov 16, 2014 10:53 pm

My thanks to all of you for your good suggestions. 8)

Your suggestions got me thinking in the right direction, and after careful consideration, I decided on "decal removal".

My biggest concern was the huge "U. S. Army" decal that I'd placed on the top side of the right wing, as per the drawing. Not only was it very glossy looking, but it landed up having enough wrinkles in it to make it look like prune skin. :!: :cry: :oops: This certainly detracted from what otherwise turned out to be a fairly nice looking little Bird Dog, so this one ( and only this one ) had to go. The others were left in place, and still look pretty good.

Luckily, it wasn't stuck down very well, and I was able to find a loose corner, and then work a sheet of paper between the decal and the wing skin, and remove it without damaging the skin or the paint.

She's lookin pretty good at this point, so I'd probably best just leave her "as-is", and see how well she flies. :lol:
SpiceMan
 
Posts: 110
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:52 am
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Glossy to Flat looking Decals help ?

Postby SpiceMan » Sun Nov 16, 2014 11:26 pm

Mitch wrote:I realize you want to fly but there are always compromises. I am surprised you where able to paint it. Did you dope it before that? I am also surprised that the decals stuck to the flat paint. My answer at this point would be another coat of dull cote. In the future, you could make color copies of the decals and apply those instead. I have done that on a few models with satisfactory results.

Good Luck, Mitch


Thanks Mitch for the info.. :D

The painting of this bird turned out to be somewhat of an experiment for me. I didn't want to go the "dope" route, because I'm not familiar with how to mix it to get that "Olive Drab" look that I was thinking would be appropriate for the Bird Dog. Instead, I opted to use a set-up similar to an Air Brush. I went over to my local Home Depot store, and selected the color from the many "color swatches" that they have, and had them mix up a little pint size "sample" container. Cost was $3.00.
Used a 50% paint, and 50% water mixture to get a good viscosity for spraying. Turns out that it worked quite well. :D

As for the decals, you're right ... they didn't stick very well ( especially the big U. S. Army one ). I'll probably coat the edges of the small ones with some watered-down Elmer's glue, to keep them in place. 8)

Gotta just LOVE this model building :!: Seeing them fly as "converted to RC" is cool too. 8) :lol:
SpiceMan
 
Posts: 110
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:52 am
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Glossy to Flat looking Decals help ?

Postby SpiceMan » Sun Nov 16, 2014 11:38 pm

davidchoate wrote:Had the same problem. Is it a newer kit
,I had wrinkle problems as well. I did a P-40 500series in acrylic OD,and it wasnt too glossy,but i cleared coat it anyway cuz it was for displaying. My BirdDog i wanted to fly and so i removed the defective decals


Hi David,

In answer to your question, "Is it a newer kit", I suppose it is. Purchased it probably a year ago. It's all Die Cut. I'm wondering if Guillow's will be converting this one to a "laser cut" kit somewhere down the road. Sure would be a GREAT improvement :!: :!: :!: :)
SpiceMan
 
Posts: 110
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:52 am
Location: Phoenix, AZ


Return to General Building Questions

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 8 guests

cron