Can Tamiya spraycan lacquer clear be shot over decals?

[LDO]

I've got a car with racing stripes and the demarcation line has a "step". I'm wondering if I can cut some ***very*** narrow strips to lay over that and then spray clear on top.

Yeah, I know, I should use an airbrush, but this is a '69 Camaro I started while deployed to Afghanistan. I want to finish the paint using the same techniques I used over there.

The black & yellow Duesenberg and red Mercedes got finished. The Camaro just needs the paint finished. All three need touch-up from the beating they took on the way home. They are sitting on a desk I built for myself. We didn't have tools so I mail-ordered a circular saw, tape measure, wood screws, a drill, etc. After that mission, I got out.

[whale392]

Not saying it can't, but I had my decals craze on me when I shot TS13 over them (even applying several light coats didn't help).

[highway]

First and foremost, Thank you for your service, Lee!

I'm not going to say yes or no on spraying the clear over the decals, because most of the decals I apply to models are either emblems or Nascar sponsorships, and these would not be clearcoated, anyways. I would say since the 69 Camaro's stripes would be vinyl decals on the prototype, the small "step" would actually also be prototypically correct. If you are going more towards the painted on stripe look, have you considered actually painting them? I would not want to see you mess up the beautiful paint on that Camaro, but painting the stripes might be a last ditch option. The only other option I could think of, but it would be against what you said about finishing the paint job using the same techniques, is using Future for your clearcoat.

BTW, what is the color on your Camaro?

Edited May 30, 2010 by highway

[crispy]

I've done it, but boy howdy, do you have to be patient. When they say light coats, go even lighter. Take your time in spraying them letting the previous coat flash off. It's time consuming, but works.

Here's my Challenger with Slixx decals covered with TS-13:

Chris

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

Lee,

I've had much success spraying TS-13 over decals. First step is to apply Microscale Liquid Decal Film over the decals before you apply them. Then, use Micro Set when applying the decals. The Micro Set helps bond the decals to the bodywork and the Liquid Decal Film acts as a protective barrier.

Like Crispy said, you still need to apply light coats of TS-13, waiting 30 minutes between coats. After you get your light coats built up, you can ususally apply one or two heavier coats to finish things off, again waiting 30 minutes between.

Good luck!

Marc @ MPC Motorsports

[mountaindewd]

Heavens ta Betsy, that paint on the Camaro is SWEET!! What did you use, base and top coat?

It may be the white(interior bucket) making it stand out like that. Imagine what a nice set of white SS stripes would do for it.

[LDO]

Thanks, guys.

All paint is Tamiya spray can lacquers. Gold basecoat followed by clear red. The stripes are painted on. I tried something I read about in Hot Rod magazine maybe 25 years ago for the stripes; a white/pearl white checkerboard. I cut tiny squares from Tamiya masking tape and laid them out on the stripes, then sprayed some Tamiya clear pearl over that. Since it's all spray cans, there is a step. There are also a couple of tiny imperfections on the demarcation line. The checkerboard itself has a few hair-thin lines between white and pearl white. I'm not going to strip it and start again, though. Morale on that mission was virtually nonexistent. The boredom was inhumane. Building model cars helped keep me from losing my mind. The Mercedes has pearl on it that I'm not really happy with (just because the pearl has some blue in it), but it stays on.

[jbwelda]

i use tamiya clear over decals all the time but its probably worth the time to test on a piece of scrap plastic with a scrap decal first...some react different than others. i do try to do a couple mist coats first but i dont go out of my way to be especially careful...i just dont dump a heavy coat on it right off the bat. i also typically use microsol on decals whether they need it or not as it tends to melt the decal into the finish and maybe thats why i typically dont have problems with clear over the top. one other thing you can do just to be safe is brush a coat of future over the decals before the clear, let it dry up well, and then shoot the clear. it should protect even sensitive decals from harm and the future self levels and is pretty much unnoticable after it dries.