What happened to the white stripe decals????

[2zwudz]

I was digging thru my old stash of cars I built long ago and I came across this Chevelle with white stripes. The picture doesn’t show the extent of it but the stripes have yellowed and cracked! What happened. This model has been in a box for 15 years????

Edited March 18, 2020 by 2zwudz

[cobraman]

Clear coat ?

[2zwudz]

2 minutes ago, cobraman said:

Clear coat ?

It’s been so long ago I can’t remember if I clear coated or not. I know I clear coated the paint  but I don’t think there is a clear coat over the decals?

[espo]

My thought is that you may not of cleared the decals. This is based on the close up picture of the stripes and the finish that looks as if they may be deteriorating. I have seen where decals can do that as they age. There's a lot of different opinions as to whether decals should be cleared or not. I'm of the opinion that they should, but that's just me.        

[2zwudz]

I am clear coating decals from here forward! Don’t care if it’s not scale!

[peteski]

Many clear coats yellow with age too. It is especially visible over white. So you could be doomed either way.

Looking at the photos I think that the clear was applied over the decals.  There seems to be a fillet of clear lacquer at the edge of the decal's clear film.

[bisc63]

The photos look to me like there is clear covering the decals; there is no clean, sharp demarcation at the decal edge as you would have with the decal on top.

[jaymcminn]

There seems to be a layer of clear over the decals and if I had to guess I would say you used an enamel clear coat such as the Model Master stuff. It has a nasty habit of yellowing over time. Never (yet) had it happen with clear lacquer.