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Decal/Masking procedure


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I'm going to need suggestions on the best way to go about doing the hood on this Revell '69 Mustang. The center area of the hood is supposed to be black with a pinstripe edging. Decals are provided for the pinstripe and a portion of the outer edge of the black area (decals 1 and 3 in the pic)...

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The end result...

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So I've got to have body color, and over that a masked section of black, and bording that the decals. I'm guessing the body color gets sprayed first, but what's the best way to approach the masking and decals? The decals have to be in a very specific position, and I don't see how I'm going to mask accurately until those are on. I'm also guessing that putting masking tape over decals is a bad idea. So, spray body color, apply decals, clear coat over all, then mask and spray black? Or something else?

 

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First off, I want to be sure I fully understand your situation. Looking at the kits decals and the picture from the instruction sheet it would look as if they don't provide a decal to fully cover the black portion of the hood. I would suggest painting the portion of the small portion of the hood that needs to be black and isn't covered by a decal after the body color is applied. After the paint has dried then apply the kits decals. Then you would clear everything. Now one problem that may or may not be an issue would be if you want a gloss finish on the black areas or a flat or semi-gloss. This is where the masking you mentioned can get very tricky. Just about any masking tape going over a decaled area has a very high probability of lifting the decal when the masking tape is removed. I would just paint the hood, apply the decals and clear everything. Going for a flat or semi-gloss black finish you would mask off everything but the portion of the body you want painted black. How comfortable are you with masking the black pattern would be the big issue.  

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When I did that kit, I painted body color, masked and painted the black, then put on the decals. As you mentioned, the trick is knowing where to mask. I cut out one of the decals very closely, and used it for a template for masking. (In the process, I cut the pinstripe off the decal. Big mistake! Doh!). It might be better to use tracing paper to make a template of the decal, then mask so that the wide stripe of the decal laps over onto the black paint. I wanted a semi-gloss finish for the black, so I did not clear. I used Testors Semi Gloss Black, and with the decals, it's pretty seamless.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I bought this kit two weeks ago and was thinking about this issue.  I found on Youtube a video by The Muscle Car Modeler on this kit.  He paints the body color and then lays down the decals.  He clear coats the body and then paints the black.  On step 15 of the instructions there is a template you could use to paint the hood.  

Edited by carrucha
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