Will Tamiya clear, be ok to spray over white decals ?

[phil-east]

i've never used tamiya clear over decals before, have any of you guys used it over white decals ? i really don't want to ruin the look of the car as its my best paint job yet. The decals are quite large and are plain white. will a clear coat "yellow" or ruin these white decals ?

thanks for reading.

[Chillyb1]

Do you mean TS-13 clear? I've had very good luck using TS-13 over decals when shot through my airbrush is light coats. In your case, I wouldn't risk it without a test on some extra decals of the same type you've used on your model. Also, make sure all the decals are securely and snugly laid down on the model. I recently finished decaling a Tamiya Alpine A110 1971 Monte Carlo and when I cleared it (using TS-13) a couple of the decals suffered damage because (I think) the clear got underneath the decals. But all the rest of the substantial number of decals look utterly fantastically perfect.

[phil-east]

it is TS-13 in a rattle can, i think i may have a decal left over that i'm not going to use so i'll lay it on an old part and see how it turns out, have you ever had any experience with yellowing when using TS-13 ?

I have a slight split in one of the decals that bubbled a bit so i had to touch it up with white paint. I'll make sure i'm carefull with that area.

thanks a lot for the reply and help - Phil

[Chillyb1]

Have you ever had any experience with yellowing when using TS-13 ?

I forgot to address that part of your original message. No, I have not had that experience and, if what other modelers have claimed is true, I don't think the TS-13 is really prone to yellowing. So that should not be a concern.

I have a slight split in one of the decals that bubbled a bit so i had to touch it up with white paint. I'll make sure i'm carefull with that area.

I did the exact same thing on a Porsche 956 I'm currently working on. I used Tamiya acrylic to touch up the split in the decal, and it is an exact color match. Thank you, Tamiya! Anyway, I cleared the whole thing with TS-13 and didn't have any problems at all.

If you are spraying it from a can, make sure you shoot light coats and leave some time (fifteen minutes or so has worked in my experience) between coats. And after a few coats you may want to set it aside and wait until the next day just to see how it looks. The TS-13 dries to an almost imperceptibly thin coat and looks great and has an in-scale glossiness. If you keep shooting the clear to try to get a super wet-look clear, this can cause the earlier paint coats to sag and sometimes pull the decals with it. (DO NOT ask me how I know this; it just brings up bad memories.)

Good luck with your project.

[ffreak]

I myself have never had a problem with ts13 over decals. As mentioned earlier, just make sure the decals are adhered good to the surface, and apply in light coats with a few minutes flash time between coats. Of course the before mentioned test first on another decal suggestion should always apply. I have never had any yellowing from Tamiya clear either. It being a laquer, that had solved all my previous issues from other paints with yellowing.

[phil-east]

thanks a lot gents, i found a couple of places where the decals were not stuck down too well so i scraped off any loose parts with a toothpick and replaced them with paint. (at least colour matching white is reasonably easy !). I'll let the paint dry and gas out then i'll let you know how well the clear turns out.

Massive thanks to both of you for the help, You might well have saved this build from being shelved ! It's by far my cleanest build yet and i'd have been gutted if i ruined it at the final hurdle.

[ffreak]

For future reference, when you have a decal that's not sticking too well, try some Micro-sol decal setting solution to help set them down tight. It is made by Microscale, and has red lettering on the bottle. I've used this for years and it has saved many projects from the iron fist !!! After it has dried well, you can use a damp kleenex to wipe the excess off very gently so you will have a clean surface for the clearcoat. A word of warning though, only apply a very small amount of this as a lot of it can damage decals also. Again, test it on spare decals of the same kind if possible first. I've learned that lesson the hard way !!!!