Any gloss white under losenge decals?

[Pup7309]

Hi they say there are no dumb questions but I’m going to ask this because failure is also not an option...I paid too much for the kit and aviattic decals!

 

WNW and other decal companies recommended a gloss white undercoat. Are there any paints you wouldn’t use for this? Enamel or acrylic? Gloss or future should be ok too?

Edited February 19, 2020 by Pup7309

[Chek]

My go-to white has for years been acrylic white primer for spraying plastic trim and bumpers on (full size) cars from the local car parts shop.

It covers very well, especially if warmed in warm water and well shaken. It helps to work in still air such as an open door garage, or in cold weather

open the door occasionally to release the fumes. The paint may also need to be warmed again in such conditions.

I'd never go back to the struggle for depth and opacity using hobby paints again. As it's a primer, it should be safe to topcoat it with most top coat paints,

though I'd be careful or avoid applying very wet coats of cellulose lacquer.

 

It gives a matt finish, but I've wet sanded and polished it to give a smooth, even gloss on subjects like Concorde, TSR2 and V-bombers.

I actually prefer it to gloss paints, as the finish when polished with a soft cloth is as smooth as porcelain, which looks far more realistic, to me anyway.

[modelingbob]

I generally do not like high contrast (like white) gloss undercoats for lozenge decals, because you often damage/crack/chip small pieces off of the decal whilst applying and it shows up like a sore thumb. And that requires a lot of work to correct. I much prefer a color of paint that is closer to one of the decal colors. That being said, some lozenge decals are meant to be applied over a white basecoat for color fidelity, so it really depends on the manufacturer instructions. I prefer lacquer paints (especially gloss) due to their quick dry/cure time and durability. I less prefer water based acrylic paints due to durability issues. I really dislike enamel paints due to the long dry/cure time. I don't like using Future alone as a basecoat as it doesn't really apply that smoothly over bare plastic for me. However, Future (or other gloss) over a coat of paint does work quite well if you can't find a gloss paint to match but have a flat/satin paint that does match. I haven't tried other gloss coats over bare plastic so I can't comment. 

[Greif8]

Hello I used Aviattic decals on my two recent builds of the Fokker DVII and Albatros DV.  On the Fokker I sprayed the surfaces to be decaled Tamiya Buff thinned with Mr. Color Lacquer thinner.  I sprayed the base coat with a 40/60 mix of Tamiya X22 thinned again with Mr. Color thinner spraying two medium followed by a "flash" coat of a 20/80 ration X22/Thinner to get a nice smooth gloss coat.  On the Albatros DV I used Tamiya White Primer (decanted and applied with an airbrush) and gloss coated it using the same method as the DVII.  I think the results were pretty good.

 

Ernest 

[Palm-tree]

I use tamiya deck tan mixed with white to give a parchment colour....fabric.

Let it cure for a day or two then spray either with Tamiya X-22 clear of a laquer varnish.

Let it cure again for a couple of days so no finger prints can be impressed into the surface, then apply your lozenge decals.

It works for me.

[Pup7309]

On 3/2/2020 at 4:45 PM, Palm-tree said:

I use tamiya deck tan mixed with white to give a parchment colour....fabric.

Let it cure for a day or two then spray either with Tamiya X-22 clear of a laquer varnish.

Let it cure again for a couple of days so no finger prints can be impressed into the surface, then apply your lozenge decals.

It works for me.

So is the deck tan/white acrylic ?

Thanks for your tip!

[Pup7309]

Does anyone do preshading like along rib lines? Thanks

[Greif8]

On 3/3/2020 at 10:37 AM, Pup7309 said:

Does anyone do preshading like along rib lines? Thanks

 

I did not do so on the two builds a recently finished.  The Aviattic decals a translucent though, so preshading should work, but I would try it out on a paint mule with some spare decal to see how it looks.

 

Ernest

[europapete]

Hi Pup, yes, gloss finish, and yes, you can do preshading. Be aware though that the decals are transparent, so do SUBTLE preshading, the decal does not dull down the effects. Use a paint mule to practice on first. Regards, Pete in RI