Minicraft 1/144 MD-80

[LSP_Ray]

Strange! The only two times I have decals react were, one, when I tried Future which I will never use again; and I used a clear lacquer for wood (decals were on my wood base) and I used too much so it melted them a bit. Never had a problem with dedicated modeling clear.

[LSP_Kevin]

6 minutes ago, LSP_Ray said:

Strange! The only two times I have decals react were, one, when I tried Future which I will never use again; and I used a clear lacquer for wood (decals were on my wood base) and I used too much so it melted them a bit. Never had a problem with dedicated modeling clear.

 

I suspect the problem in my case is a combination of the Mr. Color Leveling Thinner, and some contamination on the decals. The instructions warn that they're overcoated with "oil", which needs to be cleaned off prior to adding any clear coats. I'm guessing I didn't do a good enough job with that here, and it has contributed to the problem. But that really is just a guess on my part. And ironically, the only other time I've had this happen was with another airliner build! (In that case, it was corogard decals from Flying Colors for the Revell 767).

 

Kev

[LSP_Ray]

Oil? Don't suppose they tell what kind of oil or what would clean it off. Most stuff that can clean oil off will either destroy the decal or the paint!

I once used one of the orange-based cleaners to get some oil spots off of a vinyl convertible top on a car as it said it was ok for vinyl. A few minutes later, bubbles appeared on the top! Turned out the top had been dyed a new color and the cleaner took it right off.

[LSP_Kevin]

4 minutes ago, LSP_Ray said:

Oil? Don't suppose they tell what kind of oil or what would clean it off. Most stuff that can clean oil off will either destroy the decal or the paint!

I once used one of the orange-based cleaners to get some oil spots off of a vinyl convertible top on a car as it said it was ok for vinyl. A few minutes later, bubbles appeared on the top! Turned out the top had been dyed a new color and the cleaner took it right off.

 

So the exact wording is this:

 

Quote

These decals are still raw and do not have a clear varnish finish on them. This is to prevent them turning yellow in storage. However, there is a thin film of oil on them so before you apply any clear lacquer to the applied film, we recommend you give them a light wipe over with a damp soapy cloth.

 

I used a damp, soapy cotton bud for the other decals, but forgot the soap with the cargo doors, and just used plain water. I suspect that's at least a contributor to the problem. They're also the largest decals I've used from the set so far, and the ones with the most visible carrier film. So I guess it's possible that the other decals have reacted too, but not enough to notice.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

Decal Repairs, Round 2, is almost complete. I started with some cautious wet-sanding, using a couple of varyingly worn squares of a sheet of 3M sanding sponge:

 

 

If you compare this to my previous image, you'll note that this process has also really cut back the too-light repainted areas, but also cut through the paint in some spots. Most of the worst of the orange peel on the decals has been removed, however. Any more than that, and I'll start to cut into the decal ink (already have on the left one, actually).

 

The next step was yet another careful mask and respray job, this time, mixing the paint more thoroughly:

 

 

The repaint is still a little too light, but Scott Taylor from SMS Paints thinks the pigment isn't mixing well enough, so I've got myself a little DSPIAE paint mixer on the way from Manscale Models. A good clear coat would also help here, but that's where this round of trouble started! I've prepared a paint mule to accept a spare decal, and will carry out some tests on that first.

 

Overall, though, it's looking much better, and since it's now destined to become a simple shelf-sitter, I'd almost be content to leave it like that. Still, I have the rest of the decals to go on yet, and really need a process that will avoid this happening again!

 

Kev

[Alex]

Maybe an acrylic clear coat would be safer in this situation?

[LSP_Kevin]

4 hours ago, Alex said:

Maybe an acrylic clear coat would be safer in this situation?

 

I've been using Tamiya X-22, which is part of their acrylic range. I thin all my paints (other than those that are incompatible) with Mr. Color Thinner, however, which I think is the real culprit here.

 

Kev

[Alex]

7 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

 

I've been using Tamiya X-22, which is part of their acrylic range. I thin all my paints (other than those that are incompatible) with Mr. Color Thinner, however, which I think is the real culprit here.

 

Kev

I guess that’s basically what I was thinking - use an acrylic with its non-solvent-based thinner.  When I first started doing this hobby I was using mostly Vallejo acrylics with their thinner, which was mostly water-based, perhaps with some alcohol.  I agree that it’s likely the lacquer thinner that your decals reacted with.

[LSP_Kevin]

9 minutes ago, Alex said:

I guess that’s basically what I was thinking - use an acrylic with its non-solvent-based thinner.  When I first started doing this hobby I was using mostly Vallejo acrylics with their thinner, which was mostly water-based, perhaps with some alcohol.  I agree that it’s likely the lacquer thinner that your decals reacted with.

 

Yeah, I'll be testing my options before committing any of them to the model again. The problem is, my options are mostly limited to stuff I thin with Mr. Color Thinner. I do have some X-20A, so I'll be testing the X-22 again thinned with that instead, and see if the decal copes. The last time this happened to me, however, everything I used caused the decals to react negatively. Admittedly, it was a different brand of decals, so hopefully I can find something that works this time.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

So, I'm pleased to report that I've solved the clear coat dilemma, and it only took one try. First, I took my paint mule, sprayed one of the wings with the same colour as the undersurface of the model (SMS Dark Gull Grey), and after the requisite curing time, applied one of the spare decals from the Hawkeye sheet:

 

 

If you look closely, you can see that I've left some significant carrier film around the decal, so I could emulate the nature of the cargo door outline decals on the MD-80. You can even see some areas where it did the inevitable folding up on itself!

 

For my first (and as it turned out, only) test, I planned to cut the X-22 with X-20A, but decided to brush a little bit of neat X-20A directly onto the excess carrier film, to see if there'd be any reaction to the raw thinner. Nope! This certainly augured well, so I mixed up a small batch at 50/50, and let loose on the model:

 

 

I masked off a small section, thinking I might have to do several variations, but there was no reaction whatsoever, and I laid on a pretty heavy coat. The gloss clear makes the carrier film much more obvious, but it also makes the colours noticeably darker, and I'm hoping this effect will eliminate the lighter paint repairs I've done on the model so far.

 

Since I haven't yet actually used this mix on the model, I guess there's still room for another disaster, but I sincerely hope not! We'll find out soon enough...

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

Success! Well, as good as it's going to get, anyway. This build has already been relegated to the status of shelf-sitter, having accumulated way too many errors and flaws to be anything else. It's interesting that, in close-up at least, the X-22/X-20A mix doesn't appear to be anywhere near as glossy as the previous layers. I may give it one more coat, or I may not bother.

 

 

Oh, the seemingly discoloured rear cargo door is because I had earlier attempted to repaint its interior with the mix of grey that turned out to be too light, and just haven't bothered to repaint it again.

 

You'd really like to think that, after more than 50 years of scale modelling, I'd be approaching being any good at it by now!

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

This one's still in limbo while I wait for the gold stripe decals to arrive from Germany. They need to go down before I can finish off the rest of the livery, so I'm just drumming my fingers on the desk for now.

 

Kev

[LSP_Kevin]

So after a month of waiting, the gold stripe decals finally arrived from Germany:

 

 

They even popped in an Aussie flag! They are, however, significantly wider than the stripes on the Hawkeye sheet, which I knew were narrower than 1mm, but thought (hoped) I could get away with it. I think the Hawkeye stripes are in the order of 0.7mm, while the Interdecal stripes I suspect are actually fractionally larger than 1mm. To the naked eye, they look twice as large as the Hawkeye ones. I did briefly consider the idea of slicing them up, but quickly changed my mind!

 

Anyway, here they are on the model:

 

 

 

They're not perfect, and definitely thicker than on the actual livery, but at least I can get the rest of the decals on now, and finish this one up.

 

Oh, and a big shout-out to Tinwizard/Modelcars.de in Germany for excellent customer service. I contacted them last week fearing that these were lost in the post, as they were 3 weeks without any change in the tracking info. Without hesitation, they sent out another set. I contacted them today to let them know I'd received the first set, and offered payment for the second, but they told me no payment was required. Outstanding.

 

Kev

[LSP_Ray]

Maybe too wide, but looks good on the model!

[MikeMaben]

On 6/8/2023 at 5:34 AM, LSP_Kevin said:

           You'd really like to think that, after more than 50 years of scale modelling, I'd be approaching being any good at it by now!

 

     I hear THAT, Kevin