freddy, I use Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover Gloss Clear as a sealer on all of my decals before applying. Why? Because they are all old, like me, and crack bad if not sealed. I have done this for years with no problems. BTW, if the color spray job does not turn out to be glossy enough, I spray the shell with this same gloss, then apply decals, and then seal with dull coat. I am a complete loss as to why these decals crinkled like they did. At any rate I was not at all happy with the scheme I picked and feeble attempt at the project. I may paint this SD-60M in my home road scheme.
It'd probably look cool in the home road screen or as a black widow Carl! The important thing is that you are happy with it. I'm enjoying following along regardless of what scheme it ends up in.
I'm the opposite - For the most part (About 95%), I use Solvaset. I do use the Microscale and Gunze Sangyo products on occasion. Best regards, Wolf
Some decals are more sensitive than others to paints/clears that contain "hot" chemicals or solvents such as acetone among others like that rust-oleum clear. Which brand of decal were you using? I shoot tamiya and mr hobby acrylic based clears (satin finish for my trains) and never had an issue but use an airbrush since those aren't in rattle can formula. Unfortunately the airbrush solution requires an investment in more equipment and technique with a learning curve so not a practical solution for many. So in the future maybe consider first selecting acrylic based clear in a rattle can then do a test swatch with a spare decal to see what happens. It's a PITA but has to be demoralizing to see all that work get ruined.. been there and done that enough times to do the swatch thing when trying new or unfamiliar stuff. Nice looking GP30 and the paint scheme/finish is outstanding! Is that the atlas? I've an old one of those (SP blood nose) when kato was doing their chassis for that. Excellent runner.
freddy, Thanks for the comments !, yes the GP30 is an Atlas/KATO, an excellent runner and puller. I tested the gloss, I am using, on another sheet of old Microscale decals and all is fine. I think there was probably something else on the decals that caused the problem. Here is an image of an in progress project that I air brushed with Tru-Color black & silver, the red is brushed T-C paint. Some of the decals are old Microscale that I sealed with the gloss, let dry for several hours, then applied. A couple of the others I printed with my PC side printer. All look good now with dull coat on.
finally a fellow airbrush hobbyist! Try the tamiya acrylic clear coats. I thin those with the mr color thinning leveler (T106) and have yet to run into any issues. The solution is extremely mild so it doesn't adversely interact with anything per my experience. If it did I'd be in real doo doo. I go real light with a mist to lock everything in then shoot to a sheen to put a good coat on the surface. This assumes > 70 degree F ambient temps for curing.
