Help, decalfix is eating my paint!

[Mr Bowcat]

Hi guys,

I'm having trouble putting the decals on a Tamiya spitfire. I've tried twice now, the first time I varnished with pledge, and the 2nd with Xtracrylix.

I'm putting the decals on with decalfix, however it's eating into the paint. What am I doing wrong?



Any help is appreciated.

Bob

 

[tanktrack]

Hi Bob i haven't heard great reports about decal fix ,but did use it on a heavy corrugated area and it worked a teat , i do tend to use micro sol or vallejo decal fix , i also tend to leave my models for a number of days before fitting decals to allow the paint to cure along with the sealant ie vallejo matt or klear .
steve

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Steve, I did only give each varnish overnight, although the Xtracrylix says in dries in 15 minutes?

 

[Paul Davies]

Cheers Steve, I did only give each varnish overnight, although the Xtracrylix says in dries in 15 minutes?

it might be dry to touch in 15min but a lot of paint and varnish will take at least 24hrs to actually cure properly.

I would leave it for a day or two before trying to using decal fix on it.

 

[dubster72]

Cheers Steve, I did only give each varnish overnight, although the Xtracrylix says in dries in 15 minutes?

Bob these products might be dry in 15 minutes or whatever, but there's a big difference between dry & cured.

Any decal softener uses some kind of acidic solution so there's always a risk that it'll eat into paint or a varnish that's not cured.

Simple rule of thumb is allow a minimum of 48 hours before applying the decals - the longer the better really.

Unfortunately in today's world, most products encourage modellers to do everything too quickly, with often unhappy results.

Good luck with sorting it out.

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers gents, I'll repair the damaged paint this afternoon and re-varnish tomorrow. Might try W & N Galeria this time.