Thanks for this. I applied my decals on a gloss coated surface using a decal solution and I didn’t leave the decals too long in the water on applying. And I was much relieved as that would give the best results according to your research. The decals on my model look good and I hope and expect them to still look good after some days / weeks. I will put a second gloss coat on the decals within a few days after they have dried.
I usually use the two Microscale fluids over Tamiya X-22 gloss thinned a lot. Sometimes I still get silvering. In the 70’s Dad discovered Solvaset and our decaying changed forever, except it was very strong back then and meow it’s pretty timid. Part II should prove to be most fascinating. Thank you.
Thanks for this - I'm just getting back into hobby painting after many years. I knew a little bit about decals - mostly stuff my dad showed me when I was 10. After watching your video, I'd say I may have thought of myself as a brown belt - but really I was a yellow belt. Gonna go watch the next vid now.😊
Appreciate you doing this. I have been hearing a lot of back and forth about this topic from different modelers. I'm glad you showed that it is just more than a yes or no answer. Just like the washing models and priming debate. Do you have to? No..... Will it help? Probably. I think Clint Eastwood said it best.... "Do you feel lucky?"
This is an interesting test. I think the main takeaway is that it comes down to where you as the modeler want to put in your work… if you like using solutions and solvents and the pinprick methods etc… you can probably skip gloss. If that’s not your thing and you want a more quick and easy style decal application, gloss before seems the way to go. You absolutely can get the same results with the right working processes and solutions no matter gloss or flat surface. Just comes down to what feels best for you as a modeler. Again, awesome video and a nice statistical dive into this debate!
Thanks for the thorough research, Cam! In addition to your findings, I suggest trying a hairdryer in conjunction with setting solutions. Personally, I've had success using decals on flat surfaces for years, employing Mr. Softer and Mr. Setter solvents (or the newer Ammo products). By gently coaxing the decals with a hairdryer, I've managed to avoid silvering issues. Of course, it's all about finding what works best for each of us. Sometimes, depending on the decal quality and age, I do opt for a gloss coat. There are many variables at play, and I'm not advocating for one approach over another, but I believe a hairdryer could be a valuable addition to the process!
There is no end to the You Tube videos that tell you the "right" way to do anything related to building plastic scale models. As for decals. I just finished up a Tamiya tank model kit. I put a touch of Micro Sol down first, laid the decal down, and let it dry completely. I then laid a single coat of watered down Mod Poge over the decal, and let it dry. Had no "silvering", no nothing. It looks great, and the decal is protected.
That was the focus of the video. There is no absolutes in decals. The mod podge approach might work fine for some situations. Would be curious to try on other situations. I did the future method over the decal in the same way and it looked kinda bad.
Very interesting exercise. You took a broad sample of different quality decals, and I guess they were equally split among the different tested methods to have a representative result.
I'm bramd new to the hobby, and I'm watching vids as I cut and sand before painting. It looks like putting decals on over gloss was producing best results. However, what if I wanted to end with a flat coat? Lay down gloss, apply decals, then hit it with flat coat to finish? That is, if I decide that to emd with flat coat. This was well done experiment!
There is a follow up th-cam.com/video/mo9bbLIWNrQ/w-d-xo.html When you involve decal solvent, the difference between gloss and matte is negligible. I like matte for the final coat, depending on the subject. There is an advantage of gloss over the decal to try and remove the step that comes up from the thickness of the decal.
I have 5 aircraft models that are two different manufactures, tamiya and accurate miniatures. They are all old. The oldest +20yrs a tamiya F4F-4, painted flat colors, tri-color scheme, used micro-sol and mirco-set. No top coat. All decals have silvered and are lifting. The 2 AM aircraft were flat base coat grey over light grey, again micro 2 part decal solutions. But a matt top coat. Absolutely no silvering or lifting, age is around 17yrs. Final 2 aircraft both Tamiya's base colors are matt finshed with gloss varnish applied before decals, used both micro and tamiya decal solutions, with a matt top coat applied a week after decals, their age is and +10yrs. No silvering or lifting. Keep in mind my learning curve over the 20yr span. But i also believe gloss varnish defore decals and a top coat definitely help in the long run.
So with your conditions, glossing is basically as effective as using Mr Markfit Strong. And glossing before Mr Markfit strong almost eliminates silvering altogether. I might get myself some more gloss varnish…
Keep in mind that this was with only one application of solvent. The key is that decal solutions have a much bigger impact than just gloss. In my next video I will add more decal solution to show how you can make a decal look just as good on matte with the right solutions.
Was thinking this but that gets expensive with this many decals to make a big sample size. I wanted to isolate the variables. In the next video I will test decal solutions where I scribed panel lines and have rivets added. Stay tuned
The concern I have with this is you’re using sheet styrene for your tests rather than kit surfaces which contain things like rivets and panel lines. As such, it doesn’t reflect real world conditions.
You have a point. I am doing a follow up right now that has rivets and panel lines. This test shows not under real world conditions per se but also ideal situations. Wanting to not have a ton of extra variables.
Sometimes the decals are just terrible quality. I built a Heller F1CT last year--terrible kit as it is--and the decals were awful. Stiff as postcard, hardly any adhesive, and nearly every one silvered despite a perfect gloss coat and using solvents.
Good job. Pattison won't like your results. LOL. I have been modeling for 40 years and always use gloss to provide a smooth surface. It gives you the best chance to limit silvering and color shift.
Thanks for this. I applied my decals on a gloss coated surface using a decal solution and I didn’t leave the decals too long in the water on applying. And I was much relieved as that would give the best results according to your research. The decals on my model look good and I hope and expect them to still look good after some days / weeks. I will put a second gloss coat on the decals within a few days after they have dried.
Definitely watch the follow up. th-cam.com/video/mo9bbLIWNrQ/w-d-xo.html
I usually use the two Microscale fluids over Tamiya X-22 gloss thinned a lot. Sometimes I still get silvering. In the 70’s Dad discovered Solvaset and our decaying changed forever, except it was very strong back then and meow it’s pretty timid. Part II should prove to be most fascinating. Thank you.
Nicely done - I love the experimentation. Those decals took one for the team.
Thanks for this - I'm just getting back into hobby painting after many years. I knew a little bit about decals - mostly stuff my dad showed me when I was 10. After watching your video, I'd say I may have thought of myself as a brown belt - but really I was a yellow belt.
Gonna go watch the next vid now.😊
Appreciate you doing this. I have been hearing a lot of back and forth about this topic from different modelers. I'm glad you showed that it is just more than a yes or no answer. Just like the washing models and priming debate. Do you have to? No..... Will it help? Probably. I think Clint Eastwood said it best.... "Do you feel lucky?"
Very nice, thanks.
This is an interesting test. I think the main takeaway is that it comes down to where you as the modeler want to put in your work… if you like using solutions and solvents and the pinprick methods etc… you can probably skip gloss. If that’s not your thing and you want a more quick and easy style decal application, gloss before seems the way to go. You absolutely can get the same results with the right working processes and solutions no matter gloss or flat surface. Just comes down to what feels best for you as a modeler. Again, awesome video and a nice statistical dive into this debate!
Thanks for the thorough research, Cam! In addition to your findings, I suggest trying a hairdryer in conjunction with setting solutions. Personally, I've had success using decals on flat surfaces for years, employing Mr. Softer and Mr. Setter solvents (or the newer Ammo products). By gently coaxing the decals with a hairdryer, I've managed to avoid silvering issues. Of course, it's all about finding what works best for each of us. Sometimes, depending on the decal quality and age, I do opt for a gloss coat. There are many variables at play, and I'm not advocating for one approach over another, but I believe a hairdryer could be a valuable addition to the process!
Maybe for curved and weird surfaces. Normal application seems to not make a difference th-cam.com/video/6OpRc-IPEOA/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for sharing your experiment results!! 👍🙇♂️🙏🏻
There is no end to the You Tube videos that tell you the "right" way to do anything related to building plastic scale models.
As for decals. I just finished up a Tamiya tank model kit. I put a touch of Micro Sol down first, laid the decal down, and let it dry completely. I then laid a single coat of watered down Mod Poge over the decal, and let it dry. Had no "silvering", no nothing. It looks great, and the decal is protected.
That was the focus of the video. There is no absolutes in decals. The mod podge approach might work fine for some situations. Would be curious to try on other situations. I did the future method over the decal in the same way and it looked kinda bad.
I think you did a pretty good job considering the variables. Thanks for sharing!
Very interesting exercise.
You took a broad sample of different quality decals, and I guess they were equally split among the different tested methods to have a representative result.
Tried the best I could but could sway the numbers a bit as I did not count from each brand. Good point.
Thank you for the solid research - very useful
I'm bramd new to the hobby, and I'm watching vids as I cut and sand before painting.
It looks like putting decals on over gloss was producing best results. However, what if I wanted to end with a flat coat?
Lay down gloss, apply decals, then hit it with flat coat to finish?
That is, if I decide that to emd with flat coat. This was well done experiment!
There is a follow up th-cam.com/video/mo9bbLIWNrQ/w-d-xo.html
When you involve decal solvent, the difference between gloss and matte is negligible. I like matte for the final coat, depending on the subject. There is an advantage of gloss over the decal to try and remove the step that comes up from the thickness of the decal.
I have 5 aircraft models that are two different manufactures, tamiya and accurate miniatures. They are all old. The oldest +20yrs a tamiya F4F-4, painted flat colors, tri-color scheme, used micro-sol and mirco-set. No top coat. All decals have silvered and are lifting. The 2 AM aircraft were flat base coat grey over light grey, again micro 2 part decal solutions. But a matt top coat. Absolutely no silvering or lifting, age is around 17yrs. Final 2 aircraft both Tamiya's base colors are matt finshed with gloss varnish applied before decals, used both micro and tamiya decal solutions, with a matt top coat applied a week after decals, their age is and +10yrs. No silvering or lifting. Keep in mind my learning curve over the 20yr span. But i also believe gloss varnish defore decals and a top coat definitely help in the long run.
Thanks for the analysis. Very useful
Excellent stash!👍
Thanks 👍
Thanks, very helpful!
I am not sure if this is relevant:
Does the type of gloss layer matter? Meaning if an acrylic base works better vs. a lacquer baser one
You can get away fine without gloss in general. Acrylic seems to be better than lacquer under the decal.
So with your conditions, glossing is basically as effective as using Mr Markfit Strong. And glossing before Mr Markfit strong almost eliminates silvering altogether. I might get myself some more gloss varnish…
Keep in mind that this was with only one application of solvent. The key is that decal solutions have a much bigger impact than just gloss. In my next video I will add more decal solution to show how you can make a decal look just as good on matte with the right solutions.
Wouldn't it be a more realistic test to use spare kits with actual raised and engraved details: rivets, panel lines, surface texturing, etc.?
Was thinking this but that gets expensive with this many decals to make a big sample size. I wanted to isolate the variables. In the next video I will test decal solutions where I scribed panel lines and have rivets added. Stay tuned
5:09 Longgggg intro ends and tests begin.
I have it at 5:10. I will see if I can adjust the chapters.
Thank you Sir. Sorry to nitpick, it’s otherwise fantastic, groundbreaking and possibly revolutionary work. Quality, and editing is also great. A++++
Much appreciated
The concern I have with this is you’re using sheet styrene for your tests rather than kit surfaces which contain things like rivets and panel lines. As such, it doesn’t reflect real world conditions.
You have a point. I am doing a follow up right now that has rivets and panel lines. This test shows not under real world conditions per se but also ideal situations. Wanting to not have a ton of extra variables.
When you say Matt or gloss is that a paint surface or varnish 🤔
In this instance it is a paint surface as in the paint is matte.
Sometimes the decals are just terrible quality. I built a Heller F1CT last year--terrible kit as it is--and the decals were awful. Stiff as postcard, hardly any adhesive, and nearly every one silvered despite a perfect gloss coat and using solvents.
True. Some are just not worth it. I think I am going to do another video using better technique and good decals
Good luck over at SMCG with these results…😉
I think I would need more luck with IPMSUSA... 😑
Good job. Pattison won't like your results. LOL. I have been modeling for 40 years and always use gloss to provide a smooth surface. It gives you the best chance to limit silvering and color shift.
Baloney.
I say screw the decals. Silhoutte cutter to the rescue…
That is definitely the right answer