weathering

[kh25]

Ok I'm working on painting some BM boxcars I sprayed on gloss coat applied decals once the decals are dry do I spray another coat of gloss then dullcoat? Or go straight to dullcoat?

[gmpullman]

Straight to Dullcote, then do your weathering and if you use powders or chalks, then another light coat of Dullcote.

The Dullcote will probably tone-down any powdered weathering you do so you may have to add a little more and re-coat again...

Good Luck, Ed

[BigDaddy]

Glosscote is supposed to prevent a silver cast that can appear beneath the decal.  I have mixed success in preventing that, but I recently saw a video where Cody used 3 coats before decaling.  I will try that and see how it works out. 

[mbinsewi]

I follow Ed's reply, I use gloss before decals,  as the decals need a gloss finish,  then dull coat after each application of weathering.  As said before, the dull coat can diminish some pastel and chaulk weathering, but I keep adding until I get the results I'm looking for.

Mike.

[doctorwayne]

I formerly applied gloss, decals, then clear matte, but found that gloss, decals, gloss, then clear matte (or semi-gloss for a newer car) did a better job of hiding decal film.  I think that the reason for that is that the gloss of the applied decal isn't necessarily the same degree of glossiness as the original gloss coat, and the difference between the two can be seen after the clear matte has been applied.
Applying gloss over the decal makes the entire surface uniform before applying the matte, which simply changes the uniform gloss to uniform matte - no difference in the decaled areas.  If done with an airbrush, this can be done as a single operation:  spray decaled model with gloss, switch to matte and spray over the already dry-to-the-touch gloss.

After the final clear coat, I add any weathering - usually airbrushed, but also pastels and/or washes, too.  If you use oils for weathering, overcoating them (after they're completely dry) is probably necessary to kill the sheen, but on flat weathering, I find it neither needed or nor desired.

Wayne

[dknelson]

Wayne's sequence and reasoning (unifying the texture with gloss over the decal, then the matte or DullCote) is the one I have always read about.  And who among us would argue with Wayne's results?

I am coming to the conclusion that weathering with powders involves two to four layers of powders or chalks/DullCote unless you are going for a very subtle effect. 

Dave Nelson

[Medina1128]

After applying decals, I wait until they are dry, then apply Decalset, it makes the decal settle into the nooks and crannies. When the Decalset dries, I usually wait until the next day, then apply a coat of Dullcote. When it's dry, I then apply a second coat and while it's still tacky, I'll weather with weathering chalks. If I'm airbrushing, I'll seal the paint (I usually use acrylics) with a final coat of Dullcote.