Clear coat help

[sparkyjay31]

I need help!  I just repainted and decaled a couple of reefers and boxcars.   The decals are from BEST trains, and I used setting solution.  I tried to apply a rattlecan ( krylon ) dull coat when all ^%$#& broke loose.  The decals all lifted and had a cracked appearance. 

Will the testors / flowquil do the same thing?  

[Last Chance]

Testors Dullcote is the best for decal finishing. The secret is to:

Paint the car, then apply gloss coat THEN decals THEN solvaset THEN the dullcote. And only in 60% humidity and about 70 degrees or better, not humid or too cold. Between the paint and the two coatings, there needs to be at least a day or two of drying. My standard is the paint is dry when I cannot smell it anymore and that takes about 3 days.

Once decals crack, they are kaput yes?

[sparkyjay31]

Testors Dullcote is the best for decal finishing. The secret is to:

Paint the car, then apply gloss coat THEN decals THEN solvaset THEN the dullcote. And only in 60% humidity and about 70 degrees or better, not humid or too cold. Between the paint and the two coatings, there needs to be at least a day or two of drying. My standard is the paint is dry when I cannot smell it anymore and that takes about 3 days.

Once decals crack, they are kaput yes?

I painted, waited 5 days, applied decals and setting solution, waited another 5 days, and applied the dullcoat.  Maybe there is something with the krylon dull coat that did it.  I'll try the Testors.  This time I'll paint and decal an old junk car and use it as a test subject.  The decals I'm using cannot be bought anymore, and I don't want to ruin another set!

Thanks.

[MisterBeasley]

Once decals crack, they are kaput yes?

Maybe, maybe not, depending on the "look" you're going for.  If you want a clean, new-paint-job appearance, then you're probably out of luck, particularly if you've already coated them.  If you haven't put on an overcoat, or if you're looking for a weathered look anyway, try applying Micro-Sol (from Microscale, in the red bottle) with a small paintbrush.  It will soften the decal, and you can brush it gently back into place.

I always use a small, soft brush to position and smooth my decals, after coating the model's area with Micro-Set (blue bottle) to prepare the surface.

[Medina1128]

Sounds to me like you put too heavy a coat of DullCote on. A couple of light coats is ALL it takes. And about the only thing you can do now is to sand off the Dull Cote and decals and start over. I would NOT try to remove chemically, as whatever you use is likely to attack the model itself. Once you have the DullCote and decals removed, apply a light coat of GlossCote, then start over again. And make sure the decalset is completely dry before applying the DullCote.

[RRTrainman]

I used Krylon once and it did the same thing.  I use Testors now with much better results now.  If you are going to weather it you can get a decent result to fix the problem

[LD357]

I discovered the same thing about Krylon flat finish the hard way! I bought a can to use as a final coat on O scale buildings and it totally screwed up the paint jobs.....crinkled, discolored the paint and turned black Testors enamel paint ...milky white......I was way more than mad because I read the label before buying it and it said nothing about causing any discolorations or hazing or anything about compatibilty with enamel paints.....I tried it on some Krylon brand flat black spray paint just to see if it was a compatibility problem...it wasn't....it turned the Krylon flat black milky white too.....so now Krylon flat finish is off my list of paints. I use Testors Gloscote and Dullcote exclusively now,just like I had for 20+ years, until the Krylon disastrophy...lesson learned.