Steve Noble

You must always get the primer coat very smooth, as any texture will show through into the gloss layers. If you paint with Mr Color straight onto the spoon (no primer) the finish will be like glass. It's the primer that gives the surface texture..

Whilst I admire your resolution to test all these things, I still prefer to use the proper Mr Color levelling thinner. I put a lot of effort into my models and the paint finish is the final step. I wouldn't want to risk a sub standard finish by using a home brew thinner and ruining all my preparation work. It's made by the manufacturer of the paint to work with their paint..

Vallejo paint over Tamiya clear shouldn't be a problem, they're very gentle paints.

Yes, I would imagine that would be okay. What paints are you using and what clear coat? Usually if they are all the same brand you should have no issues over painting.

You can still fix the tail section, it's not too late. Photocopy the red decals and trim them out, lay the photocopy onto the tail section and you will have a guide where to mask and stop the blue. Over paint the blue areas with a little white and problem solved..

Just looking again at the box art and you've painted the blue too far, it will show through the red decals. You need to have white where the red decals will go and mask precisely the edge or you'll end up with two shades of red, darker where the blue paint is underneath.

Hope I'm not too late but the tail section needs very precise masking because the red decals do not cover any blue areas as they are very thin and slightly translucent. So you will see blue through the decals if the masking is not perfect. Also not a criticism, just an observation, but to my eye the light blue colour looks miles off the shade it should be? Maybe it's the lighting or the picture, but it looks too pale to me.

Photocopy the decal sheet. Lay wide Tamiya tape across the photocopy. Use a sharp knife to cut along the yellow line, thus creating a mask from the tape. Remove from the paper copy and apply to your model in the correct position, spray and remove the mask, et voila, you have your perfect edge. Apply the decal over the two colours, job done

That's Gunze aqueous, they are similar in guise to Tamiya acrylics. Mr Color are the lacquer paint version.

Change the paints to Mr Color lacquer and you'll have a perfect result straight from the airbrush. If that's not an option and it must be acrylics then do as you're doing and wet flat and polish the finish. It's much harder with acrylics to get a perfect gloss without a little extra work of polishing etc..

Yes, I use the large Tamiya tape on the outside to prevent any overspray.

Once you've lined them up correctly use very light coats, almost dry at first, this will seal the edges and make sure you get a crisp line with no bleed under the mask. You can apply a little heavier once sealed, but I never go too heavy. I tend to use a quick drying paint such as Vallejo Model Air and as I said earlier remove the masks after 15-20 minutes to avoid any excess glue issues.

Thanks for the heads up. I usually remove any masks after around 15-20 mins, so should be fine

Good save on the window. Out of interest, how long did you leave the masks on the windows? I ask because I have quite a few of those Hiroboy masks to use myself...

If we thought about everything we do/did in life we probably wouldn't do much at all. All paints are bad for you if you're breathing the vapours. I probably think you haven't inhaled much, mask not sealing properly aside.