Martin1962 Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 HI there. I am coming to the end of my build for this wonderful aircraft and have had a complete disaster. I finished the decals yesterday after four separate days of work (there are a lot of them) and moved on to lacquer today. I've used Micro Sol satin water based lacquer and within minutes of applying it the decals are lifting up. The larger sections are disintegrating before my eyes and the finish is now ruined. I thinned the lacquer with water as per the instructions and sprayed it on. In the past it has always been too thick to get past my airbrush. The kit was painted with Tamiya acrylic aerosols and the paint finish was/is excellent, so no issues there. Any suggestions as to why this may have happened? I now have little choice but to remove the decals and start again with an aftermarket set. Grrrrrrr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scimitar F1 Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 Interesting - that varnish is pretty mild. Sounds more like what you would get with Microsol? I once confused Tamiya extra thin adhesive with Mr Mark Softer - never again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amos brierley Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 24 minutes ago, Martin1962 said: I've used Micro Sol satin water based lacquer and within minutes of applying it the decals are lifting up. The larger sections are disintegrating before my eyes and the finish is now ruined. It sounds really bad, and without seeing the trouble I would suggest the problem is terminal. If the decals are lifting like you say, then they will come off no problem, then maybe try to lift them off with sticky tape firstly. Make sure the tape doesn’t get much purchase on the paint as well, so as to reduce the risk of that coming off as well!! Just thinking...... have you tried MicroSet solution?? Maybe just maybe this setting solution would draw everything back down. Other club members have had similar problems, mostly relating to spraying acrylic in the shed (more moisture). Myself, I spray Cellulose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin1962 Posted June 8, 2020 Author Share Posted June 8, 2020 Many thanks. It wasn't Microsol it was Microscale lacquer I used, so no offence to MicroSol intended.. I wonder if by thinning it I've just made it too runny and the water has lifted the decals. I thought a day would be enough for them to dry before I lacquered and they should have been pretty secure though. Having just (tearfully!) checked back on it, it now seems that most of the decals have returned to normal, which is very odd indeed. One of the larger black walkway sections has disintegrated though, although I do have some more on the decal sheet that can be cut to size and spliced in. It still looks a bit of a state so I'll wait and see what happens when it dries. This hasn't happened to me before. But then they all say that, don't they! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 If you go too heavy with the first coats of any lacquer based clear it can attack the decals, what thinner did you use as most are very hot. Next time try Mr Levelling thinner as it's not so hot, and doesn't seem to attack the decals so bad, unless you flood the clear on that is Edit: you say lacqures but looking it seems to be water based so thinned with water, ignor the above then,Lacqure had me thinking cellulose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin1962 Posted June 8, 2020 Author Share Posted June 8, 2020 Yes it's a water-based lacquer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 1 hour ago, Martin1962 said: Any suggestions as to why this may have happened? I now have little choice but to remove the decals and start again with an aftermarket set. Grrrrrrr. I have both the Marines boxing and the Navy boxing but will use aftermarket decals not the kit ones. I can send you the spare set if you let me know what ones you were using if that’s any help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin1962 Posted June 9, 2020 Author Share Posted June 9, 2020 16 hours ago, JohnT said: I have both the Marines boxing and the Navy boxing but will use aftermarket decals not the kit ones. I can send you the spare set if you let me know what ones you were using if that’s any help? That's extremely helpful, thank you. Do we have a PM facility? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 7 hours ago, Martin1962 said: That's extremely helpful, thank you. Do we have a PM facility? Hi Martin yes we do click on my profile and go there and you will see a box for send a PM and email me that way and we can get you sorted John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin1962 Posted June 9, 2020 Author Share Posted June 9, 2020 You're a star. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin1962 Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 A public thank you to JohnT for sending me some replacement decals. I'm very grateful indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 My pleasure Martin. It’s what Britmodeller is all about ps. Don’t mess up this lot too just teasing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Noble Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 There's no such product as Microscale lacquer. I think you mean Microscale Gloss varnish/clear coat? It's not lacquer based, it's water based acrylic. Were the decals old? The glue was probably not so good and the coat of Microscale has lifted them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now