See-through decal...what now?

[bapowell]

Hi all,

 

I'm hoping to get some ideas on how best to resolve the see-through decal pictured below.  My thinking is to mask around the star and hit it with some white paint, though the tolerance for error is very low with that one.  Thoughts??

 

[dnl42]

Any manner of adhesive masking will destroy the decal. 😱

 

Can you put another identical decal atop? Otherwise perhaps just a white star overlay decals since the bars are less noticeable. 

 

HTH

-- 

dnl

[speedy]

You just might have to bite the bullet and paint it. Shouldn’t be too hard and you’ll have to do the bars as well.

[Dads203]

Post it notes are good for ad hoc decal masking, cut the sticky side off and use that but as always test it first. 

[Adam Poultney]

Take it off the model and get an aftermarket one

[perdu]

I think Adam has the right answer.

Sellotape/Scotch tape will usually lift the intended target decal.

 

Aftermarket decals usually have a denser white under layer because they are designed and printed to be a commercial product.

 

Kit decals are often printed to a less demanding spec, I find.

[Pappy]

If you have more of the same national insignia decals, perhaps try applying another one over the top, this would increase the colour density of the white and perhaps eliminate the see through effect?

 

Pappy

[G.E.SAUNDERS]

hi bapowell,

                           are there Panel Lines under the Decal ?  .

                           add them and grubby up the White a little bit until the "see through"

                           is hidden  and appears to be wear 'n' tear  only needs to be on one

                           ensigna

                                                                  cheery "Modellin' " mumbas !

[warhawk]

31 minutes ago, Pappy said:

If you have more of the same national insignia decals, perhaps try applying another one over the top, this would increase the colour density of the white and perhaps eliminate the see through effect?

 

Pappy

 

Or alternatively cut just the white star and bars out of the spare decal (or another random decal w/ similar white) and stick it over the already applied decal. No masking required, thus no danger of lifting..

Edited August 30, 2022 by warhawk

[Russmeister 101]

1 hour ago, Dads203 said:

Post it notes are good for ad hoc decal masking, cut the sticky side off and use that but as always test it first. 

Hey @bapowell

I'd try this one too as @Dads203 said...

In a pinch, you can always de-tack Tamiya tape on the back of your hand (or forearm, as I do)  Just so that it's sticky enough to hold in place... 

Good luck with whatever method yo go with

[alhenderson]

I've used wet kitchen roll to mask decals when I absolutely had to spray near them.  Worked really well, but you need to keep the kitchen roll damp as the airbush will dry it out.  Harder to do for a complex shape, though.  I think sticking another one over the top seems like an easier place to start.

 

Al.

[Mark Harmsworth]

My solution: hold it further away

 

Slightly more helpful, but for the future, have a single colour where the decal is to be placed as white often will show what's underneath.

 

Like this:

[bapowell]

Thank everyone so much for the outpouring of excellent advice!  Yes, I learned the hard way a while back not to mask over decals.  I had another USAF insignia from an old model, but it didn't match the colors of the other insignia I had already placed on the model and so I couldn't use it as a replacement.  So, I tried to carefully cut out the star and use it the remainder as a stencil:

 

 

Then, I painted over the emplaced decal.  This worked OK, though the alignment wasn't perfect:

 

 

I'll see how I feel about it over the next few days.  In the meantime, I've ordered some aftermarket insignia from Hannant's and might end up just placing a new one on top of this one.

 

Thanks again for all the help!

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by bapowell