Metal Transfer ruined CF decal

So I put the little F50 and prancing horse metal transfer onto the air filter box for my F50. Rubbed a toothpick ontop of the metal parts, and slowly pulled the clear film back. Well, it totally ripped off the back part of the decal! Has this happend to anyone before? Is there a way I can avoid it in the future?

Did you clear coat the CF first? that would help not to mention it makes the CF look more realistic.

Mmmm, good point. Thanks for the tip. This is only my second model, and my first using CF decals. I really appreciate all the help everyone on this forum has already given me :smokin:

i remember my first time with those decals, it was a disaster. they ripped all over the place so i just kinda abandoned them.

The F50 airbox is certainly not the easiest place to learn to use CF. You're using the kit decals? When I did it, I used an aftermarket sheet, cut to the shape of the kit decals. I clearcoated it with Tamiya acrylic smoke because I though it was too bright, but the clearcoat also gives a realisic gloss to CF.

If the decal is obviously ruined, you could redo it with an aftermarket CF sheet. Peel the metal sticker off of the old decal, and when you're ready to reapply it, stick it in place with another drop of clearcoat.

Looking forward to seeing pics of your build.

Those metal transfers have a small amount of stick to them, and when you press them on, they can sometimes leave small amounts of residue behind. It would have been this that has pulled the CF decal off.

Those transfers look nice, but they can be a pain to get right.. I've had the little buggers drop off before now..

Thanks for the replys guys.
MPWR, not gonna lie, it was actually your F50 build that inspired me to do this one. Although unfortunately I don't have the ability to make it quite as detailed as yours, though I'm trying. I guess the 2nd model isn't quite the number to shoot for the ultra realistic build. Will post pictures as soon as I'm done, but it may be awhile because I need to order more paint and clear coat

Do you guys clear coat everything inside as well as outside, or just the outside and the CF stuff?

just the body and the CF. in fact, i dont clear coat the body unless its metallic paint, or if they're are lots of decals ala race cars.

It also helps the decals to adhere better if you paint the surface first. For some reason decals stick better to glossy paint than bare plastic.

This happened to me also when I built my tamiya Enzo. The CF on the valvecovers ripped when te metal transfer was still stuck to the clear film when I pulled it of.
Managed to peel the metal transfer from the film and the piece of CF decal attached to it. Then put it back on the valve cover with some glue and managed to align the ripped edge of the CF decal with the CF edge on the covers so it looked seamless. Then a little clear coat and it was looking good again.

Where applicable, pull the horse from the clear covering...and of course, CF decals requires a good undercoat and overcoat.

hth,
Bill

Naw, show us pics now!

Glad to have been an inspiration, I guess. :rolleyes: You can certainly put lots of detail into it, but it's a good kit by itself. If you haven't used much PE, don't bother wrestling with the back mesh. Paint the kit part with a black wash, and overcoat it with acrylic clear flat (sprayed). Looking forward to seeing it, should look great in Azzurro California (why didn't I think of that?).

Haha, I'll post pictures as soon as I at least finish painting the body. I dont' have much time to work on it now, so a progress thread will be kinda on the slow side, but I suppose it'll help me learn techniques with all you guys picking up on the little things.
I was actually going to pick that "Nurburgring gray" that you had. However, I saw when using the darker colors, there's no contrast. The F50 (among others) has that black "border" among other black parts, and it makes lighter colors look real cool. And besides, there's only one Azzuro California F50 (not anymore, even) so I though it'd be cool to differ from the vast majority of reds and yellows