Help! Decals or clearcoat first?

[Aussie_Muscle05]

Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone could help me out...
I'm almost up to the stage of clearcoating my super-bright green (TS-20) '69 Baldwin Motion Camaro. Should I apply the inch-wide racing stripe decals and BMF first, or will they get damaged by the solvents (I'm using Tamiya TS Clearcoat), or if I polish through the clearcoat? I've read a couple of different opinions on this, but each seems to say something different.
Thanks for your time, Tim

[dag65]

Well I go either way. But most of the time I do the BMF and decals first. If you lay down some really light coats to begin with the solvents shouldn't bother the decals. Just be careful polishing or put a few more coats on. The BMF will be sllightly less shiny but i prefer it under the clear as it protects it.


You like??? Decals are under the clear, not polished yet. I did this one for a buddy and left the BMF for him to do.

[BullittStang]

It's also very dependent on what you use to clearcoat it. Enamels and acrylics are less caustic than lacquer and less likely to attack the decals. But Dag65 is right....built up a few mist coats slowly. Good luck

[Aussie_Muscle05]

Damn! That Camaro looks sweet, you did a great job! Thanks for the advice.
The guy at the hobby shop must not know what he's talking about, he told me that because Tamiya TS-20 is acrylic based, I do not need a coat of primer. And also, when I bought my first model at that shop, I asked a different guy what I needed to get started on my 350Z, so he handed me a jar of acrylic Chrome Silver and Semi-Gloss Black, and two 50c brushes... My Z's paint ended up looking lumpy and striped.

a) Aren't Tamiya TS sprays (including TS-13 clearcoat) lacquer based?
and b) I should have used primer!

I think the hobby shop guy was wrong about TS being acrylic, so I think I'll go easy when spraying the clearcoat.
Thanks for the tips!

[RallyRaider]

Personally I'd not place any stock in what a hobby shop guy says! Unless you know him and are sure he as a clue. Unfortunately most of them don't.

To get to your question, I prefer to clear coat, apply decals and then apply several more clear coats. That way the decals are kind of encased in clear. Providing you also trim the carrier film and sand the final clear coats flat the result is the decals look painted on. A lot of work and not without dangers but the results are far more effective.

If you are gong to use TS-13 be very careful. If you have an airbrush decant some and spray the first few coats through the brush. Very, very light and thin. If TS-13 is laid down to thick too early it WILL eat your decals. Experimenting first would be a wise idea rather than risking ruining you nicely decaled and painted car body.

TS paints actually are an acrylic. A synthetic lacquer acrylic, very different from water based acrylics.