To Paint, or To Decal, That is the Question...

[Adam Baker]

Im getting ready to start building the 43 STP Pontiac that was run in the 98 Daytona 500, and Im currently trying to figure out if i want to attempt to paint all the fluorescent red, or if I want to use the decals.

Here is what the car looks like:





And this is what the decals for the car look like:



I hate the idea of having to match the paint & the decals, and I kinda think it would look better painting all of the red. The thought I had was I would trim the red out of the decal, and use the white & blue edging on the decal, and paint the rest of it.

Figured I could copy the decals, to make some kind of template, and then very carefully mask off the body after painting it all fluorescent red, and then paint the blue over the top of it. I think I would need some kind of frisket paper or something thats very thin to mask w/, to make it a littl easier to mask. I dont think tape would work. Maybe use the really thin Tamiya tape to trim the areas to be painted, and then fill it in.

That way, all of the red would match, and IMO just look cleaner. I know it would take a good bit of work, but like I said, I think it could make for a cleaner build.

Whats everyone's opinion?

[JimboCO]

I'd say go for it. It sounds like you've got a solid plan and if you're at the point of considering it, I'll bet you're up to the task.

I've had to do this a few times and was pleased with the satisfaction of going the paint route.

Good luck!

Jim

[NOMADGAMER]

your decals look pink, not red. i say paint the red, and give yourself peace of mind.

[Adam Baker]

Well, the reason for the pink shade, is they are more of a fluorescent red, but fluorescent colors dont photograph or scan worth a damn, so it definitely doenst show up like it should.

[stevenoble]

If you can make some kind of masking template from the decal sheet and spray paint the red areas I think it will look 100% better for it and you know that all the red areas will match.Personally I'd give it a go over the decals.

[Adam Baker]

Well, I just put this together. Its a piece of 9x12 low tack frisket paper. I scanned the decal sheet, and then using photoshop, created a mirror image of hte sheet. that way I could print it on the paper backing of the frisket sheet. And then once I cut the sheet out, the scalloping will be the right way for the car.

I found a large piece of sheet styrene, that Ive painted w/ red spray paint. I have to head for work in a little bit, so I wont get a chance to do anything else w/ this today, but I get off at 5 tomorrow night, so when I get home tomorrow I'll work on this some more. Hopefully it comes out w/ some good results.

[Adam Baker]

Well, I was able to get the scallops cut out, and put down onto my test piece, and then painted. Overall, Im extremely happy w/ how it came out. Adding tape to the paper backing on the frisket paper made it a whole lot easier to trim the mask out. The first one I did, i had problems w/ the paper backing ripping, making it a lot harder to trim it out correctly.

So on the second one, I added some clear packing tape, and that helped a lot. It helped to hold it all together, which made the trimming a lot easier, but it also helped make it more rigid, so it didnt move around nearly as much either, which also made it a lot easier to cut out.

Here is a pic of what the test piece looks like right now.



I started off painting the styrene sheet w/ Duplicolor Victory Red, that way the base color would be nice & bright, and easy to see. The top color is Duplicolor Deep Jewel Green ( a very nice color I might add ).

Put down 2 coats of the green, and then let it dry for awhile. Once it was dry enough, I pulled the frisket mask off, and it came off pretty easily. One pulled right off w/ no trouble, the other gave me a little trouble getting one corner up, but once it started coming off, it came up w/ no trouble. When I do the model, getting the frisket off should be pretty easy, as it will be right up against the front wheel openings, so I'll be able to get it loose there.

The biggest advantage of using the frisket paper, is also its biggest disadvantage, and that its so thin. When laying it down, it kinda wanted to go every which way. When it comes time to mask the car, Im going to have to use a ruler or something, to make sure that I get the lines all aligned correctly, b/c I know the frisket isnt rigid enough to go down straight enough w/o some measuring & tweaking.

But, I have to say that this is most definitely very possible using this method, and something that I would probably have to recommend to others for masking off difficult paint schemes.