Touching up with Tamiya TS over decals?

[joelwideqvist]

Hi!
Is it possible to use Tamiya TS paints to touch up some smaller areas on top of decals or shall I put on some clear first?
I've heard of decals cracking from to heavy layers of the TS-13 (Clear) paint and I don't know if that goes for the whole TS-range. I will be using a brush to apply the paint and I don't want my decals to get destroyed.
Any tips?
/Joel

[sjelic]

Hi Joel, I would put clear first just to be sure, I have had few problems with this issue before, you put paint on the hole in the decal and it looks Ok but affter some time paint go under the decal and lift it up a bit, not much, but it is visiable. So from now on I always put clear coat before any reparation of decals. and affter you repair it you can lay few more clear coats to hide it better, just don't over do it with clear before reparation.

[joelwideqvist]

Ok, thanks Sasa, I'll go with that.
/Joel

[Scale-Master]

Joel,
You might want to not put clear on first, it can put the touch up paint on a different level than the decal ink and cause what amounts to a shadow and the colors will not match.

May I suggest you spray a little TS paint into the lid of the can, or a bottle, and let it set for about 4 or 5 minutes to let some of the solvent evaporate.
The solvent is what will eat the decal, also, since some of it will evaporate, the paint will be a tad bit thicker so it is less likely to be drawn under the decal, it will also dry faster, again lessening the chance of it attacking the decal.
If it looks okay after a half hour, it should stay that way.
Once you have achieved a satisfactory touch up, then clear coating will make it disappear even more. Trust me, I know decals... - Mark

[Vric]

An other idea would be to use Acrylic Paint.

I don't know which color you work on, but some TS color are avalaible in X bottle.

As Scale-Master said, if you clear before, it will not make a perfect match because of "shadow" effect.

I did that on my Xanavi Nismo.

[RallyRaider]

I used TS paints to patch up some decal gaps on a 1999 Peugeot (blue and white loin livery) and never had any problems. I'm pretty sure I used the touch up stright on the decal then cleared over it later.