Carbon fiber to paint first or not???

[Twowheelsrule]

I plan to build the Tamiya Enzo at some point and I would like to put a lot of carbon decals on it. My question is if the plastic is already black has anyone had good results just putting the CF over the bare plastic or do they not work well that way? I have SMS, S27, and some modelers carbon decals to use.

I figure if I don't have to paint it that is one less problem I might run into.


Thanks in advance
TW

[tuned.by.twenty]

It's generally a good idea to paint the plastic first. Decals work better with glossy paint as a base, and I'm not sure how bare plastic would work. Also, whenever using CF decals, painting the part(s) black first helps hide any small tears in the decal itself.

[CFarias]

I agree. Painting the plastic with a gloss, either paint or clear, helps make the decals adhere better and using black as the base color helps to hide any small tears or crevices into where you can not get the decals.

My experience has been primarily with SMS decals concerning this issue.