Arminius

Hello

Some time in the building phase, you get at painting the hull of a ship (a tug in my case). My tug has several markings to be put on its hull, by means of supplied decals. Now how do I get the best results with them so as not to see that they are decals on the finished model. On many websites I read people simply painting the entire hull in the desired color, then on the spots where the decals need to come, they apply gloss varnish (with a brush??? airgun???), they apply the decals, let dry and then pain the entire hull with a satin varnish. What do you advise about this painting/decalling ?? What are your experiences? What types of paints do you use (I would set a carprimer first, and then spraypaint Humbrols...)??

Thank you

bobslr

Hi
The decal's have to be put on a gloss surface to prevent what's called silvering(if they are
put on flat paint they don't sit down right and take on a blotchy appearance.)then you can over coat them with a flat or satin clear coat to protect them from the water.
Hope this help's
Bob

Arminius

Thank's Bob!

Still makes me wonder. Often, modelbuilders use Humbrol paints to paint their model. In this case, for a tug of 1m length, I could not imagine spraypainting the hull in glossy colors (oxide red does not even exist in gloss finish); then apply the decals and then reduce the gloss with a satin varnish. So, is it possible to apply the base colours of the boat in a matt or satin finish, then only on the spots where you need decals spraypaint a bit of gloss varnish, apply the decals and then satin-varnish the entire hull??? I wonder if you would not see the glossy undercoat in the decal's area...

I know, I am being a pain here, but surely other builders must have experience with this!! By the way, what sort of satin varnish (finish coat) do you use, a spraycan, or ...?

Kind regards

bobslr

Hi
Sorry I did'nt explain it very well to you.
What you said in your post is exactly right,paint your hull with the flat or satin colour's you want
and then where your decal's go you would spray that area with gloss,Then over coat the hull with
a clear flat or satin finish.
I don't use it all the time but I do like the Humbrol line of paint's.
If you go to this site http://www.testors.com/hobbyist_guides.asp you can download their
Modeler's Technical Guide it has some good modelling information in it and it's free.
Bob

shark1

If some the markings are fairly simple, just numbers for instance, you could consider painting them on instead of using the decals. You could make or buy stencils. Glossy white goes on over flat base coats real well and is more realistic.

Arminius

Hi Bob, you DID explain it very well, it is just me wanting to know the tiniest detail... ;-) I will try this method. Shark's idea is also interesting, but I think putting on a "protective" varnish after the general paint job on a boat's hull is a good idea anyway. Thank you both!!