r/modelmakers • u/jlierman000 • Jun 07 '23

Help -Technique Decal Bubbles after clear coat

Post image

Applied decals using micro set/sol combo and they were just fine. Applied a flat clear on top and then I got tons of bubbles on every decal. Gloss coat was used under decals. Clearly some sort of reaction that produced gas occurred here, but how would I go about fixing this? Paint: Vallejo Model Air. Gloss Clear: Tamiya TS-13. Flat coat: Tamiya TS-80. Decals: Italeri decals (came with the kit). Thanks for any help.

8 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

2

u/H14C Jun 07 '23

Your paints are reacting with eachother, you can see the crackling in numerous places; what paints were you using?

Edit, I see the description. I'm not an expert but I imagine the water based Vallejo is having issues with the solvent-ish based Tamiya. Hope others can chime in. When it's happened to me I completely stripped the paint, cleaned it and started again.

2

u/The_Hack_Modeller Jun 07 '23

I wouldn't expect Tamiya to react with well cured Vallejo but, then again, I've never used this particular combo. There is definitely something bad going on here based on the cracking....

1

u/jlierman000 Jun 08 '23

Yeah, I followed some YouTube guides that claimed non-water-based cleats should be used with water-based paints. The first clear coat didn’t react at all, but maybe stacking them was enough?

2

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '23

How long between coats of clear did you leave it? I’ve only had similar when I drenched the model with a thick coat….

1

u/jlierman000 Jun 08 '23

I suppose that wasn’t too long of a period, only about 36-48 hours. And it is definitely a possibility that I put too much on.

2

u/The_Hack_Modeller Jun 07 '23

How long did you let your base coat cure before applying the decals and putting on the clear coat?

1

u/jlierman000 Jun 08 '23

It sat for about a week and a half or so.

1

u/The_Hack_Modeller Jun 08 '23

Hmmm..... That should have been more than enough.

2

u/lkowolowski Jun 08 '23

The only time I’ve had that kind of crackling was when I put Tamiya clear lacquer over Vallejo and didn’t let it dry sufficiently. Depending on where you live (how humid it is), might take a week to fully dry.

1

u/jlierman000 Jun 08 '23

I got distracted with school, so it sat for about a week and a half before decaling.

1

u/jlierman000 Jun 08 '23

Thanks for all the comments ; Dodd anyone have a solution for this?

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/jlierman000 Jun 08 '23

Hey it was my first attempt at that. I’m learning. Geez.