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Building Tips and technical articles. => Paint and finishing => Topic started by: mike donovan on May 23, 2009, 01:35:40 PM
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I am building a Brodak P40 that will be covered with monokote. I wont to use the decals that came with the kit but I am not sure how to fuelproof the decals over monokote. Any ideas will be heapful. Thanks in advance.
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If the P-40 is like all the other Brodak ARF/ARC's I've seen, those aren't decals, but rather are self-adhesive vinyl. This stuff is pretty much fuel-proof on its own, unless you're planning to pour raw fuel onto them. A thin coat of epoxy around the edges of each sticker will solve that problem.
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I should have given more detail than I did. I am building this airplane from a kit, not an ARF. the decals are the water slide off. they are not the sticky back ones that come with arf's. Thanks
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Mike, I've tried a few different methods for the water transfer decals. The first method I tried some years ago was to use a small artist brush and some polyurethane. The problem with this is the urethane yellows with age and sunlight leaving a amber like appearance. I used Minwax poly in a can although I'm sure the spray version works equally as well. Its just harder to mask off when spraying. I've found this to stick pretty well to the surrounding Monokote as well. I then started to do seal just the edges and not the entire decal. To do this I was using Nelson water based polyurethane clear. The Nelson products are not designed for Monokote ,but I've used it with pretty good success. I clean the area first with denatured alcohol. Nelson paints have a water like consistency so you have to try and have the area to be painted pretty level for a few minutes. Then there is another method I've tried and thats to dust light coats of butyrate dope on them. This works pretty well assuming you don't go overboard with the thinner or retarder. I've tried brushing it on and it crazes the decal. On my models with the edges just sealed, I've never had my decal dissolve from fuel residue. I'm pretty aggressive when its clean up time as well with the ammonia and glass cleaners. Ken
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Ken, thanks for the information. I think I will try the polyurethane with a small brush. Yellowing should not be a problem as i am covering with olive drab monokote. Thanks again for this information
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I can tell you they peel off pretty easily unless they are sealed. I tried painting a bit of catalysed polyurethane around the edges and they curled up.Not fun.
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Mike,
I use home made decals on Monokote often and this is what works for me.
1. To get the decals to stick to the monokote, I brush on some "Setting Solution" that I got at the model train shop.
2. After they are on and dry, I make a "mask" out of low tack shelf paper. The mask is larger than the outside of the decal by 1/4 to 1/2 inch. I use it to prevent overspray on the rest of the wing.
3. I spray on a couple of coats of gloss clear Lusterkote. It it pretty fuel proof and seals the edge of the decal.
One problem I have had with my home made decals is sun fading. We get a bit of sun here in Tucson, so they sometimes fade quickly. My fix for this is to spray the decals before installation with a special version of Krylon clear that has a UV filter in it.
Steve
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Thanks, Steve. That sounds like good information.
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i mist them with clear dope notice i said mist from about 15" away real light. after its dry 1 more coat same way should do it
roger
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Can you cover them with clear covering ?
Steve
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The heat would probably get to the decal. Clean Monokote real good before applying decal. Then mist on a clear coat. DOC Holliday