Federation Commander

[gwiggington]

I like your fed ships djdood but I would like to know how you got your decals to blin in on your ships and do you put a scale coat on them and if so how do you keep them from being so shine

[djdood]

I answered the PM you sent me but here's the same response:

I use pretty common plastic scale-modeling techniques for my minis.

I use gloss paints for the base-coat, or if not then I give the mini a coating of clear gloss or Future floor polish. Decals don't adhere well to matte or dull finishes, due to their grain (it causes tiny air-pockets called "silvering").

I apply the decals using setting solution (which thins out the edges). If there is a lot of carrier film on the mini (between letters, etc.) I'll go back once it's dry and apply more setting solution to blend it down even more.

After the decals are dry, I gently swab them with a wet Q-tip to remove any excess adhesive (which can yellow them in time).

The final step is to hit the mini with a pretty thorough coating of matte or dull-coat clear finish. This both seals on the decals permanently and also gets rid of the "toy" like shine from the paints and decals.
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