Leave bare carbon fiber decal on parts’ surface

[danibear]

Good afternoon, I have a question about leaving bare carbon fiber decal on the painted surface. Will there be any rip off/crack CF decal issues over time (10 years, 20 years?). To be more specifically, I am using Scale Motorsport (SMS) CF decals.

I clear coat CF decal following the real cars. But sometimes, I would like to leave bare CF decal un clear coated since it looks more like the real cars. Such as the engine hood interior side, RC211V moto GP clutch cover, etc, just name a few. My own option only.

Thanks for all your valuable comment in advance.

[seamus]

Hi,

In my experience if you leave any decal uncoated it will dry out and crack... and a lot quicker than 10 years. I would clear coat everytime without fail, either in gloss or matt. You can also use Johnsons Klear which also seals decals and preserves them.

[ziggysdesk]

I think semi-gloss clear helps create the look you are going for in addition to protecting the decals.

[SeanMAIN]

I have models I built almost 20 years ago that I cleared over the carbon decals and not a single problem. I also never leave my models in the direct sunlight. Prep the surface well and don’t over do it with the clear and you should be ok. Let the decal dry for awhile. I let my dry for weeks, but that may be overkill.

[danibear]

Thank you for all your nice comments and observations.

[danibear]

I have models I built almost 20 years ago that I cleared over the carbon decals and not a single problem. I also never leave my models in the direct sunlight. Prep the surface well and don’t over do it with the clear and you should be ok. Let the decal dry for awhile. I let my dry for weeks, but that may be overkill.

I put all my models inside cases inside room, air conditioned to 75-77 F, and 50% RH humidity.

Like you, I will carefully decal them and leave them dry over night and carefully exam for any possible bubbles, then water wash them to remove setting solution residue, and then leave them dry for other few days before clear coating. Man, almost get me heart attack ...... but my old painful lesson taught me to be extremely careful to clear paint over decals.

I have some bare CF decals for about 4-6 years so far so good. But I guess I’d better need to matt or semi-gloss coat them from now on.

[JamesB]

It's like riding without helmet or driving without seat belt. You may get thru without problem, but surely it can happen so why not to take protection measures. Indeed you must.
Much that we might light the finish of the bare decal, there's no shine grade we cannot achieve with a combination of gloss/matt clear coat

[CaptainMark]

Hi Danibear, I agree with Seamus in that my experience is also that uncoated decals will crack and split.

It's perhaps not the look you're after but these days I pretty much always put a decent coat of Tamiya acrylic 'Smoke' over the carbon fiber decals, it helps to tone down the somewhat harsh tone of the of the carbon fiber on F1 cars relative to the cars livery.

Below are a few examples using SMS carbon fiber decals as you're using:

[danibear]

It's like riding without helmet or driving without seat belt. You may get thru without problem, but surely it can happen so why not to take protection measures. Indeed you must.
Much that we might light the finish of the bare decal, there's no shine grade we cannot achieve with a combination of gloss/matt clear coat

Thank you for comments, James.

Agree with your vivid analogy. I didn’t think about it before and some places like 1/12 Yamaha YZR-M1 2005 or 2009 rear cowling inside is rough carbon finish and outside is shinning smooth. I clear coated the outside part and laid down bare carbon which will turn out just like the real thing. Even the uneven carbon roughness is almost a 100% match. That’s when I was “hooked” to bare carbon finish..... again I didn’t think about longevity then....

Yes, we can alway achieve whatever finish we want with some extra work. I will see if I can “save” some assemblies parts later.

PS: I am working on a Tamiya 1/24 Laferrari. Some place like the oval shape cover above the electric motor is aluminum color with some carbon finish in the middle and top. How can I coat these sections without coating the aluminum finish? It is always an headache for me. Or another example is the 1/24 Tamiya Mercedes SLR engine bay carbon finish around the fluid bottles on both sides. How can I coat them without ruin the black finish? Semi-gloss coat the whole thing? Then what about the white fluid bottle? Cut it off and DIY it?

(will share some images here, but the site limitation always stopped me.... I will figure a way out, but just too much unnecessary effort compared to other sites, to be honest. Here still IS THE BEST car modeling forum site to my opinion)

[danibear]

Hi Danibear, I agree with Seamus in that my experience is also that uncoated decals will crack and split.

It's perhaps not the look you're after but these days I pretty much always put a decent coat of Tamiya acrylic 'Smoke' over the carbon fiber decals, it helps to tone down the somewhat harsh tone of the of the carbon fiber on F1 cars relative to the cars livery.

Below are a few examples using SMS carbon fiber decals as you're using:

Thank you Captain Mark, never thought of applying paint on decal, always feared about that the solvent will dissolve decal. But seems at least Tamiya acrylic solvent (which is alcohol? Or water?) is not too “hot”.