Hello, this is my first post to this (in fact any) online forum so please bear with my expected errors/mistakes!
The last time I did any serious (i.e. making kits etc. ) modelling was in the 1970s, so you can guess how old I am. I would be most appreciative of any advice on using waterslide transfers with acrylic paints.
This is the specific problem I've encountered:- I have built two old Ian Kirk Maunsell coach kits and spray painted them with Halfords Rover Brooklands Green car paint, then applied suitable waterslide transfers, so far so good. Now waterslide transfers are easy to use but I dislike the rather obvious carrier film so I carefully peel this off once the transfers have fully dried, or rather that's what I used to do successfully in the old days with cellulose or enamel paints. It would appear though that the transfers do not adhere strongly to the Halfords paint which is acrylic and when I tried to remove the carrier film the numbers came away with the film. I've tried polishing the paint with T-cut to a smooth gloss finish but still the transfers don't adhere strongly.
So I did an experiment just to prove (hopefully) that I'm not going senile, by applying a number transfer to a scrap of plasticard painted with enamel paint. Bingo! I was easily able to peel off the carrier film because the numbers had adhered strongly to the enamel paint.
So then I risked over spraying the Halfords painted coaches with Humbrol enamel gloss varnish. This apparently being OK I applied transfers, waited a few days, and cautiously peeled off the carrier film - success! Another coat of Humbrol and I thought I'd cracked it.
There's still a problem. The enamel varnish is incompatible with the acrylic underneath and will actually peel off quite freely with knocked/mishandled, taking the transfers with it. One of coaches still looks fine but the varnish lifted at an edge on the other coach and I was able to peel it all off, so back to square one.
So the question is, do I have to live with carrier film showing on my acrylic painted coaches? I suspect someone will suggest the obvious solution - use enamel paints from the start, but this would mean buying an expensive airbrush to get the spray finish I prefer.