UNfinishing -delicately?

[DeltaVee]

Wanted: Experience or tips on selectively removing, in order, a small area of Microscale satin cote, Future, and shattered ship's registry/pennants on the nacelles of a 1/2500 Defiant? I don't know how it happened or why I missed it, but the decals on both sides are mostly gone. I am hoping to replace them if I can remove them, but there are nearby panel decals and striping, so this has to be surgical. I'm thinking of using microbrushes with Windex to remove the overcoats and soften the decals to remove them. Any other ideas appreciated.

[Lt. Z0mBe]

How small is "small?" Also, what type of paint is the color coat (acrylic, enamel, etc...)?

If the clear coat is thin enough, and the color coat resilient enough, you may be able to apply clear tape to the area and lift the decals off. This will pull up the clear coat and decals.

The downside with using the microbrushes and Windex, is the Windex has a low surface tension and will run into all the recesses you want left alone, causing paint crackling. If you decide to go with the Windex, I would use a plastic shafted cotton swab from the pharmacy. Barely wet the thing with Windex and buff the area. A brush is designed to make stuff flow onto an area. The swab, on the other tentacle, will hold the Windex, only applying a small amount as you buff.

You'll go through several swabs. As soon as the swab begins to dry, and/or the area being buffed turns tacky, swap ends or get a new swab and repeat. I've used this method to remove a couple of busted decals before on larger scale models, and it worked well. Sometimes, I buffed through the paint to the primer. It wasn't too big of a deal, as all I had to do was polish a bit via wet-dry sandpaper in fine grit, re-airbrush the offending area, Future, and apply decals again.

I hope this helps.

Kenny

[DeltaVee]

Thanks, Kenny. Just what I needed. I painted with Testors MM enamels. Can't believe windex would crack that. I may try to probe gently with the q tip method you suggest and then make a first try with the tape lifting idea. It's all pretty tight and the penants cross a panel decal, but that's tolerable. More tolerable than "NX-........iant"

[TER-OR]

Here's another possibility:

Lightly knife-scribe the offending decals separate. Then apply a warm, moist cloth - let it sit for several minutes, and see if you can coax the decal off the hull. Use a curved blade if you have one.


Oh, and seeing the ---iant just gave me another alternate-universe idea - the ISS Deviant. Why do you guys keep doing this to me?!?