Decals on silver paint??

[CBQ Fan]

I have painted a MT heavyweight car silver to fit in with my CB&Q passenger trains.  Normally I shot the color, gloss it, decal and then dull it.  The silver is so shinny I am wondering if the gloss coat is really necessary.  What are you guys doing?

[skytop35]

What paint did you use? Scalecoat and Tru-Color dry to a gloss finish and normally don't need a gloss coat in order to decal. Other paints like Poly Scale and Floquil dry flat and require the gloss coat.

[CBQ Fan]

What paint did you use? Scalecoat and Tru-Color dry to a gloss finish and normally don't need a gloss coat in order to decal. Other paints like Poly Scale and Floquil dry flat and require the gloss coat.

Scalecoat silver s2023 in a can.  It seems awful glossy.   Any suggestions other than normal dull coat for matching the Q?

[robert3985]

You don't need to add a gloss coat to Scalecoat glossy paints to decal them.  That's the beauty of glossy paint...(step 1) paint, (step 2) decal, (step 3) final coat either gloss, semi-gloss, or flat.  That's three steps and two coats of paint.  Normally Scalecoat doesn't require a primer on metal either.

With most non-Scalecoat paints many of which have a flat finish, it's (step 1) paint, (step 2) paint gloss coat, (step 3) decal, (step 4) final coat...add a primer for metals.  That's four steps with three coats of paint on plastic and four coats of paint over your details on metal.

I find that Tru-Color is equal to Scalecoat as far as coverage is concerned and not needing a gloss coat for decaling, but I have not painted any brass with it yet so I don't know if it requires a primer.

[CBQ Fan]

I have always used an airbrush but just discovered I can get really good results with Scalecoat spray cans.   Up until this current project I have only used flat colors like Pullman green.  The quick turn around time (not having airbrush and compressor set up plus clean up time) has made a lot of projects easier with a limited amount of time.