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So I have a question about transfer stickers. I can place the transfers easily enough, but then once I put a coat of matte finish on the model, the transparent part of the decal starts to shine. Is there a way to get both the model and the decal to have the same consistency?

What matte finish are you using? I spray Testors Dullcote on and the shine on the clear part of the decal disappears completely.

Are you sure it's not silvering?

I'd suggest one of the many excellent tutorials on YouTube on the subject. I learned the hard way there's some tips and tricks and they're not all obvious, like painting gloss varnish over where you want the transfer to go... Use of Microsol and Microset...etc. And the ones worth their salt go over your exact problem.

Using gloss(in my case GW 'Ard Coat), placing the decal, then putting another layer of 'Ard Coat, then spraying with their matte coat has worked well for me in getting rid of the extra shininess on those.

Usual recipe is:

gloss coat area to be transferred
apply decal setting solution
apply decal softening solution (helps shrink the transfer to conform to curved surfaces) - repeat as necessary. Will shrivel decals until they dry, when they will relax and return to their normal appearance.
apply gloss coat
apply dull coat

Make sure that at every stage, everything is properly dried before the next step

I did some transfers recently, and they're silvering and looking not so great after a week or so, even with following the above. I think I didn't let everything dry between painting, glosscoating, setting, sealing, etc. I'll have to see if I can salvage them.

I do not do the gloss clear step, but I always use Microset and Microsol, you can see some of my transfers in my Sons thread, the two liquids have helped me immensely as I used to run into the same issues.

I paint my area with Microset while the transfer is soaking in water, place the transfer and brush Microsol over top, this softens the decal and allows it to lay to the curves, I then press down on any lifted spots or creases very gently with the wet corner of a paper towel, I then spray Army Painter Anti-Shine over the top and they turn out swimmingly.

It's important to remember that doing decals properly is not 'faster than freehand'. Very often freehanding the design is far simpler and easier. Don't cut corners, things will screw up less.

Thanks for the info guys. I have been using the Testor's Dullcote. Generally I finish painting, put a coat of dullcote, then apply the transfer, and then a second layer of dullcote. After the second layer of dullcote, the transfer seems to become more shiny. I will post a photo when I get home, so you can see what I mean.

I don't have any Microset/Microsol but that's probably the way to go.

winterdyne wrote:
Are you sure it's not silvering?

This is the problem. Matte surfaces are actually rough, so you get air trapped under the decal which reflects light. No amount of matte varnish on top of it will fix this since the problem is underneath the decal. To fix it you need to first give the model a gloss coat which will give a nice smooth surface for the decal to rest on and seal it properly onto the model. Then, once you've applied all of your decals (and some weathering effects that can do better on a gloss layer) you do a matte layer to kill the shine.

 AtariAssasin wrote:
Thanks for the info guys. I have been using the Testor's Dullcote. Generally I finish painting, put a coat of dullcote, then apply the transfer, and then a second layer of dullcote. After the second layer of dullcote, the transfer seems to become more shiny. I will post a photo when I get home, so you can see what I mean.

I don't have any Microset/Microsol but that's probably the way to go.

Bold is your problem. GLOSS before decal, apply decal, gloss again, then dullcote. Setting solutions are helpful (read: essential on marine shoulder pads etc) but not as important as the gloss.

^^^Yep! The way that Dullcote works is that it dries with a rough finish. That rough finish makes it impossible to get all the air (micro-bubbles) out from under the transfer. That air is what is causing the shine.

Thirded. Never ever put a decal on top of anything but a good clean gloss. Put whatever you want on top of it after.

I use a layer of Pledge floor finish, let it dry (Maybe overnight) and then applying the decal. Apply another layer of future, and then seal the whole thing with dullcoat when dry. Gloss coat can work instead of Pledge, the important thing is to give the decal a smooth glossy finish to apply to.