Techniques and tricks: DECORATION

In this section I´m going to show you the materials and techniques I use to decorate my models. As always, in many cases the techniques must be practiced repeatedly until obtain the desired results.

The points to discuss in this section are:

• Primer
• Paint
• Decals
• Making waterslide decals
• Placing waterslide decals
• Circular decals: The compass cutter
• Varnishes

PREPARING THE MODEL THE PAINT: THE PRIMER

If you take a look at some of the "step by step" of the models I've been doing from a plastic body you will realize that in all models I start the same way, removing completely the paint. I do this for two reasons, for putties, glues and similar to grab well on plastic and to prevent paint applied reacts with the original paint of the model and ruin the work.

Once we have the car unpainted and we had did the relevant body work, before starting to paint the car we´ll give one or more coats of primer, it will depend on:

• Olny we are going to paint and decorate the car. With one coat we have enough. If we want to ensure that the primer take well, just pass smoothly fine sandpaper through the body and then apply it.
• We have modified the body with putty, plasticard and others. We probably have to give more than one coat, the first of which will help us to show the failures that we haven´t detected during the modeling, rubbing of sandpaper, putty mistakes at some points, and so on. Thus, the primer serves not only to prepare the body to receive the paint, but to match the color of the entire body, highlights the flaws and imperfections of the model that we must repair properly with caulk putty, sand or as appropriate. After correcting the faults will give other coat, and this way, so many times as necessary (with two or three coats should be enough).

The easiest way is to use a primer spray, Vallejo, Duplicolor, or similar type. With a bottle of 400 ml can be applied so many coats of primer and orget to clean the airbrush and other sunt.
If you prefer to apply it with a airbrush follow the same directions as for any paint and if we do it with a brush (except for special cases, I don´t recommend it ..) will force us to polish it with waterproof sandpaper to left the surface ready.

Therefore, and in summary about the primer:

• It is essential before paint the model. Match the color of the body and allows the paint to take better.
• It can be applied both plastic and resin bodies. At least the ones I´ve used don´t attack any of the two types.
• It is advisable to pre-sand the body and later after applying the primer with fine grain waterproof sandpaper. The pre-sanding is to avoid the primer jumping on certain plastics. Without going any further, some polystyrene sheets (evergreen), skip the paint once dry if the surface isn´t sanded previously.
  In the resing bodies, pre-sanding is often unavoidable because it is part of treatment of the body to remove mold imperfections. Anyway, there's no harm in give a smooth pass over with fine waterproof sandpaper to the body.
  The back sanded is to eliminate flaws in the coat, if we charged too primer somewhere or if it has hit a speck of dust, for example.
• Before applying it is important to ensure that the body is very clean. Nothing better than washing with water and few drops of dishwasher to remove all dirt from the body and leave it ready for paint.
• Choose the appropriate color depending on the car color of the paint. As I said above we can use gray primer and white primer (there are a DupliColor primer that is transparent but I haven´ ever used), if the car you're doing is going to be painted in a light color (yellow, orange white ...), it is best to use white primer for the body color becomes more intense, as the gray primer tends to soften a little the color above applied. Obviously depends on how much cover the paint we use, but as a general rule for clear colors white, for dark colors gray primer.
• Once applied, let dry completely and before paint with the chosen color, give at least one gentle pass with fine sandpaper and/or worn.

A good decoration work starts with a good base, and a properly applied primer will help us to achieve a lasting and beautiful decor.

PAINT

We can paint our models with spray paints or paint for scale models. The colors in spray are very comfortable to handle and there are many ones to choose from, but they aren´t exactly cheap (I mean the quality ones), they force us to stick to the tones that are on the market and we must be careful with the changes in pressure of the spray as the tin is running out. Still, it is preferable to use then for certain colors to paints applied with an airbrush, as is the case of the primer or the white color, which is infinitely better to spray applied.
They are a good option if we don´t want to complicate a lot, if the colors fit wit the decor we want to do and if we have space to use it ... or we don´t care to leave our house dirty...

When I talk about paint for scale models I mean the typical tins of paint that we bought at hobby stores. Although we painted the cars with spray paint will always need to paint the details of the bodywork, interiors, etc ... They can be applied both airbrush as paint brush, it will depend on our ability, tastes and what we want to paint.

Of these types of paints for scale models we can find:

• Acrylic. Tamiya Acrylic colors are the ones I most use for its wide variety of tones and colors, that also can be blended seamlessly to get the color you want, because they are easy to find and because I get good results with them. To apply with airbrush I diluted them in 96° alcohol in different concentration depending the color, always trying that the paint has a milky texture that allows a seamless exit by the nozzle of the airbrush but rather covering the surfaces. From my point of view this is the crux of the matter as the application of this kind of paint with an airbrush involved. As always, the best is keep trying differents concentrations of paint and alcohol, but usually dark colors can be diluted a little more than light colors without losing coverage power. It also can be diluted with water but with alcohol we get the most beautiful colors, especially the bright ones.
  When we apply these colors with the brush can dilute or not, it will depend on the color and texture you want to achieve.
  Although I only talk about Tamiya acrylic colors there are another paint brands in the market but I haven´t used so I can´t say anything about the result they give, but I think most acrylic paints will be similar.
• Acrylic-vinyl. I mean Vallejo acrylic colors. These paints are great for the details of the bodywork, interiors, bodies of the pilots... I know fans who applied with an airbrush with good results but I haven´t experience with it. I always apply it to brush and diluted with water. The variety of colors is very wide and can be intermixed. If we were wrong to paint something we can fix it without much problem with a cotton swab dampened with water or a toothpick before the paint dries. In short, there are paints ideal for car detailing, window frames, headlights, interior, drivers, etc. because we can make corrections.
• Enamel. The two brands of enamel paint that I used are Humbrol and Tamiya. They can be used instead of acrylic colors, both with brush and airbrush, you can mix with each other to increase the existing wide variety of colors and generally covered very well. Need to be applied with an airbrush less diluted because they are more "fine" that the acrylic paints. Against him are that both its dissolution as cleaning of brushes and airbrush must be with solvent.
  To dilute these paints is advisable to use the solvent of the same brand as the paint to avoid strange reactions and unwanted effects. However, for cleaning the enamel paint brushes and airbrush can use any solvent sold in hardware stores and industrial suppliers, they will be much cheaper than the solvents that sell paint manufacturers, and take into account that to clean airbrushes and paint brushes we needed much amount.
  The finishing of enamel paints tend to be more fine, but having to use the solvent for cleaning and dissolving makes them more inconvenient to use.

There are many other paint brands, such as acrylic or enamels, which I don´t refer here not because they are worth, simply because I haven´t used and I can not talk about them.

Finally, when paint is important to note:

• Whenever we apply the paint is best to do it a well ventilated and dust free place to avoid breathing a lot of paint and the dust would place in the pieces that we´re painting. Furthermore, the temperature of both the paint and the body is essential if the environment is too cold or too hot the finish would be poor. Ideally, the temperature must be approximately 20 degrees (° C). Besides, if paint (either by tin or spray) is too cold will not be properly applied, to solve the problem, simply put the tins in hot water for a while. In the latter case take care about the temperature of the water for spray cans, as the temperature increases the gas expands, and you would not be the first people who exploits a paint can.
• It is interesting to have a few cans to thror the dirty solvent or alcohol (depending on the paint) so you can use it more times when cleaning brushes. To clean them altogether, we can always take alcohol or solvent on a rag and wipe the brush carefully. This will save a lot of product.
• When we paint various colors with airbrush is better to paint first the light colored pieces and then the dark colors to avoid having to clean the airbrush many times. When color changes, throw a little alcohol or solvent depending on the type of paint in question to clean up a little and then we fill the cup with the next color. When we finish all the colors of paint we can clean the airbrush thoroughly.
  Another way of using paint and for not to have to past all the time cleaning is to prepare all the parts we can, although in several models, to paint the same color and make the most of the paints.
• If we paint indoors, although we use a paint cabin or have sufficient ventilation, it isn´t left over to use a mask and even safety goggles (you can find both for about 3 euros in hardware stores) to protect against fumes and suspended paint from airbrushes and spray, our eyes and lungs will thank us.

DECALS

Many times when we do our models need to decorate them with decals. Although we managed well with the airbrush, masks and so on, there are some decorations that we can not paint over the model, a rally plate, a typography, a logo, etc. In all these cases we will resort to the placement of waterslide decals to decorate the models.
There are plenty of manufacturers of decals, both commercial (Virages, IBB, etc. ..), as craftsmen, who work nicely, even many resin kit include a high quality handmade decals, but there are many cases where the decoration we want to do simply do not exist in the market and we have to do from scratch with decal paper.

MAKING OF WATERSLIDE DECALS

When we have to decorate a model and we do not have the decals (because it wasn´t sold or because y we do not want to buy) allways we can make them ourselves. For such cases on hobby shops we can get waterslide decal paper, for inkjet and laser printers, which allow us to make our own decorations with the help of a computer, a vectorial drawing program (Corel Draw or similar type) and a printer.
The steps to make our decals would be:

• Get the decal paper. As I mentioned above, the decal paper for printers can be found in hobby stores or on eBay, for example. Papers are of varying quality, some are thicker than others, some decals come more or less clear ... I use one similar to that sold in the A2M shop, I got it through eBay and is just fine, though I don´t dislike the results.
  Within the same quality of paper, we take into account this few things:
  • There are two types of paper, white and transparent. Because inkjet printers and laser printers do not print the white colour, we must use white paper every time the decoration includes white parts. Logically, if the background color of the car is white this isn´t necessary. And always keep in mind that the white paper is slightly thinner than the transparent one.
  • What type of printer we have. The decal papers are different if they must to be used with an inkjet printer or a laser printer. If you do not want to spoil your printer (especially if is a laser one) we must take this into account when buying the paper.
• Get all the possible information about the decor. Logically, if we want to reproduce a real decoration of a car we need to have photos of the model in question from all possible angles. For decoration of a road car is not necessary since its decoration is sparse (except for a car tuned...), but for a racing car we need to know the sponsor logos and their placement to faithfully reproduce them. This documentation work can be said that is previous even the work over the body so that much of the work is done long before we get involved with the decoration of the car. This way will be clear the car decorating scheme, sponsors, logos and other signs.
• Draw the decals on your computer. It isn´t absolutely necessary, but if we want to do a good quality decals and as close as possible to the real car will need to use a vector drawing program such as Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator. Apart from these ones there are other lesser known programs which can serve us, like Creative Docs. NET, which is free or Inkscape 0.46, which is free and also very good. The important thing is that the program allows us to make vectorial graphics. A vectorial graphic is an image created from independent geometric objects who have the property of being able to zoom in or out without losing definition and always maintain the same form. That´s the interesting feature of these types of graphics when making the decals, we can draw a logo and then re-scale it up to whatever size you want without losing quality. On the latter, if we look at a racing car, for example, we can see that in many cases the same logo appears on various parts of the body at different sizes. With a program for creating vectorial graphics we can do the logos we need, and scale to whatever size you want without losing the quality or form.
  There are also Internet sites that have a large amount of vectorial logos that can be of great help for our decorations, one of the most important for the quantity and quality of logos is www.brandsoftheworld.com but if you seek for sure you´ll find many more.
• Adjust the size of the decals to the body. Once we go making the parts of the decoration with our design program, we have to try if they fit neatly into the position and if the size is adequate. To do this we will print the decals on a plain paper (or even better in a sticker, if you have it) and we will put the decals on the car. So we'll see if we need to tweak the size of the position of one or the shape of another... In addition, we can get the idea of how the colors stay, despite the fact that when we print the decals probably change a little bit.
• Printing the decals. Equally or more important than doing the decals in the correct scale is to print them. Most of the times we´ll find the problem that we have an ordinary printer which is not capable of printing white or metallic colors, so that when we want to print the white color we must use withe decal and otherwise transparent decal paper. This means that in most cases a unique decoration must be maked in two parts, one on white paper with the corresponding logos and other on transparent paper.
  Moreover, when using transparent paper we will consider which is the base color of the car if we want our decorations look the right color. For example, if we print a yellow logo and the base color the car is blue, when we put the decal the logo will be green, not yellow... or a clear red decal on a green background will be darkened. What I mean by this is that the home made decals (on normal printer) have their limitations. Ideally, testing the colors on paper and in another and see what happens when they get into the body, and decide whether lighter or darker colors.
  If we don´t want to print the decals we can take it to a shop where print them (photocopying or similar), which generally use a laser printer. We´ll take the file with the decals in an image file in the appropriate format with which to work, the white background on one side and the transparent background on the other, and in the shop will print them.
  Regarding the resolution of the printer, so far with mine (a Canon i865) I print in high quality mode photo paper. In some forums I read that some fellow prints in the photo quality. The ideal, as so often, is testing a different resolution and different media types to see the results they give.
• Coating of the decals. For the ink on the decals won´t diluted when wet ruining all the work they should be varnished once dry the ink. I usually let it dry at least one day before varnishing,or two if the decals are printed a lot of resolution (and therefore with more ink). When the decals are well dry we can varnish them in different ways:
  • With a acrylic varnish spray. It's the easiest way to varnish. Must be acrylic because it is more delicate with the ink than synthetic vasnishes. Usually two or three coats are enough to protect our decals, thin and letting dry thoroughly on each coat. Like when we paint, it is preferable to four fine coats to a highly loaded one.
  • Applying varnish by brush. The technique most risky. Risky because not all papers permit to coat with brush without spoilage ink. I've tried it on my decals with two types of varnish, "Bosque Verde" wax varnish, and Vallejo satin acrylic varnish. In both cases, despite sliding the brush gently over a very dry ink both varnishes diluted the ink, especially the first (I´m not saying anything new ..). Vallejo varnish is quite respectful with the decal but the results weren´t good.
  • Varnish applied with an airbrush. So far I've only tested with two types of varnish in this way:
    • Vallejo acrylic varnish. Applied undiluted by airbrush doesn´t attack the decals ink, for the airbrush is difficult to throw because it is quite thick, but it covers very well. The problem is that because of its density while leaving a little bit translucent the transparent decals and especially very thick, so when placed over the car feels much gap between the decoration and the decal. To his credit I must say that the decals are indestructible, you can take with your hand, stretch, whatever, and stay fine.
    • The "Bosque Verde" varnish applied with an airbrush gives the best result. The first coats must to be very light, because otherwise attacks the paint and diluted. I've tried with 3 and 4 coats, the last generous but not spend, and three is pretty good, but somewhat delicate when it comes to place them.
  Between coats of varnish is neccesary to let them dry thoroughly. The thinner the coats of varnish the more must to be applied but they dry faster. If the coats are thin, leaving it dry a day between one coat and another is sufficient. And after the last one, leave them two or three days to dry completely.

Make homemade waterslide decals is neither easy nor difficult, we just have to be a little careful at every step and make testing. Generally turn out well at first, but if not, nothing happens. It will be better made on later occasions.

PLACING WATERSLIDE DECALS

For anyone who has already decorated cars with waterslide decals this section hasn´t any interested, but if you haven´t ever do I´m going to explain some steps to place the decals with guarantees..

Decorate a scale car with waterslide decals is a very common thing, itseft isn´t itself a difficult task but we must be careful sometimes. Usually, the decals are less delicate than they appear but we must not become involved to touch, stretch and things like this until the smash. Do not fear, but must be a little ecarfull and, especially in complex decorations, be patient. No need to finish decorating the car in an afternoon, but to leave their best.

Before placing the decals will prepare the necessary tools:

• The waterslide decals
• Cutter and scissors
• Flat surface to cut (a glass, for example)
• Rule (for straight cuts)
• Clean paintbrush
• Tweezers
• Cotton swabs and paper towels
• A container of warm water
• Microsol and Microset (if necessary)

Once we have everything ready we take the body with paint thoroughly dry. It is advisable to have all the possible documentation about the model to know the exact position of each of the decals. Doing by memory can play us a dirty trick and to place the decals in places where they aren´t (and I say this from experience).

The decals that we can put may already be cut or be statements of decals (usually homemade) that will be cut. In the second case, we use a surface as flat as possible and a sharp blade for cutting them. If the cuts are straight, a rule will be of great help, if they are curved, we can use sharp scissors. With the decals cutted the steps for place them are:

• Moisten the surface where the decal will be placed with water and the help a paint brush. Do not puddle the surface, only to moisten it to slip the decal and it facilitate their placement.
  
• Using a tweezers, dip the decal in warm water for a few seconds until wet out. Water hasn´t to be very hot, more cold shooting, but the colder water the later the decal unstuck. If you can throw it in a container that keeps the temperature much better, save much walks for more warm water.
  
• We take the waterslide decal of the water and leave it on a sponge or paper towel to drain. We found that separates easily from the holder. We can do this by touching it with our fingers carefully (if the decals are resistant) or with the brush that we used to moisturize the body.
  
• Over the body, we slip a little decal from its holder. Using the cotton swab or a paint brush we place it on the body while with the tweezers we pull the paper carefully. Thanks to the water that we applied with the brush can move the decal smoothly into its right position.
  
• Once placed, pass the cotton swab as a roller on the carbon copy to remove water that may have become trapped behind it and to let it set. If the decal to put is big, maybe we´d want to cut it into smaller pieces before moisten to make it more easy to handle.
  
• If the surface where we apply the decal is not smooth and we want to fit it well, for example to the slots of a door or the hood, we can use Microsol. Microsol is a solution that softens the decal and allows us to adapt it to the surface. Logically, it don´t make miracles, there are places when the adaptation is very complicated and is not good, but I have used it in quite complicated places and it worked correctly. If we have a decal that we want to adapt we place it as a normal decal, once set, with a clean brush, we wet it with a little bit of Microsol. Maybe the decal cresae a bit maybe not, nothing happens if creased, when dry again will be perfect. We allow to work for a few seconds on the decal and using a cotton swab, a toothpick or any blunt object, we adapt the decal to the surface, for example, we introduced carefully into the slot on a door..., when it is well placed let dry as usually.
  
  It is a product that works fine, in fact, the limit is not the product but the flexibility of the waterslide decal, which can stretch to some extent. In my experience, the homemade decals are usually more flexible and better withstand these deals, I suppose it´s because they are thicker than commercial ones.
• If the decals are going to put have lost their sticky power because they are old or because we have previously adapted the decals with Microsol, Microset allows us to set them right. The decal is usually placed and when well placed gets wet a little with Microset applied with a clean brush.
  If the decal just not sticks, some Microset applyed with a brush at the place that will be positioned the decal and then placed it. In both cases let dry thoroughly before varnishing.

Once all the decals placed, let the body dry well, a day or even two is ideal, especially if we had used the Microset and Microsol, and we could varnish the car.

Therefore, placing waterslyde decals has no mystery, just to be a little careful and have all the materials at hand to do the job well.

CIRCULAR DECALS: THE COMPASS CUTTER

When we do classic car decorations, the numbers tend to be circular with black characters on white background. Maybe our kit includes the waterslide decals or can we take the asy way and buy the numbers, but if we haven´t them, or we want to make them ourselves, the task is quite simple and for which there is a tool that will be of invaluable help: the compass cutter.

The compass cutter is a very simple tool that allows us to cut almost perfect circles on paper, cardboard and even thin plastic. The tool in question is this:

It has two parts, an arm that would be the axis of the compass how ends in a pin and would be at the center of the circle (blue piece in the photo), and the other arm of the compass at his end is the cutting blade and that slides over the axis to vary the extent of the radius of the circle to cut (in the example yellow piece of photo).
Usage is very simple, the radius of the circle to cut is the distance between the tip and the cutting blade, once given the distance clench the wheel to stop the two sides of the compass and fixed to remain unchanged radius during cutting. We place the compass needle in the center of the circle to cut and we will turn on this axis trying to maintain the square as possible about the piece to be cut.

When we give a complete turn on its axis, we cut the piece. Thus, if we do it on a piece of white decal paper, we have a branch to put in our cars. Not having anything printed on paper, no need to varnish prior to placement (there are no ink that may damage by water).

In the case where we want to cut the circular number with a printed number, you may not want to have any edge line, or the center mark or anything, just the circle with the numbers inside, How do we do?. In this case, when I print the decals for the number, in the file I include a few lines that will guide me when cut them. If we draw a line to connect these marks, the crossing point would be the center of the circle, where to place the tip of the compass.

As we will not connect the dots with a line and damaging the decal, we will use a millimeter ruler to locate the center of the circle helping with of marks on the paper.

Once the center located, punture the compass needle which we have previously determined the extent of the radius of the circle, trying to be as square as possible regarding the paper:

We turn the compass and now we have our circular number with the number inside without any rim or anything. The hole that makes the needle in the center of the decal, if it´s not great, disappears once the decal placed on the car.

As you can see, the technique is quite simple but to make good circles we must practice a little on some paper to make them perfectly, the ideal is not sink too much the compass needle and ensure that it is as square as possible regarding the decal paper, as I said above.
In the case of the dorsal with number, the only care that we must take is to position the marks well when we make the decals file, which is quite easy to do with any of the vector design software we could use.

VARNISHES

From my point of view, this is the workhorse of the modeller. Countless is the number of good jobs destroyed by the incorrect choice of varnish, either because they attack the decals or painting, or because they shatter or yellow... The fact is that when we apply the varnish we must be very careful because this is the last step in building our models.

The varnishes can be applied in different ways:

• Spray. The easiest way. Important to respect the rules of application that indicates the manufacturer, appropriate temperature, stir before using, recommended distance, etc.. Apart from that, one thing we have to be clear, do not carry much each of the layers, better bring a lot thinner than a thick past which may leave unwanted effects.
• By brush. Not all varnishes allow us to apply this way and give us good results. Wax varnish "Bosque Verde" and similars and the Vallejo removable acrylic varnish are okay. Is better than the brush it is lightly loaded and have to be careful about varnishes and indelible marker because it can carry. Sometimes when varnished thus small bubbles appear on the model surface do not present any problem because disappear without trace.
• With airbrush. Any type of varnish can be applied with an airbrush, but I only use acrylics in this way. Some are thicker than others and if out airbrush isn´t good maybe the result couldn´t be right. I use to varnish the home made decals with very good results.
• Immersion. My friend Dario from "Unotreintaidos" has painted some body in this way with very satisfactory results. The varnish is poured into a container where the body fit, the body is immersed in it, and then centrifuged to remove excess varnish. I haven´t tried it but it works. At least with the so-called "donkey milk", a varnish like "Bosque Verde", probably the latter behaves the same way.

The varnish I used for my works are of two kinds, acrylic and synthetic, apart fomr the wax coating "Bosque Verde" which I´ll talk about later. As a general rule acrylic varnishes are more respectful for the paint and the decals that synthetics, although this is not a general rule, due to the amount of paint types we can use to decorate our models, maybe one could interact badly with some acrylic varnish. Therefore, as counsel, before applying varnish always is best to test on a body that we have out there for testing. Sure for home there are car or bodies that can be used as guinea pigs for our tests.

After using different types of varnishes, with mixed results, sometimes good, sometimes bad enough, I decided to do a battery of tests with different varnishes that I often use to check the results they gave. In this sense, I prepared a square methacrylate plates who first painted with a white acrylic enamel spray (duplicolor) and then over the white painted some orange acrylic paint (made with a mixture of Tamiya colors airbrush applied) and a stripe of black enamel (Humbrol) To test the effect of varnish over the decals, put two numbers on each plate were extracted from a old Team Slot sheet of decals. Below show an example of a test plates:

The varnish that I put to the test were:

• Vallejo acrylic gloss (spray)
• Duplicolor bi-layer gloss (spray)
• Citadel satin varnish (spray)
• Wax Varnish "Bosque Verde"
• Titanlux Acrylic varnish "Acualux"

I wanted to do the test with the varnishes to check various aspects:

• Interactions between different types of varnishes
• Effect on the most common paints (acrylic, enamel and acrylic sprays)
• Effect on the waterslide decals
• Hardness and finishing

The varnish "Bosque Verde" I've used a few times to give the final coat of varnish and other times as a protective layer prior to application of another coating, usually Vallejo acrylic spray. To test the interaction of the coating with the other spray paints, to the first three test plates varnished the upper half with two coats of "Bosque Verde" applied by paint brush, as I usually do when varnished cars. The bottom half left it as it was, olny with paint. Allow to dry thoroughly both hands of "Bosque Verde" and then apply over the varnish spray with the following results:

• "Bosque Verde" + Vallejo acrylic spray: The result can be seen in the photo below. Virtually there"s no difference in the finish on the top half of the plate with the bottom half, both varnishes interact well, and the painting has remained in place without problems. The black enamel is not affected at all, nor the acrylics (which is more sensitive) as the cut lines remain well defined and not blurred by the effect of varnish. The decals are not affected in both halves of the plate and the gap between the decal and the surface barely be seen, especially at the top half. In both halves offering protection very resistant to scratches (scraping with a fingernail) and the finish is very good, very sharp. In this regard, I have to say I didn't take any particular care to cover the plates after the varnish so stuck dust and other impurities that can be seen in the photos, but this doesn't change the results.
  
  The biggest problem I found with this varnish is yellow a lot when dry, whether previously applied "Bosque Verde" or not, and that is a very serious problem when varnished white cars because the result is disastrous. For other colors, especially dark, can not be a problem, but for white or very light I completely advise against (a light blue car can become pastel green "by magic").
  Regarding the advantages, is a very friendly paint decoration and very resistant to scratches, in fact, a previous decoration, I didn't let the paint to dry completely, I manipulated the body early and left my finger print in the paint yet cool ... Remove marks with a cotton cloth dampened with water rubbing in circular motions. The marks disappeared and the varnish did not lose shine, and of course, the decoration remained in place.
• "Bosque Verde" + Duplicolor bi-layer: Reacts badly with the "Bosque Verde" as seen in the upper half of the plate in the photos below, even to change the color of acrylic and rinse a lot. The surface is with a kind of "orange peel" less evident in the white (spray acrylic) but exaggerated if the paint is enamel (black), the decal is not affected by the impact but the paint is in bad condition. Discourages this combination of varnish. In the bottom half of the plate, where only applied two thin coats of varnish because I had bad experiences with it, the results are pretty good. Complied with acrylic paint, although there is a small orange blur in the cut between the orange and white paint, to the spray paint and enamel are not affected at all as the decals. The finish is good, but not so fine and homogeneous as in Vallejo, especially if the paint is acrylic, with perhaps a third coat something more loaded would be better, and the coating hardness is proven, which is used in automobiles to protect bodywork of the cars once painted.
  
  Duplicolor has in its product portfolio this varnish (targeted at automobile industry) and a varnish in the "Aerosol Art" series, which as I have understood is a little less aggressive with the paint (and I guess less resistant), but I can assure nothing.
  In previous tests I had very bad results with this paint because it drag the painting and decoration, the problem was that carrying a lot of varnish the firsts coats. Ideally, a pair of slim varnish coats, letting dry thoroughly between them, and if we want, a third one to finish the job. The orange peel effect that I have seen in testing can go away with another more loaded coat of varnish but discourage this combination of varnishes for any type of paint.
• "Bosque Verde" + Citadel satin: The surprise of the tests. To date I only had used to varnish a poor quality synthetic enamel with very bad results, the decals were not affected but the painting, once dry left a "precious" porcelain effect so I hadn't hopes of obtain good results, but it was not.
  The citadel varnish practically not interacts with the "Bosque Verde", maybe a very slight, almost imperceptible "orange peel" effect, more evident when the paint is enamel base than with acrylic paint or spray. Applied directly to the paint the result was almost the same but without the slight "orange peel" effect that said, do not appreciate blur edges between the paints or anything like that. The waterslide decals weren't affected by the coating at any time and the gap between them and the paint is very small. The lacquer finish is very fine and homogeneous, leaving a very nice satin finish that can be interesting as a finish on some models, especially if we decorated with "dirty" effect or "end of race" but is less resistant varnish that above, which does not mean to jump easily and I used to varnish a racing car and resisted perfectly the use.
  
  In short, an interesting varnish to give a different finish to our models and is very respectful of the decor.

In addition to the spray varnishes, I wanted to test a varnish that I bought at a paint store, Titanlux "Acualux " acrylic varnish, looking for a replacement for the "Bosque Verde" to be more resistant. Titanlux acrylic varnish is a water-based varnish so dense, in fact the manufacturer recommends diluted with water about 20-30%, which poses many problems when applying. I wanted to test the results by applying it to brush and airbrush in different solutions. Let"s see the results of the tests:

• Applied undiluted by brush: In the next photo you can see the result:
  
  Straight from the pot, and undiluted covers very bad the surfaces. It is so thick that it tends to accumulate in some areas and away from others of the effect seen in the photo. Although it does not attack any paint, decals greatly softened, even rose a bit, but when dry stay in place. Logically, this has happened on a horizontal surface, so the decal could not slip, I don't think the result would have been the same if the surface had been vertical, such as the side of a car. Conclusion: you can not use it as it comes from the pot.
• Applied by brush diluted with water: The results were also bad but not so raw. The problem is that the strokes are very noticeable and doesn't dissapear as it dries, contrary to what happens to the wax coating "Bosque Verde".
  
  Again, except for special cases, advise against the use of the coating in this way.
• Spray gun apply diluted (approximately 20% water): : Applied in this way the results are beginning to be more satisfactory.
  
  After various tests of dissolution of the varnish with water, tried to apply with a spray gun diluted with 20% of water. I used the spray gun because it can be used with more dense liquid than an airbrush, in fact, to varnish with this solution I left the shutter completely open and still cost him throw the varnish, and it shows in the final result. As in the previous two cases, did not affect at all to the different types of paint, but if the decals, giving the feeling that softened up a little dry but once stay in place. The finish is good although the effect of "orange peel" is evident, probably due to the density of varnish, making it necessary to dilute it more. The brightness is very good and hardness too. Is a very tough varnish but has the disadvantage of its density.
• Spray gun apply diluted (approximately 40% water): Now the results were much more satisfactory. The spray gun pulled the varnish more smoothly and greatly felt in the final result without affecting either the brightness or hardness of the varnish, although only give a hand, once dry, the varnish could scratch without fear and the decor remain intact. For all other respects, the results are the same as in the previous case.
  
  I had high expectations for this varnish and have complied in part, is delicate with the painting but not with the decals, at least with these Team Slot ones, which incidentally, were not in very good condition. It has a great brightness and hardness when dry but it is difficult to apply because of its density. I'll keep trying it because these early results are quite promising.

To end the matter a few clarifications:

• All varnishes turn yellow. Some much (Vallejo to spray) and others less (Duplicolor), some very early and with certain paints (Vallejo to spray) and other longer term (Tamiya to spray). Even the most sensitive varnishes, such as the "Bosque Verde" leave a light yellow trace.
• Although I haven't tested in this battery, another option is Tamiya spray varnish. I've used both for enamel paint to acrylic paint. For the enamel works well, doesn't attack the decals but gets rather yellow over time. For the acrylics, the result was bad, although of being of the same manufacturer, attacked the paint and broke my job. It is very resistant to shocks like the other coatings tested (except the "Bosque Verde").
• Acrylic Vallejo spray varnish is so far the best choice you can do except to varnish white cars. Respectful with the decals and paint if we don't carry much if the firsts coats. With two layers is sufficient, but if we apply three, the firsts must be very light and the third more loaded, always waiting one day between coats. Once given the last coat allow to dry thoroughly, two or three days at least.

Anyway, the world of varnishes is wide. Here only speak from my experiences with which I used, but on the market there are plenty of them that can give good results, only you must test them. So you know, the test never in the bodyshell that you worked hard to decorate, better test on a useless one and see the results.