Odd notes in the new WNW Hansa W.12 kit instructions.

[eclarson]

A friend of mine noticed a rather curious warning made several times in the instructions and that is to apply the decals to gloss painted surfaces, not just clear coated plastic.  While that goes without saying for normal markings it's noted specifically on pages 10 & 11 for the "naval hex" decals that go on the upper wing and tail surfaces.  One has to wonder why that would matter as the hex decals don't appear to have any open or clear sections for the underlying color to show through.  And besides, no mention is made as to what that color should be.

I used Tamiya Clear Gloss under the lozenge decals on my WNW LVG and it worked fine. 

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Eric

[eclarson]

On a hunch I checked a few later WNW kits and sure enough, the same wording is used, particularly where lozenge camo is used (Fokker D.VII, Hannover, etc.).  Go back a few releases and mention is made to apply over gloss but no comment about not using clear.  The earliest kits, such as the LVG, make no mention of gloss at all.

So, it's not specific to the W.12.  Still odd that they'd warn not to use clear gloss under the lozenge yet make no indication as to what color should be used.

Eric

[Dave W]

A while back I experienced terrible issues with the WNW Roland D.VI lozenge decals when I applied them to a clear glossed wing surface.

I emailed Richard at Wingnuts and we discussed the problem as I thought it may be a bad decal batch, as they refused to adhere to the clear gloss surface and needed mixtures of diluted PVA to stay down.

Anyway Richard stressed to me it was crucial to apply Wingnut decals over a glossy PAINTED surface as this gave them more traction. I have done this since and never had a problem with any other Wingnut decals. This may be the reason they stress about applying decals to a gloss painted surface.

Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia

[mike in calif]

I'm going to use the loz for the first time on y DVII, so am just thinking out loud here, but would a gloss CDL-ish color be best? As opposed to a white? I guess any cream color/shade?

[gcn]

If it's the WNW loz then I would use any colour that's in the loz so if you have a gap or tear it's not noticeable. If it's something similar to an Aviattic loz you need to use white or a very pale colour as the loz is transparent..

[PrzemoL]

WNW losenge is quite opaque, underside colour does not matter. As for the priming, I applied the losenge decals directly to the plastic and had no problems with it.

[stefanbuss]

Anyway Richard stressed to me it was crucial to apply Wingnut decals over a glossy PAINTED surface as this gave them more traction. I have done this since and never had a problem with any other Wingnut decals. This may be the reason they stress about applying decals to a gloss painted surface.

Dave,

how does it feel to find yourself in WNW's instructions nowadays? 

Stefan

[eclarson]

A while back I experienced terrible issues with the WNW Roland D.VI lozenge decals when I applied them to a clear glossed wing surface.

I emailed Richard at Wingnuts and we discussed the problem as I thought it may be a bad decal batch, as they refused to adhere to the clear gloss surface and needed mixtures of diluted PVA to stay down.

Anyway Richard stressed to me it was crucial to apply Wingnut decals over a glossy PAINTED surface as this gave them more traction. I have done this since and never had a problem with any other Wingnut decals. This may be the reason they stress about applying decals to a gloss painted surface.

Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia

Interesting!  Thank you Dave, and all others who replied, for that information. 

Cheers,
Eric