Art adhesion affected by rubbing compound

[yukonblaze]

I am at the point were I am now going to use rubbing compound to take out final scratches in clear coat and began to wonder if this could affect adhesion of art.  If any one can enlighten me as if this is a true concern or not.

THanks

[Jdurg]

It might.  Especially if it's a rubbing compound that has waxes and whatnot in it to create a "glossy shine".  These waxes will adversely affect the art's ability to adhere.

So you should try and find a rubbing compound that doesn't contain any waxes or "shine enhancers" in there.  I can't think of any off the top of my head right now.

Another thing you can do is after you have used the rubbing compound, get some mineral spirits or 95%+ alcohol and rub down the area that the artwork will stick to, and ONLY the area the artwork will stick to.  The mineral spirits and/or alcohol will probably not be very friendly to the paint, so you only want to do this where the artwork will cover up the 'damage'.

[SavannahLion]

Scale modelers typically apply clear coat on top of decals. Amongst other reasons, this helps normalize the gloss (flat coat on military vehicles for instance) and protects the fragile decal.

Maybe that would work in this scenario? As long as the solvents in the clear coat don't craze the artwork or as long as the artwork don't expand/contract so much as to crack the cured clear coat, it might work out. Then the OP can polish and shine the clear coat to his hearts content (as long as he doesn't wear down the clear coat to the art of course).