I am painting a Porsche 911 kit. I am reproducing the Flying lizard racing team livery. I have sprayed two coats of Tamiya fine primer and two coats of Tamiya silver. I am going to put the lizard head decals on the hood and doors today. I will have to mask off the decal and spray the red on the rear portion of the car.

1. Can I future over the decals to protect them, mask them with Tamiya tape, future the edge of the masking to prevent bleeding under the edge of the tape and finally spray Tamiya red over the future?

I have one shot to get it correct and I want a nice sharp tape edge with out damaging the decals or pulling them up with the Tamiya tape. Is there a better way?

Greg,
Not knowing what kind of decals they are, I'd be careful masking over them with any kind of tape, even after clear coating them, especially with Future. I'd also give them a couple of days, maybe a week to cure after clear coating, just to be sure they are down tight. I use Alclad clear gloss, sprayed straight from the bottle through my airbrush. It gives a really hard, absolutely transparent finish-- I even use it over canopies on aircraft. I use it to undercoat the decals, then use it over the top. If I need a flat finish I use Dullcoat over the Alclad. I can usually mask over decals using this method, but I don't really like to. Have you tried Silly Putty, flattened to a thin edge? or a Post-It note while spraying at an angle (so as not to lift the note)? That works pretty well too over decals.
VR, Russ

Russ, the shape that is to be masked is a 3/D compound curve. I thought about aplying the tape several times to another surface to reduce the stickyness and rely on the clear coated edge to seal from leaking under the tape.Can I spray the red Tamiya acrylic laquer over the clear Alclad?

Greg,
If it's the bottle Tamiya paint, it should work fine. But I'd test it first. For the compound curve, I'd recommend the Silly Putty. Smooth it out really flat, apply it where you need it, use a flattened piece of wood dowel to get it into shape. You need to paint quickly though, as the Silly Putty will change shape over time. "De-tacked tape might also work, but I'd be concerned the clearcoat might seep under the edge and stick to the decal.
VR, Russ

This one?


Link to larger image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/PLM_2011_044_Flying_Lizard_Porsche.jpg

Is there a good reason for doing the red paint last?
Without knowing all the details of the model and build I would have painted the red first.

I assume that the sticky part of Post-It notes are too inflexible to use for masking? The "glue" on the back of them is almost the same as a very de-stickified adhesive tape.

Have you thought about using surgical tape?
The edge and a strip inward from the edge will need to be sealed to prevent "bleed under" but maybe it is sufficiently low-tack and flexible for your needs.

/ Robin

Robin, that would be a good idea for the doors to paint the red first. The hood is more of a challenge. The decals I have are from an earlier version. I want to replicate the paint scheme in the picture you provided. The earlier version has the lizard head and the heart outline only. I will need to paint the red to the edge of the hood. There is a line of silver that separates the heart shape from the red to the edge of the hood. I was thinking decal, seal, mask, seal the edge of the masking then paint the outer edge of the hood red. The decal will have to be masked somehow. The earlier decals are correct in size and shape, they just changed the location of red on the car slightly and added more red to the hood.

Let me see if I got this right:
1. There is a decal on the hood
2. The edges of the hood are red
3. Between the decal and the red there is a narrow strip of silver.
That would mean that you will need to copy the outline of the decal to make something that overlaps the decal by the width of the silver strip. This mask will have to protect the decal without lifting it or other wise ruining it.

I would suggest doing this by copying the shape of the decal onto paper. Adding the required width of the silver lining. Cut out the mask. Paint the hood solver. Attach the mask to cover the silver and paint the red.
Since you would be using paper you can simply start cutting another mask if the first attempt isn't perfect.
When the mask is removed there is a large patch of silver surrounded by red. Now it is time to attach the decal to the hood.
There is double sided adhesive tape, Scotch 136D for instance, but there are probably others as well.
https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Double-Permanent-Handheld-Dispenser/dp/B01J7SM58U
Stick this to the underside of the mask and cut to shape.
After some handling the remaining sticky side will be less tacky
You could also cut the mask exactly to the size of the decal and use masking tape to tape it down AND add the extra size for the silver lining.
In theory you could also make a reverse mask to cover the red while painting the silver but this would become very difficult to handle. Maybe by making the mask by taping the shape with narrow masking tape.
A clear coat over the silver before attaching the mask could be a good idea. Spraying the edges of the mask with silver before the red helps prevent the red from leaking in under the mask.
There is also a product called Parafilm which I know some modelers use for masking on aircraft, I have never tried it ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parafilm

/ Robin

Thanks Robin. Masking the way you described would allow for some touch up if needed without damaging the decal.

I hadn't thought of Parafilm M, but its a great masking material. However, it's very difficult to handle and place precisely, and easily sticks to itself. The only way you can use it to mask a difficult decal would be to place the decal, place the Parafilm over it, then cut around it with a sharp blade. Parafilm wax activates when stretched, and is used to cover test tubes and jars in laboratories with an airtight, wax film. It does have its purposes when masking. I have a roll in my workbench cabinet I use occasionally for large masking jobs when I don't want to use tape. You can get it from Micro-Mark.
VR, Russ

Thanks for all the advice. Tuesday I start "the Red". Hopefully I won't see red if you know what I mean. I am going to mask/paint prior to decaling. I am going to spray some Tamiya clear from the can on the edge of the Tamiya masking to seal the edge. Let it sit then follow with a couple/ three coats of red.

Paint is relatively cheap and easily available, decals can be difficult or impossible to replace so the general rule is to bring them into the build as late as possible.
A failed paint job can be removed/repaired and done again.

Post images of the finished result
/ Robin