I am painting my first custom job and have got the decals installed. I used Floquil paint and then applied the decal using the procedure described in the instructions on the side of the Micro-Set/Micro-Sol bottle. After several applications of Micro-Sol I still have a glossy sheen where the decal is. Can I simply get rid of this by sealing the decals with Dull-coat or do I need to do something else before proceeding any further?
You are not supposed to apply decals right onto a Floquil paintjob... Floquil paint sets with a dull, rough matte finish, and you can't put decals on that. You need to give it a gloss clear coat first before you can apply decals. The decals are meant to blend into a glossy smooth clearcoated surface. Once it has done that, then you seal up the whole works with dullcote. If you applied the decals to a dull, rough matte surface and then attempt to seal it up with the Dullcote, you will get a silvering effect in the decals. Not good.
The silvering might very well be an issue. Which decals are you using? You can always do a final coat or two of Dullcote after you are satisfied with the job.
You must spray the areas where the decals will go with a gloss or at least semi-gloss clear coat. Decals will lay better and blend into the surface better that on a flat (microscopicly rough) finish. Then when decals are properly applied. Finish model with dull coat of your choice. I have found that force drying dull coats with a hair dryer gives optimum flattening results along with lessening the chances of finish lifting or blistering.
