Purchased a HO steam engine and tender that was custom painted and decaled during the early 1970's. Being quite dirty and dusty I cleaned it by running both shells under gently running warm water and gently dried by blotting with a soft cloth. To my horror, the black finish on both shells is now blotched where some of that finish washed away. My only alternative for restoring it is spray painting with a can of Floquil Engine Black. However since the rather small size Strasburg RR decals on it are no longer available, I need to avoid spraying them. Any suggestions of how best to do this? I purchased a bottle of Microscale Micro Mask to cover the decal with before spray painting but now fear that when the Micro Mask is laqter peeled off that some of the decal might peel away with it too. (It seems as though the decal might have been over sprayed with dullcoat or something similar when it was originally applied as the gentle water wash didn't seem to lift it or affect iot in any way.) Is my fear warranted? I need suggestions on how to spray paint small objects which have been decaled without also painting over those decals
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