Hi guys, I was wondering. If you are going to fit decals over a fresh paint job,and you wont see the paint anyway. can you just clear over undercoat, or is there a reason why you would have to undercoat, colour and then clear?
Thanks Bren
 

Er no... only reason behind any of the prep work is that decals adhere better to smooth surfaces than rough. Any undercoat or acrylic is a rough surface... a clear or enamel is considered a smooth surface.
There is absolutely nothing stopping you from getting great adhesion by simply clearing the plain timber.
Any paint prep is done to make sure that on the cabinet edges you don't have a colour difference.. for instance, if decals are mainly black then paint all corners black and any gaps between the front and side decal is invisible.. leave this area another colour and it notices big time. Back of cabinet needs to be painted also.
But to reiterate.. if you can get the bare timber to a nice glassy finish you will have just as good adhesion as you would have if you had a painted glassy finish