After Market Decal Problems

[starmanmm]

Need a little help with after market decals.

Purchased a set for the Romulan Bird of Prey and when I placed the decal in the water, it curled so fast that it caused the portion of the decal that did not get into the water as fast to curl with the paper - thus cracking the decal.

One problem I have with these aftermarket decals is that once they hit the water, they seem to seperate from the backing very quickly. Too quickly to act in my opinion.

So, I purchased another set and now before I attempt this again, I need some pointers on how to proceed.

Thanks

[Johnnycrash]

Cut just the decal you need from the sheet. Place it face down on a piece of papertowl. Then wet the back of the sheet until the paper absorbs enough water to soak through to the other side with the decal on it. This way, YOU control the amount of water. If the sheet starts to curl, you will be able to hold it flat.

[TER-OR]

Another good option is to brush some Microscale Liquid Decal Film over the surface. This is what I do with all aftermarket decals (except those printed on litho machines which apply just enough film of their own). It takes a couple of hours to dry, but it makes the decals so much better behaved.

[Lt. Z0mBe]

What I do is very - and I mean VERY- quickly dip said decal into a water/white glue solution. You should use just enough glue to make the water appear milky, as though you've just run water in a glas that had milk in it.

Then, place said decal on a paper towel for 60 seconds.

The dip in the water should last less than a second - literally.

While the decal's out on the paper towel, you can add whatever solvents/setting solutions you need to it. Brush some of the water and solvent from the dish onto the location on the model.

Apply and smooth with tweezers and a moist cotton swab.

I hope this helps.

Kenny

[starmanmm]

Thanks for all the suggestions!!

Another thing I had trouble with was with the fact that the decal is so large which made using the microsol solution on the surface of the model another issue. Maybe I should had put it in a spray bottle and srayed that solution on the kit? I felt that I was using too much solution and that it was drying out too fast to get the decal on.

[Kylwell]

I've had this happen also. The MicroScale stuff works, so does the Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic coating. Seems to limit the amount of curl.

Be careful with the MicroScale solution, you can actually build up quite a thick layer if you're not paying attention (and you can't remember where you sprayed it).

[TER-OR]

I use a broad, soft brush to apply it. I didn't like cleaning it out of my airbrush. I've not had problems applying it via paintbrush yet - but I haven't tried the inkjet type decals either. ALPS are no problem.