Future Floor Polish as a sealer for home made decals

[bailey6419]

Greetings everybody. I'm a newbie here although I've been visiting the Startship Modeler website for quite a while now. I've been an avid modeler since I was pretty young but haven't done any modeling for quite some time and I'm just starting to get back into it again. I have a question about an article I saw someplace about using Future as a sealer for home made decals. I don't remember where I read it though. Does anybody know about this article or has anybody used Future to seal their decals after they've printed them?

Thanks to anybody who responds to this. I appreciate all the knowledge and experience that you all have.

Thanks again.
Aaron

[macfrank]

I have a question about an article I saw someplace about using Future as a sealer for home made decals. I don't remember where I read it though. Does anybody know about this article or has anybody used Future to seal their decals after they've printed them?

Aaron, welcome to the board. I'll leave the warnings to others.

I've used Future as both a sealer and a setting solution for years, but I only print decals with an ALPS or laser printer; I don't know if Future will affect inkjet printed decals.

Future is great! As a sealer, you just spray a coat or two on the sheet and let it dry. You can also use it on old kit decals that are prone to disintegrating in water. A coat of Future will keep the decal together.

As a setting solution it works wonders, too - I put a dab of Future where the decal is going to be placed, then place the decal, swab off the excess and let it dry. The drying Future will suck the decal down into the surface.

Frank

[TER-OR]

A product you'll want to find is Microscale's Liquid Decal Film. It will give the decal structure. I haven't made my own decals, though, with any degree of success. Laser printers can work, but you'll want to test anything you apply to a test print to make sure it actually works and doesn't screw things up.