White glue to water mix ratio to save old decals info needed

[BERT aka MODEL MAKER]

I have some older decals for my 1/48 Apollo spacecraft that is from 1983. I don't know how the decals adhesive will hold up so I need to know what the mixing ratio is for white glue & water that some of you use to insure the decal will stick to the models surface & dry clear. I have never had to do this but i don't want to risk losing these 2 decals. I have already applied liquid decal film to the face of the decals that are still on the decal sheet in order to protect it from the front side, i did that several months ago & I am waiting to cut the decal off the decal sheet and apply it to the model.I will be using a small cereral bowl for my warm decal water, I just need to know the correct mixture of white glue & water so my decal will be sure to stick to the model & not turn hazy from TOO much white glue .. I have some decal setting soloution and a few bottles of clear coats from gloss to dull. decals will go on a very smooth GLOSS WHITE APOLLO COMMAND MODULE. I also have some future and i think i will use the future over them once the decals are dry. Can I use a decal setting solution with the white glue/ water setup ? what is the best method for using the white glue/water ? decal setting solution to position the decals, or just use the white glue/water & hope they have some wiggle room to get them positioned straight ?

THANKS IN ADVANCE

[Joseph Osborn]

Bert, if it were me, I'd forgo the idea of white glue & water and instead use Future to make sure the decals stick to the model. I'd paint a little puddle of Future onto the model, apply the decal onto that puddle and use the corner of a paper towel to wick up the excess Future once the decal is in position. I'd also put another coat of Microscale Decal Film on the decals about a 1/2-hour before I'm ready to apply them. You should not need a setting solution if you are going over smooth & glossy white paint.

[southwestforests]

Based on my experience with train decals, the setting solution would be enough.
A lot of us railroaders soak all the glue off before applying decal.
And Microscale doesn't use much more glue than required to hold the film to the paper.

The solvents either Micro Sol or Solvaset pretty much melt the decal into the paint to put it sort of kinda like it works out.

Now, the punch line is that somewhere along the way in the 1980s or 1990s there have been some Monogram decals which said not to use setting solutions - huh? They didn't do the courtesy of explaining why, assuming my memory is correct on that element of the detail.

[TER-OR]

I'd skip the white glue, too. That liquid film should be a good insurance, though.

Did you scan the decals just in case?

[BERT aka MODEL MAKER]

Yes, i did scan them just in case and someone resized them for me as well after the scan. The model is the revelle "history makers 1/48 Apollo spacecraft and the decals for that are not offered anywhere for aftermarket. That kit is being re released and hopefully the decals may become fresh again.

[ajmadison]

Think I answered this same question on HobbyTalk. Okay, what's not well understood, is that dilute white glue makes an excellent decal setting solution. I've used it as a setting 'solution'/adhesive on flat finishes with minimal silvering (the decals were huge, so that's the reason they silvered). And I've used it on gloss finishes but with intricate recessed detail, and the decals snugged down to look like they were painted on. I've never had the dilute white glue solution yellow.

The short answer to the original question is 2 parts water to 1 part PVA. But use a water soluble PVA, e.g. Elmer's, not Tacky glue. However, once you start doing this technique, you'll find you just squirt some white glue into a shallow bowl, and swirl in water until its about the consistency of skim milk.