Coating Decals

[david]

I tend to use some older decals at times and the first thing I do when I get them is coat them with Decal Film. Too often these older decals will be brittle and tear, or worse yet, just explode when they hit the water when you try to apply them and we all know how much of a bummer that is! A brand new coating makes them usable. Just brush it on, no need to be real perfect or careful about as the film self-levels really well and dries pretty quickly. Once that's done and they are good and dry (I give them at least a day just to make sure), they can usually be applied easily and can stand up to either one of the decal softeners I use to lay them down into cracks and other difficult contours. Just be certain that you cut your decals out with a sharp Exacto or good scissors and that you cut them as close to the decal graphic as possible, even if they are individual decals like they so often are on these sheets. The reason is that once you have your new film on the sheet, it is indeed over the entire sheet so in essence, each decal will slide off where you cut the film and not where the original decal edge was. Very important. Old decals can be used with pretty good success so long as you give them a new film coating!

[Deleted]

Thanks for the info, David. I know I have some kits in the stash that are fairly old. Some will probably have decals that are in need of special care.

[david]

Yep, the whole reason for bringing it up was some old decals I was using last night on a circle track car. They were OLD but I had coated them the night before and they are now on the car. The decal softener really drew them in tight and they were nice and locked down this morning when I took a peek before heading off to work. One thing I failed to mention about the softener solution is that once you have brushed it on, sometimes more than once, and the decals start to look funky and puckered (and look like they are ruined sometimes!), don't fiddle with them! They are really soft at that point and they will start gumming and stretching if you try to move them and tinker with them much at all. Wait a couple hours and you'll begin to see them smoothing out and tightening up. If everything is where it's supposed to be, the next morning is usually a pleasant surprise as they are really nailed down nice.