Decals Start to Finish

Hm.  Just for grins I did a "search our community" for "decal".  Got a fair number of hits but many of them concerned making custom decals on your computer.  So, here is my recipe for getting a decal to lay down flat and stick.

1.  Use fresh decals.  After a year, or two, or three, the film dries out and cracks and tears. 

2.  Apply over a good coat of paint.  I get excellent results applying decals over rattle can auto primer which is a very flat paint.  [controversial topic here]  Many people say that decals must only be applied over gloss paint, and they recommend spraying a coat of clear gloss paint over flat paints. I don't bother.  You can do what ever seems good to you.

3.  While dry (before wetting)  cut the individual decals loose from the main sheet with a small pair of scissors.   Trim the decal closely, removing as much excess decal film as possible.  Trim all the corners round to prevent a loose corner from lifting up.

4.  Soak decals one by one in water in a saucer.  As soon as the decal loosens from the backing and begins to slide around,  lift decal and paper backing from the water and lay flat in the proper place.  The decal adhesive is water  soluble. If you leave the decal in the water too long the adhesive washes away and then the decal won't stick.  Then carefully slide the moist backing paper out from under the decal film.  The decal film wants to stick to your finger and wrap itself up like a pretzel.  Don't let it, you will never get it straightened out again.  Steer the decal film to the proper place and get it square and centered.  A small paint brush or a needle or the point of a #11 Xacto knife all work to steer the decal.  Blot up excess water with a Kleenex.  Too much water and the decal will swim away from it's proper spot.  Let it dry long enough to stick in place. 

5.  Apply decal setting solution.  I use Walther's Solvaset.  Microscale makes something similar but I forget what they call it.  The setting solution is mostly formaldehyde which softens the decal film and lets it settle down around surface details like rivets.  DO NOT attempt to move a decal after applying the setting solution, the decal softens so much that it will tear.  Let dry over night.

6.  After decal is good and dry, spray a coat of DullCote over it to make the decal film blend in.  I use only genuine Testor's DullCote.  I tried a spray can of something else years ago and it made the decals crinkle up.

dstarr

Hm.  Just for grins I did a "search our community" for "decal".  Got a fair number of hits but many of them concerned making custom decals on your computer.  So, here is my recipe for getting a decal to lay down flat and stick.

That was all I found too. mostly custom decal Q & As,NOT what I was looking for and  nothing for teh steps for applying decals..

I have read a fair amount about applying Dullcoat after the custom decals, and a mention of a solvent - you mentioned "solvaset" but nothing really aobut the actual steps for applying.

Thank you for your info.

I will give a start to this, I am sure others will have something to say as well.

For a decal softening solution, I use Solvaset. It's a strong solvent, and a lot of people do not like it for that reason. The  2 most important things to remember are get the decal in its final position before adding the Solvaset and DO NOT touch the decal after you put on the Solvaset. The decal may appear crinkley at first; it will flatten out as it dries, but if you touch it at tis point the decal will be ruined.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/904-470

My water comes from a well, so there is not a lot of stuff in it unlike some city waters. Some people prefer to use distlled water, it depends on how much disolved solids are in your water.

Use a shallow bowl, big enough to hold the decal with about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of water in it. Use a dark color bowl for white or light color decals and a white one for dark decals. The fine print decals will show up better.

For cutting the decal, you can use scissors, but I prefer an X-Acto knife with a new blade. For commercial decals, I cut as close as I can to the decal picture or text, but for home made decals from an inkjet printer cut at least 1/16" away or the decal will bleed. For straight lines, use a metal ruler.

Float the decal in the water paper side down, decal side up. I usually let it float until the paper falls away from the decal, then carefully lift it out either on the knife blade for smaller decals or on the metal ruler for larger ones. Slide off the blade as close to the final position as possible. Other people wil float the decal until it start to move on the decal paper, then remove the whole thing, slide it off the paper as close to the final position as possible.

When the decal is on the model, it can be pushed around with your finger, a toothpick or gently with the knife blade. Wet you finger first so the decal will not stick to it. If the decal does not want to move, add a drop of water at the edge, so it wicks under the decal.

For a long decal like a name or a stripe, sight parallel to the surface to make sure it is straight. This also works to be sure 2 or more decals are parallel to each other.

Gently blot the decal with a paper towel to remove most of the water. Look for air bubbles under the decal, and try to move them to the edge.

Once the decal is in place (and double checked thst this is right), apply Solvaset using a fine brush. Apply to the middle and work to the edges. As I mentioned before, do not touch the decal at this point until it is dry. If there is excess solvent on the decal, tip to one side and pick it up on a piece of paper towel without touching the decal.

I generally do only one side of a model at a time because it is so easy to touch the decal on the back side while it is drying. Set it aside and do the other side the next day.

On the day after when the decals are dry, check them for air bubbles, and places where the decal is not flush with the surface - particularly at rivets and corners. For a trapped air bubbles, *** it with the tip of the knife blade and add more Solvaset. For rivets and corners add more Solvaset to these ateas until the decal snugs down on the surface. At this point, it is OK to touch the decal and work on both sides of the model. Let dry overnight and check again, add more Solvaset if necesary.

When you are satisfied with the decal, rinse with plain water to remove slovent residue and dry

You had mentioned that you have Dullcote that you can brush on. I have never thied this, I geberally use Dullcote spray for final fixing the decal.

Now everyone else can tell me where I have been doing this wrong for the last 30 years.

Walther's Solvaset (trade name) comes in a small bottle with a brush in the cap.  Once the decal is dry enough to stick in place, use the bottletop brush to moisten the entire decal with the liquid Solvaset.  Don't let the decal swim away from it's proper position on a flow of Solvaset.  Make sure the decal is sorta semi dry and sticking in place before applying the Solvaset.  Otherwise the decal may swim away, and after the Solvaset has softened the decal film, the decal cannot be repositioned without tearing it.   

   I don't have an airbrush, so I rely on rattle cans to spray anything.  DullCote comes in a rattle can and lays a clear, but flat , coat of lacquer over the model.  It will blend the somewhat shiny decal film into the flat paint of the typical RR model.   Apply DullCote the same way you would apply any other rattle can spray paint.

First off, I totally disagree with David about applying decals to a flat or dull surface as will most modelers that have been doing this for a while (45 years for me). The chances of silvering and the decal lift off are much greater with a flat surface, so give the model a coat of gloss before you decal. Secondly, the glue David was talking about is purely to hold the decal to the paper and has nothing to do with sticking the decal to the model, MicroSol and Solvaset basically melt the decal to the surface creating a molecular bond, no glue needed.

Microscale decals: The decal film is "spot" printed, if you look at the sheet  in the light you can see the borders of the clear decal film surrounding the printed material, this film is tapered to better blend with the surface and to avoid hard edges, which is what you get if you trim the decals real close, so cut around the film. Microscale is the only company with this feature. All others should be trimmed as close to printing as possible.

MicroSet and MicroSol: MicroSet is a presoftening agent and also cuts the surface tension. When the decal has loosened from the paper, with a soft brush apply some MicroSet to the area to be decalled, apply the decal, position it with a brush or toothpick. Use the edge of a paper towel to suck off the excess MicroSet. Let it dry a bit, but not completely, then paint on some Microsol. This will soften the decal into the nooks and crannys and allow the decal to adhere to the model and let dry. Check for air pockets and pop those with a fresh blade in your Xacto knife, reapply more MicroSol and let dry. Repeat this until the decal has completely settled in and all the air pockets are gone. After all the decals have been applied, let the model dry for at least 12 hours, then rinse it in some luke warm water so remove the staining from the setting solutions and glue from the paper, let dry. Coat with the finish of your choice to seal the decals.

Thanks for the info Jay and others.

Hopefully I won't make a mess of things!

But don't count on that from me!

I haven't done any decaling in about 50 years, used to do model planes and the like.  I never used a setting solution, so the glue must hold some, as I still have some ot the models in a box with the decals still on.

My suggestion is get some decals and some sheet styrene.  Do a little praticing before you try to do the ones on your model.  You can try painting the styrene with both flat and gloss finishes to see which you like best.  A little investment in some decals that don't mean too much may save you some headaches later.

Good luck,

dstarr

Walther's Solvaset (trade name) comes in a small bottle with a brush in the cap. 

I feel that the brush in the Solvaset bottle cap is way too big. It puts too much solvent on the decal. I pull it out, throw it away and use a small paintbrush. That way I can control the amount of solvent better

Same for the brush in the cap of Testors Liquid Cement

Is it absolutely necessary to spray paint model with Dull coat after decalling it? Passenger cars have many details like windows  - so do I need to mask them? Do I spray the roof so it matches the dull coated sides of the car? I also feet weary about spraying over  high quality factory paint job.

A few more tips for you: When I do decalling, I use a slide cutter made by Fiskers. It's a wonderfull little thing for cutting stripes, as I tend to let the X-acto and straightedge slip sometimes. Also, such things can be started in the middle of the shet, and they have a ruler on them so you can measure out the length needed and get a good, straight, flush cut.

Decals tend to stick to anything dry. Don't let that be your finger. If you notice the decal is hugging to you, dip your hand in the water. Also, if it is starting to roll, put the decal back in the water, and nine times out of ten, it will unroll itself, or be safer to manipulate.

Blunt toothpicks are good tools for nudging, but don't use a pointed end, or you might punctue the decal and start a rip. Fingernails can be a good thing too.

trainsBuddy

Is it absolutely necessary to spray paint model with Dull coat after decalling it? Passenger cars have many details like windows  - so do I need to mask them? Do I spray the roof so it matches the dull coated sides of the car? I also feet weary about spraying over  high quality factory paint job.

No, you dion't need to mask them, as It's usually a good idea to just diassasemble the car anyway. If you do youre dullcote right, you can leave the windows in and do a minimal look of grimed windows. Case I can assure you they aren't nearly that see-through. I don't bother with the roofs, as there isn't much difference. What yor really doing is counter-acting the glosscote. A step forward in shine, then a step backward.

The timing of Galaxy's question about decaling couldn't be any better for me as I'm getting ready to try my hand at decaling a tank car kit I have been building. I have a question for you experienced decalers. Floquil has a glaze and a gloss in bottles. Are these coatings the equivalent of Testor's Gloss Coat? If not what are they for?

Pat