adjusting decals?

[gregc]

I felt fortunate to find decals for two undecorated hopper cars I had bought 30 years ago, instead of removing them from the layout.

this was my first use of decals.  While they may have looked good enough when putting them on, the photo shows that they could be better aligned.

is there anything that can be done at this point to adjust them?

i can also see clear decal material.   Will Micro Sol disolve that?

[hon30critter]

Hi Greg:

Moving them now that they are dry may be pretty difficult but its worth a try. I would use straight distilled water to try to lift them first. If you use a decal solution like MicroSol or MicroSet the film will soften and it will probably tear. Even if it does tear you can still try to line the pieces up again, unless the decal has totally disintegrated of course.

You will need to take your time and start at an edge. The goal is to get enough water under the decal to 'float' it off the surface. It will take some time for the water to penetrate all the way under the decal so be patient. Use a small paint brush, and once the decal starts to come loose be careful not to fold it over on itself.

If you suceed in moving them, carefully blot any water off with a paper towel and let them dry overnight. Then you can come back with MicroSol to soften the decal and get it to settle into the details. Several applications are usually necessary. The decals are very fragile when the solution is working on them.

To hide the decal film, you could give the car a coat of Dullcote after everything has dried thoroughly.

For future reference, let me make a couple of suggestions.

The first is to trim the decals as close to the lettering as possible. The pros use a glass sheet and a stiff back safety razor blade and cut straight down instead of drawing the blade along. That reduces the chance of tearing the decal and obviously the less excess film the better.

The second suggestion is to spray the car with Glosscote before applying the decals. The smooth surface will prevent any silvering caused by tiny bubbles of air caught under the decal. Once the decalling (and any weathering) is done, then spray the car with Dullcote.

My third suggestion goes contrary to most popular advice. Most people, including Cody Grivno, apply Microset to the model before putting the decal on. I use distilled water. It seems to allow more time for positioning and it doesn't weaken the decal. I discovered that a while ago when I was applying some 1/32" stripes using Microsol first. The stripes kept breaking and they were difficult to manouver. I switched to distilled water and the job was a breeze.

One other factor that may be causing your decal film to stand out is the age of the decals. If the decals were made some time ago the decal film may be much thicker than it is on modern decals. There's not much you can do other than what was mentioned above.

Dave

[doctorwayne]

Like Dave, I use distilled water for decal work, and it helps if you apply the decals on a gloss surface.  As long as you haven't used a setting solution (or a clear overspray), the lettering should re-float with an application of water.

In addition to trimming the decal film close to the lettering (I do this with Microscale decals, too), I've found that, once the decals are set and fully dried, overspraying them with a clear gloss identical to the one applied prior to decaling, then applying a flat clear finish helps to hide the decal film better than only a coat of flat.Here's an Athearn car which I did for a friend.  Trimming the decals took some time, but helped to make the lettering look not like a decal:

This car was considerably more difficult, as there were 168 individual pieces of decal needed to complete the lettering:

For this type of work, I use my usual methods (distilled water and a clean, lint-free cloth to blot-up the excess), but place the individual characters on a drop of water on my glass work surface.  The piece, lettering and paper backing, is then placed on the model until the letter separates from the backing, then slid into place.  Placing each successive letter or numeral often disturbs the previous one(s), so no setting solution is used until at least a line of data is complete.
Once that stage has been reached, I use a little Micro Set on a small brush to affix the letters, applying it near, but not usually directly on, the decals.  If applying it on the decal, one quick, light pass works best - if something moves, you have time to re-position it.  If much of the data moves, apply some distilled water to dilute the Micro Set, and start over.
As each applied line dries, I treat it with Solvaset, and once that has dried, move on to the next line.
To keep things straight, I use masking tape as temporary guidelines.  Lay out a length of tape on the glass, then use a sharp blade and a straightedge to trim both edges from the tape - this gets rid of nicks, accumulated dust and fuzz, and the portion of the tape that's less-sticky because of its edges being exposed to the air. 
I use dividers to measure the width of the strips which I cut off the remaining tape - this helps to keep the tape a constant width, which allows you to align one edge with something on the car or loco which can be used as a reference point.  For the tank car, that point was the black portion on the tank's bottom.  Lettering on this car started at the top and worked down, but on some models, it may work better to use the top for your reference guide.  After the guide has served its purpose, discard it and create a new one for the next line.
You can also use a pencil to pre-mark the tape with reference points regarding word spacing: where each word and/or line should start and end, keeping in mind that all letters within a word are not necessarily equidistant from one another.  This is dependent on the adjacent letters and, in many cases, the font used.

For larger pieces of decal, the dividers can be used directly on the model when positioning the decal.  This can help to keep the lettering level and properly spaced, but also allows you to letter the other side of the car or locomotive at the same height and spacing by using the first side as your reference.

Wayne

[dstarr]

Moistening the decals ought to loosen them up and let you reposition them.  Use water, let it sit on the decal for a good long time, hours, and then see if you can move the decal by stroking it with a small paint brush.  If it doesn't move, let the water work on it some more. 

DON'T use decal setting solution to loosen them!.  Solva Set and Micro-Sel/Set soften the decal film to make it snuggle down around lumps and bumps and rivets.  Once softened, the decal WILL tear if you try to move it.  Get the decal in the right place, and let it dry enough to stay in place. Then apply decal setting solution and let it dry.  Don't touch, try to move, or otherwise mess with a decal after applying setting solution. 

   Once good and dry, over night or better, a coat of Testors Dull Cote will make the decal film turn invisible. 

[gregc]

thanks for the thoughtful explanations

may be a while before I try your suggestions out