richhotrain On my old layout. I used fluorescent lighting, 4 foot tubes, two in each fixture. Over time, my ballast yellowed and my ground cover lightened (faded). Rich
On my old layout. I used fluorescent lighting, 4 foot tubes, two in each fixture. Over time, my ballast yellowed and my ground cover lightened (faded).
Rich
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
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On my old layout. I used fluorescent lighting, 4 foot tubes, two in each fixture. Over time, my ballast yellowed and my ground cover lightened (faded). On my new layout, I use LED floodlights.
Alton Junction
richhotrain John-NYBW FRRYKid Another thought is that your lighting might be causing a problem. Certain lighting has the effect of fading yellows and other colors. Just ask any railroader that used lichen or even some older ground foams. I don't think the issue is lighting. The decals looked just fine when first applied. My lighting hasn't changed but the color of the lettering has. I don't know if you use fluorescent lighting, but I can tell you from personal experience that fluorescent lighting is a real killer. It causes fading, discoloring, etc. Rich
John-NYBW FRRYKid Another thought is that your lighting might be causing a problem. Certain lighting has the effect of fading yellows and other colors. Just ask any railroader that used lichen or even some older ground foams. I don't think the issue is lighting. The decals looked just fine when first applied. My lighting hasn't changed but the color of the lettering has.
FRRYKid Another thought is that your lighting might be causing a problem. Certain lighting has the effect of fading yellows and other colors. Just ask any railroader that used lichen or even some older ground foams.
Another thought is that your lighting might be causing a problem. Certain lighting has the effect of fading yellows and other colors. Just ask any railroader that used lichen or even some older ground foams.
I don't think the issue is lighting. The decals looked just fine when first applied. My lighting hasn't changed but the color of the lettering has.
I don't know if you use fluorescent lighting, but I can tell you from personal experience that fluorescent lighting is a real killer. It causes fading, discoloring, etc.
OK, I think I misunderstood what FRRYKid was saying. I thought he was telling me the lighting made the decals LOOK faded. You are both telling me the lighting can actually fade colors. I had never heard that before.
I do have about half the layout under fluorescent lighting. I am gradually replacing the fluorescents with LED flood lights. Sounds like maybe I should accelerate the process.
FRRYKid One thought I have is if you replace and reprint the decals is to maybe put a strip of white trim film on the spot (or else paint the spot white) where the decals will go before you put the decal. Ink jet decals tend to come out a bit fainter than you think when you print them. Another thought is that your lighting might be causing a problem. Certain lighting has the effect of fading yellows and other colors. Just ask any railroader that used lichen or even some older ground foams.
One thought I have is if you replace and reprint the decals is to maybe put a strip of white trim film on the spot (or else paint the spot white) where the decals will go before you put the decal. Ink jet decals tend to come out a bit fainter than you think when you print them.
I discovered from the start that printing colored lettering on clear decal film did not work. The lettering was too faint. I switched to printing them on white decal paper and color matching the background color as close as I could. I would then cut the decal as close to the lettering as possible so the slight difference in the printed color and the body of the car or loco was barely noticeable.
Fading decals. I cannot solve the problem any more than what as been replied, but to me they are 'happy accidents'. Writing that looks faded adds age and realism. IMO.
David
Some of my early decals were done on an inkjet printer. You were right to overspray the decals after they came off the printer and dried. I used some of Testor's spray that came with their decal kits at the time. (For a more modern take, try some Microscale Liquid Decal Film.) I ended up letting the decals dry for a few days just to be safe.
I have had problems with even Microscale's gold striping looking green shortly after they were applied, it might also be an issue with gold itself.
A couple years ago, I used an inkjet printer to create decals for my fictional railroad. I created some gold letter decals with black backgrounds for my diesels and Pullman gree backgrounds for my heavyweight passenger cars. I just noticed the past couple of days that some of the color has faded noticeably to either a pastel yellow on the diesels to lime green on the heavyweights. I think the difference is due to the different background colors. Is this common with inkjet decals and is there a way to prevent this fading?
After printing the decals, I over sprayed them with clear coat. I applied the decals with Micro-Set and then finished with a light application of Micro-Sol. Should I have over sprayed the finished decals after they had dried? I haven't noticed any fading on any of the other decals I printed, just the gold letter ones.