General Discussion (Model Railroader)

I'm sure this must have come up before now. I did use the "search community" option but didn't find what I was looking for so please bear with me if this is a repeat of a thread somewhere here ...

I have some older Champ decals. Last night, I attempted to put dimensional data onto a flat car I've redone only to find that the decal simply "fell apart". Now, I'm not really a novice - I've done this before and never had a problem.

It seems to me that I recall reading that the decal can be sprayed with either Dullcoat or Glosscoat (or is it some other material) to "strengthen" the decal film.

Does anyone have any suggestions I can try?

Thanks in advance - Jim.

You are correct in that streagthening is what must be done, as the decals have become so old that the the decal film has become riddled with thousands of micro-cracks. Gloss coat or Dull coat will work to solve the problem but the resulting decals will be very brittle. A better solution will be to spray the decals sheet with Microscale Liquid Decal Film. This will put a new layer of decal film over the image when it dries and you will essentially have a brand new decal.

 James Mitich

Yeah, I know what you mean.  My 30 yr old decals, both Champ and MicroScale, just go to pieces. 

1. Testors Glosscoat sprayed THIN over the whole sheet.  Any clear gloss lacquer would work, but not the latex versions.

2. Microscale has a decal restorer.  Brush a coat on BEFORE you cut out the decal, or you get a nicely sealed decal that will NOT come off the paper no matter how long it soaks.  Don't ask me how I know that. 

I have tried both methods on decals going on fairly flat surfaces and have no problems with the extra thickness.  I have not tried them on scribed wood, etc that needs the extra snuggling down, but if you put on a THIN coat (and THIN is all you need) there shound be no problem.)

Phil 

Gentlemen - thank you for the responses.

 I'll give the Microscale solution a shot...It gives me an(other) excuse to visit my LHS!