decaling question

how do you use microsol/set? how do you apply decals over more than one surface? i have several kits with decals that have to go on more than one surface. take hasegawa's lancia 037 rally's martini stripe decals.it has to bend over a 90 degree angle, and the obvious thought is to use microsol/set, exept i haven't used them before and don't know how to. i thought that you got the decal, bent it across the 2 angles, apled a coat of microsol/set, bob's ur uncle, decal is in position and set. but i keepreading about apling several coats. so how do you use it, what do you do? plz help, i always wreak decaling jobs! and am very confused!:confused: and why do some white deacals yellow? can you prevent it from happaning? thanks for any help.

Hi,

I have looked around for an indepth tutoral on applying decals for you, but I can't find one. Strange, decal application is so important and expensive if one is having a hard time.

I am no expert but I can tell how I apply decals:

Tools:

Warm water
Paint brushes
cotton swabs
hair dryer
disposable kitchen towel
tweezers
scissors
Microsol or Microset

Step 1: PREP

Cut out the decal from the sheet. Allow some extra non-decal paper, on the decal to be applied, so you have an area where you can grasp with tweezers. Preferably in a location where you are not planning to slide the decal towards.

Step 2: SOAKING

Put your decal in warm water, 30 to 60 seconds. You may need to soak it longer. Your decal is ready when it starts to slide off when you move it with your finger.

Step 3: EXCESS WATER ABSORPTION

Take your tweezers and grasp the non-decal area. Bring the decal over to the kitchen towel to absorb the excess water.

Step 4: SLIDING THE DECALS TO CAR

Slide the decal off the paper so that the exposed decal edge can come in contact with your model, make sure you want to start on this location. It is your temporary anchor for the decal. Then apply the decal edge on the model and the hold the edge down with a damp finger or paint brush (the decal will stick to dry fingers and brushes). This allows you to continue laying down the other part of the decal little by little. Remember, you want to slide the paper underneath the decal off so you are exposing more decal to lay down on the car. If you are going over a complex surface, take a hair dryer on low setting to heat up the decal (3 to 4 minutes maximum at a time). Be sure to distrubute the heat evenly by moving the dryer back and forth. You can do this while the decal is not totally on the part or when the whole decal is on the desired location. Make sure not to dry the decal out, you just want it warm so it is more surface conforming.

If you want to move the decal around, do so by using damp paint brushes. Be gentle here, you can get underneath the edges to lift the decal to put it in a different location or you can slide the decal around by pushing on top of the it.

To get rid of any wrinkle, bubbles and excess H2O under the decal, I use gentle "paint" stokes over the entire decal using a soft damp bladed paint brush. And last, I use cotton swabs and/or kitchen towel to soak up the H2O that the "painting" produced.

One word here, decals can only take so much fussing about. Make sure you are not moving/adjusting too long. Your decals may rip.


Step 5: MICROSOL/SET TIME

Now that I have gone as far as I could go with heating and adjusting the decal, I "paint" on a good amount of Microsol/set on the decal with my bladed paintbrush. After this step, I will NOT move, adjust, or touch the decal. If I do I risk damage, the decal will be too soft! However, I will heat up the decal a little if it starts to wrinkle. Have patiences here, the action of the Microsol/set will eventually smooth out leaving a favorable appearance. If you want to apply more Microsol/set, I would do so well after the decal has dried.

That is it. Decal application takes time to get good at it. Keep going, you will get it. Also, the better the condition and younger age of the decal, the easier it wil be to apply.

As for white decals turning yellow, this happens over time. To bring back the white, simply put it in the sunlite somewhere in you house for several days.

I hope this helps, happy decalling.

Cheers, Rick

thanks rickerzipper!:grinyes: i now have lots more decal-confidence! really good walkthough, someone should put that in the FAQ's. thanks again!

oooh. good info...