Decaling techniques.

Hey people. Im 16 and have been building models on and off ever since i was 7. When i was 15 i became more serious about my model cars and have built quite a few racing cars. One of the toughest was the Tamiya Hks gtr gr.a which surprised me as it was alot easier then i thought. I got a perfect result using only a hairdryer. I wanted to discuss some techniques and areas to look out for. Firstly when aplying decals which have to fit around curved surfaces a hairdryer will do the job most of the time but you must constantly keep the decal wet or you may ruin the decal. That teqnique is pritty old and most of you know that but when applying large decals a hairdryer is not always something to rely on. when using a hairdryer on large decals I always get small bubles which appear all over the surface area of the decal due to over heating . Once this has occured fixing the problem is a pain in the....... The best thing to do is to remove most of the water after applying the decal to the surface with either a cloth or a hair dryer but not too much and then use microsol and stay well clear of the hairdryer as it will ruin the finish of large decals in most cases. The clear edges on alot of the racing decals is a biggie aswell. Remove these by lightly running along the edge of the decal with a xato nife. For some reason in my opinon this clear edging affects the way in wich a decal fits and adheres to a surface. Remove this clear edging and be amazed as i was when i got a near perfect finish on my hks gtr gr.a which i will eventually post. My 787b was a tough decaling job and i am still working away at the roof. The most significant finding was the front. The decals wont realy grab around the tight gaps and as i forced it with a paint brush the decal gave way at the corners creating gaps but effectively aheared around the tight gaps. There were some nasty orange gaps which dissapointed me as i thought the job was ruined but after applying tamiya park green i was amazed at the result and the front looked exactly like the example car on the front of the instruction booklet so i guessed the pro who built the example car had used the same technique as me as i cant see how he or she could do it with microsol. If this was helpful to you feel free to reply and if you wish to add to my knowlege feel free to do so. As far as heating cloth or buds to remove air bubles is concerned be very careful as it can remove the natural colouring of a decal by 50-60 percent particualy on carbon decals where it is a no no to use this technique which i tryed and managed to produce a grey patch amoungst the carbon weaved pattern.

Just use warm (but not too hot as it will dissolve too much glue and the decal wont stick) water and keep working the decal carefully around the compound curves using a warm, damp cotton bud. The decal will eventually stretch to the right shape you just have to be patient. Personally ive never had to use microsol, just take it one decal at a time and be gentle. Sometimes you might need to use a dab of pva glue applied with a cocktail stick to help the edges of decals adhere around sharp corners. This technique worked perfectly with my tamiya 911 gt1, which has a rediculously complicated decal job. Sometimes its also helpful to make small cuts in the decal with a scalpel to help them conform into tight interior corners, these dont usually show but they can easily be touched in with a fine paintbrush if they do.
I agree with you 100% about the transparent edging on decals, although its more of a problem of military models than cars as the gloss finish of cars usually hides it. On matt paint finishes the egdes can ruin the look of a model as the decal wont adhere as well to matt paint anyway due to the roughness so you can easily get "silvering" which looks horrible.

I use Microsol over hairdryer. I stoped to use hairdryer the day I was working on a decal and in less than 1 second, this decal desapear.. never found it again :D

all you need when applying decals is, patience and some micro-sol/set

i personally wouldnt use glue on decals, thats what micro-sol/set is for

also on flat finishes, you can seal the decal in with a coat of dullcoat clear, which protects the decal and also gives you the even flat finish your after