How to rescue old decal?

Hi all, Newbie here and my first question. I really enjoyed reading this forum. I've started my first model after a 20 year break :). Thanks for the wealth of knowledge you people shared.

I bought 5 kits from taiwan by mail order recently. Some of the kits are very old (The Peugeot 205 is over 20 years old). And the packaging box, instruction are all yellowing from age.

Unfortunately, 4 decals out of the 5 kits are also yellowing, the white parts look like a cream yellow/ brown colour, and a few of them have mold (fugus?) spots on them that looks like patches of brown :|. It looks especailly bad on a 405 kit.

Can anyone suggest how I may rescue these old decals so they will return to white, and get rid of the fungus spots?

Also, should I seal the whole decal sheet with decal films due to their old age and brittleness?

Thanks :).

Sunlight expoisition work well for yellowed decals: just check every couple hours, and welcome here!

Thanks :) 405 decal is having a sun bath as I type as a test :). Would it get rid of the fungus spots too?

How does everyone store their kits? I think Taiwan being a hot a humid place for several months a year, may have contributed to the yellowing and molding.

Well chlorine could do much for moulds, it could letterally eat those but I'm not sure is safe for the decals too: try on a corner with thinned (in water) chlorine and add more concentration step by step.

To be 100% honest I haven't tried on decals but I'm more than sure it work well on other media :)

Which Taiwan shops did you bought it? Can you give me the website?

Thanks a lot.:grinyes:

Hi Stouring, it's bought from a personal trader, no website, if you are interested, I can pvt msg you his email?

Hi Katsura, welcome to AF!

If the 205 you got is the Tamiya kit, it was recently put back into limited production. So, if the decals for it are too fouled up, you should be able to get a replacement from Tamiya. For sun fading decals, it's a good idea to stick them in a ziplock bag, and tape the bag to your sun facing window. That way if any condensation happens to collect on the glass, it won't ruin the decals. Don't know what to tell you about moldy decals. I think from now on, I will make a point of not storing my kits in Taiwan. :grinno:

Thank you for the tips. I really enjoyed reading your WIP on the Mythos as I have ordered one of these as well.

I'm also thinking of scanning the affected decals in, and reprint them using decal paper + film on my inkject. But it could work out to be more expensive than re-order from tamiya :).

I've decided to order a 2nd Pug 205 from a UK shop, and make the one I have now intot he Camel yellow version.

So many models, so little time :D.

Hi Stouring, it's bought from a personal trader, no website, if you are interested, I can pvt msg you his email?

Yes thanks:grinyes:

Which Taiwan shops did you bought it? Can you give me the website?

Thanks a lot.:grinyes:

If you're a local in Taiwan... the best modeling store in the north is MPK(萬品館),
the address is No.311, Sec.5, Yeng Ping North Road, Taipei.
(台北市，延平北路五段311號 1、2樓)電話: (02)2816-1466
They have a website www.mpk.com.tw and you can order online if you live
too far away or don't have time to go to their shop.
Cheapest prices and largest selection I've seen so far.

HTH,
Steve

PS:
I think from now on, I will make a point of not storing my kits in Taiwan. :grinno:
That's why I don't do too many 'race' kits, too many decals
which have a large chance of being weathered...

If you're a local in Taiwan... the best modeling store in the north is MPK(萬品館),
the address is No.311, Sec.5, Yeng Ping North Road, Taipei.
(台北市，延平北路五段311號 1、2樓)電話: (02)2816-1466
They have a website www.mpk.com.tw (http://www.mpk.com.tw) and you can order online if you live
too far away or don't have time to go to their shop.
Cheapest prices and largest selection I've seen so far.

HTH,
Steve

PS:

That's why I don't do too many 'race' kits, too many decals
which have a large chance of being weathered...

Thanks for the info dude, so is decal weathering a big problem for older kits in Taiwan? I'm also a bit scared now ordering old ones from HongKong...

Thanks for the info dude, so is decal weathering a big problem for older kits in Taiwan? I'm also a bit scared now ordering old ones from HongKong...

HK has a much larger modeling community than here in TW, so it won't be that big a problem.
If you're looking to buy OOP kits that are say 10 or more years old, I would suggest that
you ask the seller to send you a photo of the kit and decals.
Basically, the tropical weather here sucks :disappoin . I just bought some CM CF decals
from the shop that I mentioned above, and they had/have a 'moldy'
look on them straight out of the package. Strange thing is that I couldn't
see it through the window in the packaging.:screwy: Looking into dehidrators right now :frown:

Edit:
Thanks :) I think Taiwan being a hot a humid place for several months a year, may have contributed to the yellowing and molding.
Taiwan is humid all 12 !@#$ing months a year. And hot around 8 months of the year... so... perfect natural habitat for fungi. Like I've said before, Taiwan's humidity rarely drops below 60%...

That really sucks to have decals ruined...

I have been looking at either reprint the decals myself using decal paper (after editing out the mold spots in photoshop) and been playing with chemicals yesterday.

I used a cotton bud to dab some of the cleaners on the decal surface and backing paper.

Common washing up liquid - no effect
Fairy power liquid (oven cleaner) - no effect
Vanish Oxygel spray (clothing strain remover) - no effect
Good old toilet bleach - works to a degree, it got rid of most of the brown yellowing spots, apart from the really old 405 kit I got, it needs to be applied to both the decal surface film and backing paper to be effective, in most cases it bleached the blue backing apper to white colour :). For really old decals that needs to be resurfaced with decal films, I don't know how effective it'd be. The bleach didn't affect the colours printed on decals (on the ones I tested so far).

Also because the backing paper has been wetted, it's probably a good idea to use up the repaied decals asap, and use a setting solution to ensure a proper fitting.

The experiment continues....