Decaling dashboards!!!!!!!!!help

[darrenj]

I have decided to decal the dashboard of my 1999 Ford Focus WRC by Hasegawa using carbon fibre decals. The prob is the amount of fine objects on the dash (all the switches and knobs that will late be painted) I use alot of decal solvent, left it over night and was not that satisfied witht the outcome ... it still had minute bubbles rising around the tiny switches etc.. any advice here
I used micro set and micro sol on the decal......
Thankyou

lookbelow

[egon_dude]

sometimes theres a limit to how much a decal will deform over small details, microsol seems to be more effective at making a decal sit over compound curves, like front wings of a body, than little details. One option would be to shave all the details off the dashboard, decal it, then rebuild all the switches and stuff using fine wire and otyher stuff. But thats really hard and would take ages. You could try using 2 different colour sprays cans to give a mottled effect over the areas with lots of switches, then clear coat it to make it shiny like carbon fibre, then decal the plainer areas of the dash with carbon decal. You probably wouldnt notice it that much once you finished the kit anyway.

[RallyRaider]

Try using a very sharp hobby knife to cut around the switches then use a damp cotton tip to push the decal down over the switch or whatever. For bubbles, make a cut in the direction of the CF pattern through the bubbled decal and push the air out, with the cotton tip or a brush. That's what I do.

Microset (blue bottle) isn't of much use in making decals comform to really complex shapes, stick with Microsol (red bottle) and some heat.

[darrenj]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

Try using a very sharp hobby knife to cut around the switches then use a damp cotton tip to push the decal down over the switch or whatever. For bubbles, make a cut in the direction of the CF pattern through the bubbled decal and push the air out, with the cotton tip or a brush. That's what I do.

Microset (blue bottle) isn't of much use in making decals comform to really complex shapes, stick with Microsol (red bottle) and some heat.

That sounds more feasable!!
Will do thankyou
Oh by the way which Tamiya kits have that "sprayon" carbon fibre wire mesh thingy??? Or can one simply by the mesh??

[Mainomega]

Originally Posted by darrenj

That sounds more feasable!!
Will do thankyou
Oh by the way which Tamiya kits have that "sprayon" carbon fibre wire mesh thingy??? Or can one simply by the mesh??

I dont think they include the mesh just for carbon fiber. But there are a lot of kits that come with that mesh, the size differs though.

Try your local hobby store

[RallyRaider]

Originally Posted by darrenj

That sounds more feasable!!
Will do thankyou
Oh by the way which Tamiya kits have that "sprayon" carbon fibre wire mesh thingy??? Or can one simply by the mesh??

Most of the rally kits have it as grills for the intakes. Not originally intended for spraying the CF pattern through. I havent't tried that technique myself.

[darrenj]

this is what I am talking about

http://www.tamiya.com/english/howto/car1/tip1.htm