Question about decals...

[Jayson62]

I have a question regarding Micro Sol and Micro Set. Are these products a necessity? can i get away with doing decals using the old water method? do they help in the longevity of the decals? and are there any places online that I can order it?

Thanks.

[Pippin1974]

As I know, Microsol and Microset isn't "necessary", but it helps you to make the decals like paint in the kit...I'm new in using it and i'm very happy with it...I buyed it in ebay..hope it helps you

[cyberkid]

This is kinda like the 'do I need to prime?' or 'do I need to clear?' questions.
The answers to all is 'no', you don't NEED to. But, if you do prime/clear/use micro-set sol, you can get much better results than without.
I've haven't used the micro set/sol stuff yet, but I use Gunze's equilent. Mr Mark Setter and Mr Mark Softer.
These products make the decal look painted on, there isn't that much of a 'gap' between the decal and the paint. Most important is that these products help the decal stick to abnormal shapes. Search a little on how to use these products.
As for the longevity, these solvents wouldn't make much difference.. clearing the decals after they have been applied would. Gunze has recently release an 'anti-UV' clear. That might help even more. NOTE: I haven't used this product yet so I do NOT know how it reacts to decals.

As for where these can be purchased, www.hiroboy.com carries them. There are plenty others which I don't know of.

HTH,
Steve

[SeaBee]

As said above, it is not a must-have in that you can't build the kit without it.

But to be honest, I can't remember when last I applied ANY decal without it, esp the stronger one in the red-written bottle (sol, I think).

[Jayson62]

Thanks for the replies guys. I figured it helped to get the decals to sit better but i didnt know if it helped them last longer thanks.