rescuing old decals

[deemery]

I found some decals (Walthers white letters and numbers) that I've had for 35 years (I can tell by the shop label, who knows when they were actually printed...)

The first time I tried to apply some, they fell apart.  So since I had 4 sheets, I tried a little experiment.  On 2 sheets, I applied Micro Scale's Liquid Decal Film (brushed 2 coats).  On the other 2 sheets, I applied Krylon UV Resistant Clear Matte Finish(spray - 40% off coupon at Michaels :-) ).  I applied one coat, but went over the decal surface 4 times.  I let the decals dry thoroughly for 2 days.

A couple observations:
1.  The decal release time was longer for both products than for many/most decals.  This was a bit frustrating, since I didn't want the decal to spend too much time before it released from the backing paper.
2.  The Micro Scale Decal Film was sturdier than the Krylon spray.  But the decals are still fragile
3.  Both worked, in that I was able to apply decals with either finish.

So if you have some really old decals that you want to apply, I'd suggest the Micro Scale product.  But if you're impatient, the Krylon spray worked OK, too.

dave

[S&S RR]

Interesting tip Dave.  I have some old decals that will need your process.


Thanks for sharing.

[sdrees]

Dave,

I have had the same problem with decals from an old Ambroid kit.  If I had known what I know now this is what I should have done.  After I tried to apply one decal, it cracked and fell apart. I only had one set.  Then I copied the remaining decals onto Testors decal paper with colored ink jet printer.  Then it was necessary to spray the decal with testors lustrous clear spray.  I should have 2 coats on and wait like you say.  I got impatient and didn't do this.  So now I have to do it all over again.  But any way I know what to do now.

Thanks

[bparrish]

Gents here is a reason to save the last of the Dull Cote from Testor's that you might have

An application of Dull Cote will hold most any old decals together.

I had not thought of Krylon

Thanx
Bob

[deemery]

Eric Hansmann suggested using Future.  I thought about that, and should have included that in my experiment. 


dave

[postalkarl]

Hi Dave:

Have you ever had decals that have yellowed and if so is there a fix for that? Just curious.

Karl

[deemery]

Hi Dave:

Have you ever had decals that have yellowed and if so is there a fix for that? Just curious.

Karl

Short answer, 'no experience'. 


Longer answer:  I suspect it depends on what actually 'yellowed' - the white lettering itself, the decal film, or the backing.  If it's the decal film, probably no real fix for that.  If it's the lettering, you might not be able to correct the color shift, but you can weather around it :-)


dave

[postalkarl]

Hi Dave:

Thanks for the info. Appreciate your help.

Karl

[bparrish]

Karl...

One of my tricks for hiding decal film from the judges is to match the gloss (shine) of the wall surface to the decal film: flat, matte, semi, high gloss.

Then once down I re- flatten the whole deal to the shine or lack thereof to get what I want.  This goes along with all of the settling stuff that must also happen.

If the film is yellowed a bit, push the wall color a bit to that yellowed color.  That otta hide it.  If the film is too yellow you may have to abandon the decals.

One last trick....... Say you have  a bit of a yellow cast to something ....... you can hide it by going to the opposite side of the color wheel.  So yellow could be hidden by a light dusting with an air brush of some blue or violet mist.  I have dumped color into barrier cote or flat base lacquer from Tru Color.  It doesn't take much.

Hope this helps
Bob

[deemery]

I got this suggestion in a message:
Not sure what happened there - but your topic on the other forum regarding removing yellowing from an older sheet of decals - try taping the sheet to the inside of a window which receives direct sunlight. Back in my old kit collecting days this worked wonders on the old AMT/Revell/Mongram decals.Doug
That 'bleaching' would probably continue to dry out the decal, so if this works, you should definitely expect to apply some sort of decal rescue coating afterwards.

dave