I purchased several sets of decals from Microscale last spring and stored them properly in their envelopes, inside a plastic ziplock bag to avoid issues with humidity. Recently, using one of the sheets, I noticed horizontal “fractures” in the decal, as well as very small bits of color flaking off. I use distiller wat to soak them, stay with them until ready to apply, but have had some substantial difficulty with this problem. Before you say it, yes I might have called Microscale, but the purchase was made 7 months ago, bought them on a holiday gift card, so I no long have any paperwork- not that I thought I would need to be a pack rat about those things on something like this. Is it the age of the decal sheet, the print quality, or what??? It makes me gun shy about buying commercial decals, as I have had very good luck with my own decals made with my inkjet printer and Bel decal paper. Any thoughts??? Cedarwoodron
Decals won’t go bad in a year. The issue is either you got some really old stock or perhaps a defectively printed sheet. My guess is that Microscale would be willing to set things right.
In fact, I wouldn’t consider decals “old” unless it’s been more than a decade since production. I just was struggling with some old decals – in the 20 year old range. My last pack of Walthers DRGW NG passenger car decals just didn’t work out, but the Champs did OK. I’ve had other Walthers decals that were even older work. It’s like people when they get old, some age more gracefully than others.
But seven months old means they’re not even teenagers in decal-years.
Wasn’t MR having similar problems with their MR&T decals because of their sheer age?
Wouldn’t surprise me if it is because of exposoure to UV radiation. Weird stuff happens when one exposes somthing to UV rays for a LONG time.
Spray the sheet with floquil gloss to stick them back together before using.
Back in the old days decals did not have the thin film that they do now, and those decals would last for decades without problems even if poorly stored. Of course they also did not look all that great, as Model Railroader “Trackside Photos” from the 1950s to 1960s often show. But even the better and thinner film decals of today should hold up better than what you describe. On the chance that it might have been a bad batch from Microscale I think it is at least worth exploring whether they can rectify the situation.
Frankly, the way many local hobby shops display and sell decals almost invites problems. But that is a bit OT to this thread
Dave Nelson
That would be based on the experience of the modeler…You see back then the average joe modeler could see his photos in Trackside…I even recall seeing early photos of V&O locomotives equipped with X2F couplers.
After its all said and done I still prefer Champ decals.To bad they’re history.
One thing I did notice about these decals- and another seI had also purchased in the same order, was tat they were very thin- certainly far thinner than the Bel paper decals I print and make on my printer (which I then cover with Krylon Gloss Clear)- those have a definite thicker texture, as I seal them with four passes of the Krylon spray,then let dry a day or two before using. These problem Microscale decals were not stored in a way that room or sun lighting would affect them, so perhaps the very thin clear coating (or the material itself) was the issue. Cedarwoodron
Many years ago Microscale and Herald King both had problems with the film being very thin and the decal would break up even if brand new. I have saved these decals by applying Microscale’s decal film to them. I have successfuly applied 35 year old decals that I have that survived my moving from Ohio, to Colorado, to New Jersey, to Alaska and now back to Ohio with all their different climates.
Rick J[2c]
I have older( over 10 years) Microscale Decals and have used them without issue. I keep them in an air-conditioned dark environment–ie closet.
Richard
Did you apply blank decal film over the top of the old decals, then cut them from the carrier sheet? Or???
The decal film is like paint, I apply it with a brush, let it dry, and then cut the decal I want to use from the carrier sheet.
I also use the film on the decals I get from those that use Alps Printers as the film is thin and tends to fold over on itself. Those include Oddballs, Highball Graphics among others.
Rick J
Rick,
I too have saved many a decal sheet using this item, since it came out. Unless you’re going to buy a new set of decals with every new model, you need this stuff in your inventory. I buy decals in bunches, and will do a close inspection of them prior to use. For example, when I heard that Champ was closing, my wife allowed me to buy over $600 dollars of their decals. They were all SRR. Given what decals I’ve obtained over the years, that purchase put me over 2500 sets of decals of all types. I still have some sets that I bought when I was 10 years old. I’m 58 now. With that number, I believe the film is completely necessary to prevent decal loss, due to age, too thin a film, or other problems with the decals.
If I even suspect that a “new” decal is damaged, I’ll use the decal film to make sure it stays together.
Would spraying the decal sheets I with the same Krylon Gloss Clear that I use for my own self-made decals have a similar (and less expensive per can)effect??? Cedarwoodron
I used to use a gloss to cover any sheet like this before the film “paint” was available. Sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn’t.
Another problem I noticed was that at times the gloss would get absorbed into the paper backing of the decal, esp if it was not one full sheet of film. Then the decal needed to be soaked a lot longer in water and sometimes the decal wouldn’t separate at all from the backing sheet, and the decal would have to be trashed.
My question would then become what’s more important, losing some of the decals trying to save them with something that may or may not work, or would you prefer to save the entire decal for a few cents more?
If you’re worried about cost, you can do what I’ve done when only needing one or two decals off a sheet. I would cut out what decal I needed, and then paint the film just on these decals. You’ll save a lot of the film “paint” doing it this way, as opposed to painting the entire sheet.
I’ve not used the brush-on Microscale decal film mentioned, but when using dry transfer lettering on clear decal film (usually to create car-end lettering) I cut out the lettering from the decal paper leaving a border of blank area around the lettering. After spraying it with a semi-gloss mixture of Dull- and Glosscote, the border is removed using a sharp blade. This reveals the uncoated edges of the new decal, facilitating absorption of the water and easy release from the backing paper. I’ve had good success using this method to rescue older decals, too, but recently used some from the mid-'70s without thus treating them. Only a couple broke up during application, but they were easily manipulated into position and re-assembled. [swg]
Wayne
Krylon’s Clear Gloss works OK for me on decals that can be applied flat, but it doesn’t seem to snuggle down well over rivets and other irregularities. Microscale’s paint-on ‘liquid decal film’ seems better for the tough applications. Instead of brushing, you can pour it over the decal sheet, tilt it back and forth to cover, and let the excess run back into the bottle. Somewhere on this site there’s a video of Mr. C. Grivno doing that very thing.