hello all, it has been awhile since i posted anything, but wanted to say thanks to all who answered previous questions. now for my question/statement- i am working on my first attempt at detailing/modeling a specific locomotive from painting to decaling. the model is an athearn (early BB) SD40-2 that started life as an L&N loco. I stripped the roadname and cab numbers and repainted Conrail blue and attempted to use Microscale decals. I followed directions in the packaging but the decals disintigrated from the backing paper before i transferred the Conrail to the shell. Tried again with another decal with the same result. The decals seem to disintigrate in the water (warm, softened water). Should i soften the decal sheet with the microsol solution first? Or do i just have a really old set of decals that may just be shot? Iwas even contemplating using woodland scenic dry transfers, but the conrail logo would be impossible to duplicate, much less getting the name straight and spaced properly. Any info woulg be appreciated.
Sounds to me like either the decals are old and dried up or you left them in the water too long. But if you followed the instructions, then they’re probably shot.
I had some old ones that did that. I first sprayed them with a couple coats of clear coat. That seemed to do the trick.
I would tend to think the decals are old. This problem has been happening a quite a bit over the last few years. The solution to the problem is to get a bottle of Microscale decal saver. I purchased a “new” set of decals right from Microscale a couple of years ago and had the same problem right from the start. The day they showed up I tried to use them and had them fall apart. I put the decal saver on them and was able save them. I have heard that with the advent of more RTR and people doing less custom painting things have changed at microscale. They no longer do short runs but, instead run off large batches and sit on them for a while. I have also heard contrary to the above statement that the won’t run a set untill the demand gets high enough (orders) to warent a printing. This could be why they are out of so many sets.
Dan
From Walthers.com:
460-117 Microscale Liquid Decal Film - 1oz 30ml $2.50
Buy this and either brush or spray it on your decal sheet that is having problems. It will preserve your decals and keep them from shattering. I have used this myself, and it works perfectly.
BTW, it may not be the age of the decal that causes it to shatter, it could be abrupt temperature changes as well (for example, going from a freezing mailbox into your 68 degree house).
Also, I would not use clear coat unless you are putting the decals over a very flat surface. The clear coat tends to resist attempts to get the decal to follow irregular surfaces.
The problem at Microscale is that they only have one actual model railroader on the payroll these days (the last few they had now work for Athearn). As for the size of production runs, I don’t believe that’s changed all that much (I’m sure that it’s smaller per sheet due to the high RTR market these days). It’s just that as the years go by, they have more and more decals to make meaning that the gaps in between get longer and longer for each specific set (especially if it’s not the most popular). They do, however, listen to customers. If people clamor for a specific set, it moves higher on the “to do” list.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
Thanks for that tip. The ones I clear coated DID just go on a flat surface. Haven’t tried it on any kind of texture.
I would contact Microscale and ask them to replace the decal set. I had a set from them a few years ago and the finish coat wasn’t on the decals so when I put them in the water the lettering just disappeared.
I have some Microscale Santa Fe decals I want to use for my E6A diesel, but they may be as much as 16 years old now. Will they need to have a clear coat on them, or do you think they’ll work fine without it? My LHS still has about 4 sets of them in their basement, so I know I can get extras incase something goes wrong, but I kind of want to avoid having to do that.
thank you again to all who replied about the decals. It has been a very long time since i have used any decal sets-i used to build plastic models when i was much younger, and could not remember having this problem, not to say that never happened. I will get a bottle of that softener from Walthers and let you know how it goes.