I am trying to model a cn 1950,s era gp9 but the decals break apart when applyed to the model. They are wathers decals any problems? rambo1…
Walthers Decals? They have not been made for years. I would expect to see possible breakup when they hit the water. There a a lot of much more current decals that are ‘fresh’ and correct for your GP9. Decals do not handle dry humidity/lots of handling over time.
Jim
rambo,
Check into some new quality decals from Microscale http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=CN
Just select the set that fits your prototype from the link.
One thing I do you might wanna try, if you haven’t already. When I put the microscale decals on a car I add a couple of drops of water off the paint brush on the car. Gives the decal some water to move around on the car/engine. It works real good compared to putting the decal on a dry car.
Actually I find that the Microset (amonia or ? in it), really has allowed me to have the best control and the least problems setting, moving and the least trapped air. Have never had a silvering problem, but I won’t decal on any surface that doesn’t have a gloss finish. This is whether air brushed on large areas of Future Floor finish for the small jobs.
Get a bottle of MicroScale Liquid Decal Film. Just paint it on the decal, let it dry (like a one minute proposition) and then apply the decals as normal. This stuff is fandamntastic with old or very thin fine small decals. I give it a rating of 10.5 on a zero to 10 scale.
Virginian is right!! I had 1/16in white stripe decals that as soon as I would pull them out of the water there was a slight crack in the stripe about every 1/16in, and when I tried to put it on a loco all the cracks pulled apart, then I tried the Liquied decal film and there was very litle cracks left but still some so I put a second coat on and now they work great. Just make sure you wash off the brush you used to aplie it with
The problem with old decals is that they dry out and the film shrinks. This causes them to pull apart with small cracks developing. This is why they fall apart when you apply them. The microscale liquid decal film is a must for any old decals. As for what constitutes an old decal…well, that is hard to say. I had an older Walthers set that was fine as it was never opened and had a “brand new” Microscale set fall into little pieces when I applied it the day after recieving it in the mail from Microscale.
Dan Pikulski
I may have to look into the Liquid Decal Film. I’ve had brand new Microscale decals straight out of the envelope disintegrate & break apart upon application. (even after clear coating.) True, it may have been a defective run or something (#87-316 ABOX-RGON) maybe that’s why those are being discontinued. But I would like to save what I have, & this may just be the thing. Thanks for the tip! [;)]
This is a problem that has been going on for as long as model rairoaders have been using decals. As noted by others the decal film shrinks and cracks with age and exposure to humidity, etc. The old walthers decals had a fairly thick film and held up well. I’ve used some very old ones (35+ years) that I know for a fact were stored under less than ideal conditions with no problems. I supsect that thinner film decals are more sensative and could, under the right conditons develop this problem quicker.
An old cure, which has been printed in MR many times is to overspray the decals with Dullcote before using. This will usually salvage cracked decals. Other, newer methods and products may work as well or better, but the Dullcote method is tried and true, and almost everybofy has a can sitting around. Anyway, give it a try and see what happens.
That said, the newer thinfilm decals will generally give a better job because there is less thickness to try to hide with the finish coat. However many a nice job has been done with the old Walthers decals over the years.
JBB
I’ve saved old decals by spraying them with Testors gloss coat.
Trust me. The MicroScale Liquid Decal Film is way way easier than any spray on Dullcote or Glosscote technique (which I also used to use). Zero fumes either. And the stuff is so thin even if you globbed it on with a Q-tip I don’t think it would show any surface imperfections when it dries.
I’ve used a decal finishing spray with good results. I’ve resurrected many a set of old Northeast N scale decals that way.
Lee
When I come across old decals like that I don’t even try to apply them, for experience has taught me what will happen. Instead I scan them and print them on new decal paper.