Old Decals

[Jaydee37]

The Sea Witch model by Lindberg that I am working on was purchased many years ago at a yard sale. I am only now beginning to work on it and fortunately all the parts are there. When I attempted to remove the decals from the backing paper by soaking them in water, there was no loosening from the paper. I suspect they have been around too long. If that is the case, does anyone have a suggestion? Can something be added to the water to encourage separation or is it a lost cause?

[Hyposphagma]

Revell and other manufacturers provide decal softener. http://www.revell.de/produkte/farben-kleber-co/sonstiges-zubehoer/id/39693.html

 

Unfortunately i have no English or American source for that but i am sure u will find. If you manage to separate your decals from the paper i can advice to stick them on parts that you have sprayed with glossy clear varnish before and after to avoid the glitter effects of the edges of the decals. Hope i could help

[realworkingsailor]

Old decals are pretty much a lost cause. There are products out there for restoring old waterslide decals, but I've never heard of anyone having much success.

 

The problem with old decals, is not only does the adhesive expire, but the film becomes very brittle, so even if you managed to get them to slide off, they'd just fall to pieces.

 

You can try making your own replacements with a dry transfer lettering set, and with some new blank decal paper. Woodland Scenics makes several letting sets in different fonts and sizes, and you can get blank paper from Micro Mark. Or if you really have patience, you can get decal lettering sheets from Micro Scale.

 

Andy

[popeye the sailor]

you could use dry transfers........I haven't used them too much,  so I don't have much experience with them.  I have been using a decal maker put out by  'Sure Thing'  sold by Testor's.  they have what is called the  'decal it decal maker'  program standard edition.  they have an updated program for it......I need to get it still,  but it has worked well for me.   

 

perhaps the company that makes the kit has the decals:

 

http://www.testors.com/search?q=decal+maker&x=37&y=11

 

http://www.pulsarprofx.com/decalpro/

 

http://www.lindberg-models.com/models-in_the_water3.html

[Jaydee37]

I just read an article on oldmodelkits.com that explains how to recreate the original decals. I may give that a try as I hate to give up. The name on the ship will be a very nice touch.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Jaydee37

[popeye the sailor]

I browse that site.........it's like window shopping through nostalgia.   I read you PM.......sorry I haven't written back.  I hope you've found a solution. 

[bluenose2]

Hello Les calling. With old decals such as yours it's a lost cause. I have had this happen to me as well as old decals shattering when soaked. Now I scan all decal sheets into the computer and save them. I can print them out using clear or white decal paper I get from my hobby shop or online. Spray with a fixative and apply. Hope this helps.

[Jaydee37]

Thank you for your responses. Scanning the decals didn't work out as well as I had hoped. The lettering is in a shiny gold color and my scanner just couldn't pick it up as well as I would have liked. Still searching

[Hyposphagma]

Hey Jaydee. I would suggest again that u give it a try with decal softener. Maybe you have some spare decals on your sheet that u can use for practise. Soak the decal with the softener and then try to transfer it on a shiny glossy surface onto your model with a cotton stick. Fix them with clear spray varnish or hair spray.

The oldest decals  i used were from the early 70ies and it worked. Good luck again. 

[Jaydee37]

A happy ending to my dilemma and a big thank you to Douglas Ridge in Customer Service at Round 2 Models. I tracked down Lindberg Models and found out they were purchased by Round 2. I wrote to them explaining my problem and shortly thereafter I received an envelope from JK Manufacturing Company in Kalkaska MI with replacement decals that worked perfectly. Prompt and positive customer relations are not always the result of an inquiry. It's nice to know that there are companies out there that still care about customers.

[meatloaf109]

Late reply, but Micro-scale has a decal restore that works well. I have used it many times. You simply apply it to the decal sheet and let dry, then cut close to the image and soak in warm, I say, warm water.

You can also make your own designs using a scrap of decal paper. Simply coat with decal restore, let dry, then paint your design, coat with decal restore, let dry and cut out and use as a regular decal.

Again, I have used this several times with excellent results.

[Jaydee37]

Thanks Meatloaf109. I'll file that for future reference and perhaps that info will be helpful to others!

[JPZ66]

One possible solution for the problem of old decals is applying a clear coat over them, preferably a lacquer clear. Several light coats is best. Water slide decals are typically made by printing a clear base onto paper that has been treated with a water soluable release. This first print is seen as the clear carrier film that we try to trim away from the edge. The portion we want is then printed in color lacquer inks. This is typically the method used on these old decals. They dry out over time and become brittle. By putting several layers of clear over the top, you can essentially create a new carrier film that will hold it all together. Because these decals are typically made by screen printing process, the layers of clear and color are thicker then by spraying, which is why you would need to build up some thickness when spraying over top. Most of the volume is solvent and evaporates and will not appear to be overly thick.

 

Another problem often encountered with old decals is yellowing. The clear base often yellows with time, but can often be bleached out by taping the decal sheet up in a window. Monitor them carefully so that only the clear gets bleached out and that the color portions do not fade.

 

Of course if you may just need to color copy the sheet, clean up the artwork on the computer and print them onto commercially available water slide decal paper with your printer. These will not have the same level of durability, and should still be sealed with a clear coat, but it the method has been used for saving a project many times !

 

Joe

[Jaydee37]

Thanks Joe!