Removing Decal Film

[Alex_110]

So I've been having my first go with Alclad on a little Airfix 1/72 Sabre I've had lying around for years. All's gone well, the polished aluminium looks great - but inevitably there's a problem:

The Airfix decals are particularly matt, and it's very obvious where the film is once the decals is down on the Alclad. I was able to trim the larger decals such as the USAF lettering, but this technique isn't really feasible with some of the other decals still to go on - such as the checkerboard tail or the "Little Rita" lettering. I've tried applying a little gloss over a smaller one, but that doesn't really help blend it in to the Alclad either. If you guys have got any tips for alleviating this problem they'd be much appreciated - pic below of the scheme in question.

[HansReggelsen]

Model Master makes a 'Sealer for Metalizer' (#1469) especially for metalpaints - have you tried that? 

I don't know how it will work with Alclad, as I don't use Alclad myself.

 

Cheers 

Hans J

[Alex_110]

2 hours ago, HansReggelsen said:

Model Master makes a 'Sealer for Metalizer' (#1469) especially for metalpaints - have you tried that? 

I don't know how it will work with Alclad, as I don't use Alclad myself.

 

Cheers 

Hans J

 

Unfortunatly I haven't got any on me. Thanks for the suggestion though, I'll keep it in mind for the next time I attempt a NMF.

After some more experiments, sandwiching the decal between layers of Super Clear III seems to work responsibly well without affecting the Alclad's sheen too much, so I might just do that to the whole model. It was only meant to be a weekend build after all.

[johnd]

There is a video (Flory, I think), where carrier film is removed with a cotton bud dipped in white spirit. Unfortunately, I can't find it at the moment. The results looked really good, though the technique is obviously not risk-free.

 

John.

[johnd]

Found it!

 

John.