working with yellowed decals

[Spitfires Forever]

Hello Gents,

I bought a Matchbox A1-E Skyraider some years ago and am finally ready to build it. I have a nice replacement prop for the eniemic version in the kit, and of course a replacement canopy. I intend to build it in the naval version used from the late 1950's to late 1960's. Even though the kit has been stored in a dry environment the decals, or at least the paper has yellowed significantly. I was wondering if they are still salvageable ? Decals for this particular aircraft/model are extremely hard to find. I can use generic letters and modex I suppose to re create the originals but that would be a last resort. any ideas?

Cheers

[rmcclure]

I read a tip - I think it was posted here - that if you tape them to a window (upside facing out) the sunlight will bleach them back to the right colours. Haven't tried it myself but I've read of lots of people who have.

[Jennings Heilig]

The yellowing is caused by oxidation (redox). Sometimes you can bleach it out with UV light (although in the UK, that might be kind of a dicey proposition for most of the year). The problem is, the yellowing will return. The chemical reaction that caused it in the first place will continue to take place. The organic molecules in the decal film will oxidize, just like if you scrub a steel pan shiny, then leave it out, it will rust again. As long as oxygen is present, the yellowing will return. Even "sealing" a decal on a model doesn't prevent the diffusion of oxygen into the decal.

[AndyC]

I built mine in the KUTA GB earlier this year here and the decals were un-useable - generic is the only way to go unless you can source some very rare Aeromaster sets (even then I think they are USAF and not USN).

[garryrussell]

Maybe scan them into a computer and output them to decal film after the yellow is removed.

[Mike Esposito]

I had an old Tamiya Spitfire kit from the early '90s. All you have to do is put the decals in your window and let the sun hit them for about 1 hour or so. The yellow disapears.

Edited May 28, 2012 by Mike Esposito

[depressed lemur]

I hit the same problem with the F-15 I'm currently building. Put the decals in the sun for a week and the yellowing has gone. The only downside is that they now seem to come off the backing paper almost as soon as they hit the water so I end up chasing them round the surface like some kind of mad insect. They also seem a little on the brittle side, but I have found that applying some Klear to the model just before applying the decal (to the still wet Klear) is doing wonders. No sign of film or silvering, so I can only hope that the final coat of varnish seals the deal.

Good luck.

[Spitfires Forever]

Thanks for the replys gentlemen, always a pleasure to be on this site. I once put the decals on a kit 20 years after building it, and despite the yellow they still worked, being old Monogram decals and such. I had a chance to pick some of the decals for the Skyraider kit itself on EBay, but got so busy that I forgot about them and was outbid. I'm sure none of you guys ever had that happen right? I will give the UV thing a whack. I live here in sunny So Cal so sunlight shouldn't be too much of a problem, but this time of year we get what we call the "June Gloom" marine layer that is a bit reminiscent of Jolly Old England. I shall press on.

Cheers

[Don McIntyre]

Didn't one of the British Model Magazines have a downloadable file with A-1E decals?

[Guest squezzer]

Put it in a transparent plastic bag to protect it from humidity (just in case) and tape it on the inner face of a window, the sun will do the job for you within a day or 2!!!

[Paul Wagner]

I can vouch for this method - it works. How long they take to fade varies quite a lot though, so keep an eye on them.

As far as crumbling issues go, you need to test something from the sheet to see if it's holding together. Sometimes they're fine, sometimes they disintegrate, in which case you also need to spray or paint the sheet with decal film.

Paul

[robvulcan]

This interests me as I wonder if it is possible to go beyond restoration and actually fade the decals to give a worn appearance.

I am very surprised thingsike faded and badly faded roundels etc are not offered

As they would be very useful for creating a well used look on aircraft or even modeling out of service aircraft.

I have put some in the window to see.

But it would be cool I know of anyone had done this before and see the results

[Black Knight]

The colours used in the decals are fast so they take years to fade. Some spray very diluted white over the decals to make them look faded. Alternative is to print ones own.

[robvulcan]

The colours used in the decals are fast so they take years to fade. Some spray very diluted white over the decals to make them look faded. Alternative is to print ones own.

I'm starting to think I may have to start doing my own decals must look into that.

It would be nice to model some shabby hulks

[Jennings Heilig]

I am very surprised thingsike faded and badly faded roundels etc are not offered

There is absolutely no way to do that so it will please more than one person at a time. It's been done in the past and it was a colossal flop. My interpretation of faded and yours will be very different.

[robvulcan]

True I guess and each airframe fades differently, which is possibly were the attraction is.

Thinking about it miracle masks would be the way to go