Wet decals recoverable?

[CeeFIT X]

I recently bought a revell formula 1 kit on ebay,but when the kit arrived it was wet. Kit parts are OK obviously but the decal sheet and instructions were very wet.

I let the decals air dry and theyve gone wrinkly and started to peel away from the sheet in some spots.

Because its a formula 1 car a lot of the decals are logos and merchandising and impossible to do by hand.

Is there any way to make the decals usable? Coating with Klear or varnish before using perhaps? I dont have access to a printer so cant scan and reprint as Ive read some modellers can.

Seller has been understanding and has offered a refund but if theres any way to use the decals Id rather keep the kit. He has given me permission to try one of the unused decals but I thought Id throw the question out to the experts on this forum.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Kenny

[Pat C]

I have used a decal sheet that got wet, although the issue I had was not that they were coming away from the sheet but that the glue had dried and it was very difficult (but not impossible) to coax them from the backing sheet. I would make sure you have plenty of Microset and Microsol to help the decals to stick to and bed down on the model and maybe test a few of the smaller ones first

[CeeFIT X]

Thanks for the advice.Ill try persevering with the decals and fingers crossed.

Ill clear the workbench and put the kit to the top of the to do pile...

Any hints on getting them off the sheet if they are reluctant to shift? Time and patience or is there a secret? Would Klear help or is that more used as an adhesive?

[viscount806x]

If you can get a highish resolution scan of the sheet, if the recovery then fails then you could always print up a new sheet yourself.

[Pat C]

Thanks for the advice.Ill try persevering with the decals and fingers crossed.

Ill clear the workbench and put the kit to the top of the to do pile...

Any hints on getting them off the sheet if they are reluctant to shift? Time and patience or is there a secret? Would Klear help or is that more used as an adhesive?

Give them a good soaking in water and when they are thoroughly wet through try bending the backing paper away from the decal so that the film comes away and you can then maybe get a small paint brush under and work it free. Klear would be more useful to bed the decal down on the model rather than free it from the sheet although I've never used it as such and personally would try the Microscale Set and Sol (which are perfectly designed to be knocked over be warned !!)

Pat

[CeeFIT X]

Thanks again for the advice. Had scanned the forums before posting and had read that Klear could be used to float decals on to help them settle and reduce silvering so thought Id raise the question. Ill stick with the micro set and sol. Ive been using them for a while on aircraft decals so am familiar with them. Sol bottle is 4/5 full,set bottle is only 1/3 due to the carefullly designed bottles... The cynical amongst us might think it a marketing ploy coz otherwise a bottle would last a lifetime....Im not that type of person though.Honest.

Gonna start the kit in a wee while and Ill let you know how I get on. Dunno if Im brave enough to post photos but Ill post something here whichever way it goes.

Dont have a printer or scanner so unable to copy and print if it all goes boobs up. The decals have dried with a ripple so dont know how good a copy Id get anyway.

Thanks again for the advice.Fingers crossed and Ill keep you posted.

[Vicarage Vee]

If the decals are really badly soaked and lifted they may have lost a lot of adhesive (or might not... so go the Micro Set/Sol route as suggested). If so, soaking them and then putting them onto a pool of Klear should sort them. If they can be moistened, remain in one piece and are flexible you should be okay.

For Micro Set and Sol, take one piece of 3" x 1.5" timber (or other suitable scrap kicking about), drill out two 30mm diameter holes, bingo, a holder that is a lot harder to knock over made in 5 minutes.

[speedbird]

I've got decals from sheets that have already been used and dried out by soaking Iin boiling water. Holding them in the water with tweezers and taking them out now and then to see if the have unstuck.. Works most of the time.

Edited February 28, 2016 by speedbird

[brooker]

I used to soak stamps off letters when I collected stamps, many years ago.

The method then was to soak the torn paper holding the stamps, in water overnight - in the morning the stamps would be floating free and unwrinkled.

I used to fish them out and lay them between two dry towels to dry off and recover their rigidity - glueing transfers back onto a model, might involve putting the glue on the model where you want to transfer to go and then applying the transfer afterwards, but I'm not a plastics modeller (quite yet) so let the experts decide.

Richard