Decals won't stick to surface

[tomfomes]

Hi all,
I have decided to finish my Academy 1/35 Merkava IV LIC set, which I started 5 years ago.

Now I'm at the decal stage and this is what happened: I have applied the decal with Micro Set and then let it dry for 5-10min. I noticed that it didn't adhere to the surface totally, but was hoping that after I apply Micro Sol, it will soften and adhere.

After I applied Micro Sol and it dried out, the decal didn't seem to get softer and doesn't adhere to surface at all.

What could be an issue? Old decals, old solutions? Any ideas?
Is there a way to save this one?

 

Thanks!

Tomas

Edited May 13, 2020 by tomfomes

[stevehnz]

Hi Tomas, have a read through my pinned topic at the top of this forum. If you have access to Klear/ Future or an equivalent, there are some, for decals which have come right away from the surface, you could reposition them on a puddle of dilute Klear & after rolling them down with a cotton bud, the Klear will set & stick them down, likewise for any that are lifting at the edges, flood a bit of dilute Klear under the edges, roll down & wait for it to do its work. After a read through, you should have a better idea of what I'm on about.

Steve.

[Parabat]

Hi, I've had good results with Microset/sol. A few questions - have you used a gloss varnish before applying the decals? And did you use warm water for the decals?

Some helpful step by step tips are here - https://www.themightybrush.com/article/how-to-apply-decals-with-microset-and-microsol/

[tomfomes]

19 minutes ago, stevehnz said:

Hi Tomas, have a read through my pinned topic at the top of this forum. If you have access to Klear/ Future or an equivalent, there are some, for decals which have come right away from the surface, you could reposition them on a puddle of dilute Klear & after rolling them down with a cotton bud, the Klear will set & stick them down, likewise for any that are lifting at the edges, flood a bit of dilute Klear under the edges, roll down & wait for it to do its work. After a read through, you should have a better idea of what I'm on about.

Steve.

I actually have some Future. I will give it a shot, thanks!

 

17 minutes ago, Parabat said:

Hi, I've had good results with Microset/sol. A few questions - have you used a gloss varnish before applying the decals? And did you use warm water for the decals?

Some helpful step by step tips are here - https://www.themightybrush.com/article/how-to-apply-decals-with-microset-and-microsol/

I have sprayed the surface with Tamiya Acrylic Clear (Gloss) few days before applying decals. Then I used only Micro Set (no water) to apply the decals.

[Parabat]

Ah, that might be the problem then, you still need to use water to activate the decals, the Microset/sol just helps to further softern and help conform.

But using Future now will probably help things.

[tomfomes]

Thanks for the tip with the Future. It worked, I got to stuck the decals to the surface at least.

 

Tomas