HGW wood effect decals advice

[lesthegringo]

Hi all, I am trying to use the HGW wood effect sheet decals for an Eduard 1/48 Nieuport prop. I've used the decals before on a Meng MKV tank interior, and the the effect is pretty good, but in that case it was all flat surfaces.

 

Now I am trying to get it to wrap around the prop contours, and am struggling. There are a couple of factors at work here. Firstly, they are super thin, and as a result are very fragile. Secondly, the backing water based adhesive is really poor, to the point where the decal will release from the backing sheet if handled incorrectly. Thirdly, the decals do not seem to respond to any of the MicroSol or Gunze decal softening solutions. Lastly, maybe due to the decal film material, it seems to prevent the adhesive from drying and so once you try to put on a decal, you can't touch it for at least a day

 

I have tried transferring pieces of the decal onto scrap blank bits of Cartograf decal sheets in order to try and improve the adhesive, but without being able to get them to conform I am still struggling with them.

 

So has anyone out there got some advice or best practices for these sheets? As mentioned, when in place they are very effective, but I do need them to conform otherwise the effect is ruined.

 

Cheers

 

Les