Klear As A Decal Setting Solution.

[Blue Monday]

I have been working on a model on and off for the last 18 months are so. Decalling is finished. My first set of decals silvered badly so I removed them. I obtained some micro set and sol, hoping this would be the solution (no pun intended) to my problems. It worked OK on some of the decals but not on the largest decals used. The subject is a helicopter brush-painted in Humbrol Olive Drab. The base for the decals is four coats of Klear, well cured. The decal giving the most trouble is a pair of "U.S. Army" decals from an old Italeri sheet from around 1996. I now plan to remove this silvered set of decals again and use a set of decals from an Italeri kit from 2009. This time I would like to try using wet Klear as a base for the freshly applied decal. I am guessing that as the Klear dries under the decal, it pulls it down onto the surface and eliminates any silvering. Could someone who sucessfully uses this technique give me a brief step-by-step account of how to make this technique work?

Will the decal slide around on the surface of the model on a base coat of wet Klear just like it would on water?

I presume the decal will have to be dabbed with tissue to eliminate all water before going onto the model, as the water would only dilute the Klear. I will practice on an old kit first before attempting decal session No.3 on my current build.

Any advice or guidance in the method of decal application would be greatly appreciated at this stage. I am reasonably happy with my model so far but the silvered decals are really annoying me. I have applied two coats of Humbrol Matt Coat to the decals and I thought it might kill off the silvering but it hasn't. Any tips as well as to how best to remove the decals? I guess patiently sanding with a fine sanding stick is the only way, now that the decals are sealed. Any assistance offered will be gratefully received. Thanks.

BM.

[gcn]

Klear / future / spartacus or whatever it's called will work as an excellent base for decals and I find helps to eliminate silvering very well.

you will still need an ice rink smooth surface to work with so if you have a grainy paint job thats the first thing that needs resolving.

soak decals in warm water, remove and remove excess water on a piece of kitchen towel. meanwhile apply klear as you would normally, wide flat brush, not too heavily laden.

I tend to press the decal down gently with a moist cotton bud while being carful not to smear the klear. I've had them wrinkle over lumps n bumps but patience is your friend.

The decals don't tend to move as easily on a kleared surface so getting placement right first time is important, I find they can be lifted easily enough and replaced with an xacto blade.

Now you have sealed your decals I would imagine sanding and repainting is your best option. Without the sealing good old masking tape applied and quickly lifted would have done the job.

Alternatively you could trim carefully all the clear part of the decal with a new blade so you just have the lettering and thereby removing the chance of silvering.

[Skii]

Personaly I'm not a fan of using Klear as a setting solution, I only use klear as a gloss surface for the decal to adhere to, once the gloss base is dry I apply the decal wet (from water) onto the surface, dab it with a cotton bud to tease out any excess water or air bubbles, and dab some tissue carefully to remove excess water but NOT to draw any of the thin film of water out from underneath it. I then gently brush a generous layer of microsol over the top of the decal and allow to set.

[Blue Monday]

GCN and Skii, thanks for the tips. I might experiment with the Klear as a setting solution. For some reason, the micro set and sol didn't work on these decals. Here's hoping third time's a charm!

BM.

[Alan P]

This technique really works. Apply a thin layer of Klear with a wide brush, apply the decal (dipped for a few seconds in water, then dried-off for about 5 mins on a kitchen towel) straight onto it, then brush a little more Klear over the top. Use the tip of your finger dipped in Klear to remove any bubbles, then leave it. Use the Klear sparingly.

 

In about 25 minutes it should have sucked right down on to the surface. By morning it should be set. This technique works very well on natural metal finishes and lighter colours, not as reliable on darker surfaces as the Klear "spot" over the decal may change the appearance of the paint and look like a brushed patch.

 

Trial and error, it is a superb way to deal with problem decals of the Revell variety. Used this technique on "The Dragon" (very old Scale-Mate decals) and the F-100D (Cutting Edge decals) with great effect.

Edited June 4, 2019 by Alan P

[stratcat]

I've stopped using micro sol/set these days. Using klear every time. I use it straight onto the matt surface of the paint. Whilst that does mean "painted" patches I find it tends to go when you overspray the matt sealing coat (I use klear with a bit of matt base). I soak the decals as usual and I don't worry about too much water getting onto the klear, it doesn't seem to affect things. I use a brush with klear on, to float the decal into place. If the decal starts to stick tease up an edge allowing the klear under it and it should float free again. I use a tissue to wick up the excess klear and pat down the decal. I don't use a cotton bud as I'm concerned about getting fluff in the klear.

I haven't had a silvered decal since I started to use klear and the decals settle just the same as with microsol/set.

Win/win

[zero]

I use klear all the time for decalling. ie very light mist over the painted model, decal as normal (yep I've never had any silvering problems this way either!

then to lose the carrier film spray another fine mist over the top. this gives very glossy affect. add 5% to 10% of tamiya flat to give a satin finish, 20% to 30% for a flat matt coat.

bit worried my supplies are running out, though! LOL

Dave

[Jon Kunac-Tabinor]

Just an an alternative- 1 trick i've used recently is to apply micro set, then the decal, then use a cloth thats wettened with vey hot water ( about as hot as you can tolerate) Just push the cloth onto the decal firmly for a few second. I've been surpised at how wel it makes the decal settle into detail etc etc.

Jonners

[Blue Monday]

Success at last! Thanks to everyone who contributed to answering my query.

A couple of people offered slightly different instructions on how exactly to go about using Klear to bed down decals. Here is how it worked for me.

1. I soaked the decal as normal and took it out of the water, placing it on a piece of kitchen towel.

2. Then I applied a coat of Klear to the target area.

3. The decal was removed from the backing paper with a tweezers and placed in the location on the model.

4. I was able to move the decal a little until I was happy with the position.

5. I dried off the brush used earlier to apply the Klear, on a paper towel, and brushed the decal, attempting to force out any water that might be underneath.

6. When I was happy with that, I applied a coat of Klear over the decal, and waited.

7. It looked initially like the whole decal had silvered again but as the Klear dried, the decal bedded down nicely. By next morning, the decal had the "painted-on" look.

It looks like this method is the answer to my prayers. Thanks again.

BM.

[X Wing Flyboy]

Ahhh, thank you guys, i hope this may be the answer to my current problems too. Had no success lastnight and the day before with the AZH decals of the older Spitfire from Airfix. As this was a pure experimental build its been consigned to the bin and move onto the next 99p kit.

But saying that, it is really starting to annoy me as im having almost persistent silvering. Only once did I not, after using Humbtol Decal fix.

Oh well, onto the next one and try Klear this time.