does anybody have a fix for disolving academy decals?.
my son is applying the decals on his 1/72 p-51 and the decals wont lay down,and when
they dry,they curled up.
needless to say he is pretty upset.
thanks.
jason.
You could try putting some future under the decals. This helps with adhesion and silvering also.
Soulcrusher
That’s the problem the academy decals there thick as a card board and don’t stick. I have found no decal solution yet that works. I guess other than I understand your problem I can offer no fix.
My standard practice is to put a coat of future over the last paint coat & let it dry. Then when applying decals, use a little future underneath the decal as well. If you get air bubbles or silvering, let the decal dry then poke the decal with a pin in the bubble area and apply some future with a small paint brush so that it flows under the decal film. If I’m going across a deep recess, it helps to slice the decal after it has set in place.
Microsol seems to help soften them a little.
That’s worked for me. That Helldiver on the left is a 1/72 Academy - with the kit decals.
Good Luck,
Chris
With Academy decals, Future is your friend. Future before, Future during, Future afterwards, and Future whenever you need it after that. Be warned, though, it STILL might not work.
Any type of panel lines the decal crosses should be cut through with a sharp blade. This, of course, cuts the decal up into many little pieces, so do this ONLY after the decal is down and has dried a bit so it doesn’t go scooting away from you. Decals over raised surfaces? Good luck. Lots of Future is your only option. And tight, compound curves? Well my friend, you are using the wrong decals. Toss 'em out and try something else! [}:)]
Academy decals are pretty bad, but I would personally take overly-thick decals over ones so thin they shatter if you even THINK of moving them… (wink wink, ICM!)
But despite this, Academy decals ARE usable. Here’s my entry to the “Academy kit with kit decals” gallery:
The last two kits I built were academy 1/72 kits and I would use water to pull the backing off and then a paintbrush and a container of future, it worked for me.
I do not have experience with Academy, although there is a promising looking Stratocruiser in the stash, and a B-50, and two F-89s…but I buy a lot of cheap old kits with horrible old yellow decals and you can’t let the bastards wear you down, illegitimi non carborundum!! I’ve gotten pretty good at making them work, but it helps when you in the sign business.
Set em in a LAKE of Future, using a 1" flat brush. Just make sure you get all the runs that go all over.
As a railroad guy, I’d say there is always MicroSol. But probably not for the younger ones- failures are spectacular and a little work to clean up after.
I recently built the 1/72 airfix Trimotor, which came with really old decals, and I was depressed about putting them down on the corrugations; they were the proverbial credit cards. But after globbing on the Future, they worked, the stuff flattened out, and they look pretty good.
Very nice models, and good photos!
I’ve only experienced academy decals once. Just the other day. I put them right over the flat Tamiya paint, no silvering whatsoever. I used a generoud application of Micro-Sol and they layed down beautifully. http://360.yahoo.com/fantacmet I did a review on my 360 page devoted to model building, of the 1:72 Academy BF-109G14. Nice little kit. I would try the Microsoft Solution myself. Maybe some liquid decal film or adhesive if the adhesive seems to be gone.
Michael
Revell or Monogram decals sometimes react the same way or silver because the adhesive was rubbbed off durring transfer. What I do is soak decal in warm water for 10 to 15 seconds and set aside. I thin Future with warm water 50/50 and use that as a decal setting solution because water slows drying time and lets me get decal positioned. I brush this generously onto model were decal will go, position decal and then brush out excess water/Future and air bubbles under decal. Then I set it under a 60 watt light bulb for about 45 second to 1 minute to speed drying and brush on more water/Future solution to seal the decal in place and let air dry. Decal adhears tight to model surface and no silvering at all after it’s throughly dried.
Give it a try.
Jason
From what I have read in the forum in the past the biggest problem is simply using them.
If it helps… I have the kit sheet from a 1/72 Tamiya (the BW pics). You can have the whole thing. Or you can pick one of the Eagle strike sheet and I will be happy to send them to you… well your son really through you.
Can’t have unhappy fledgling modelers.
I made similair post a few months back, and IIRC, it is the general consensus of this group that Academy decals create vacumn pressure by oral means. I’ve just gotten into the habit of IF I buy and Academy kit, I order a ser of A/M decals for it.