Hey all.
I’ve had all my model stuff in storage for the past 3 years. I need to know if my decals are safe to use. They are all in sealed ziplock bags. Has the heat or cold effected them? I don’t want to waste my time if the decals are not going to slide correctly or break. Any advice out there? Use them and not worry…buy new decals…WHAT DO I DO???
thanks
I have been keeping my decals in my garage where I work for the past 20 years. Down here it can get hot most of the year and my decals have been holding up quite well. If you are worried, take a decal from the sheet that you won’t need and test it. If it comes apart, you have your answer.
If they are all sealed in ziplocks they are probably still good. Moisture’s your biggest concern. Ikar’s right about testing. If you have any concerns try using a decal coat or clear coat to seal them and you should be good to go.
Cheers,
Testing one on the page is a good idea. Sometimes you can actually see the cracks in the decal as a dead giveaway. If you find some that are irreplacable Testors sells a decal maker kit available in most hobby stores and I have seen it even in Walmart for 8-10 bucks. The decal paper is thin and translucent( Kinda a pain to use) But the decal bonder is good stuff. You can actually use it to overspray your original aged decals on the paper. A couple coats when dry will hold them together well again. Just be sure to trim as close to the decal edge as you can because it will probably make the whole page into a decal.
No decal is safe! They are all trouble waiting to happen. However, having them in zip locks is probably the best you can do. My theory is that it is changes in moisture content that do the most damage, not heat in itself. Every time the moisture goes up the paper grows, but not the inks in the decals, which take in moisture less than the paper and decal film. When the humidity goes down, the paper shrinks. That back and forth is what does the damage, I think. I’ve had decals stored for many years where humidity is fairly constant that are fine. I’ve also had fairly new ones that are fracture city.
Other important factors are the acid content in the paper, the thickness of the color containing media, its age and just generally how well it was made.
You aren’t going to be able to predict it. The best storage would be cold and dark. Remember when we all used to keep film (WHUDDAT???) in the fridge?
You have to test it and find out what you got. I recently built the Williams Bros. B-10 and there was NO HOPE for the decals. They didn’t shatter, they dissolved.
Actually painting markings is something I’ve been trying. It’s not easy but it looks nice.