Was looking back at a motorcycle i did a while ago and the decals were not completely smooth and good looking. I used micro sol and micro set on the decals, and have used tamiya in the past, but i can never get the decals to be smooth and have no crease. decided to ask my dad what he used to use for his cycles l, but he can’t remember. Please let me know if you have any good decal solutions, that you like.
Creases in a decal are because the decal isn’t laid down completely flat.
IMO the solution only truly matters if it’s around complex curves or on large panel lines/rivets. I think that to fix the creases you should apply a solution (I use Tamiya), take a q-tip and smooth out to remove liquid and get rid of airbubbles/creases. Let it sit for 10-20 mins and then go over it again with a q-tip but that’s really only necessary on aircraft or car panels. Wrinkles in my decals This is a rather old post on the fsm forum but seems to have better phrased fixes for this problem.
I’ve always used Micro set and sol. I don’t think the issue is with the liquids that you used, but maybe with technique. It doesn’t look like the decals were smooth before applying the liquids. Micro set and Micro sol are made to help a decal snuggle down and conform, but it won’t fix a decal that’s improperly laid down at the beginning. Also, depending on the decals, they might be thicker or more resistant to the solutions causing issues when trying to lay them down (I’ve been dealing with that recently on a project.
The decal in your first picture might be the one requiring the most work to fix. I’m going to assume that by now they are completely dry but maybe do not have any clear coat on top.
If they are not cleared yet, you may be able to re-wet them and possibly adjust the position to help flatten them out. If not, you will have to use a sharp blade and make some cuts in the decal so it will lay down flat. You should be able to keep those in the darker area, not impacting the lettering. Then up decal set first to get them down again, followed by decal solvent to really snuggle them down.
The stripes on the cowl may just need some set and solvent to get them down, but cutting may help. Look at the link in the reply above for more info. Bear in mind that it can often take multiple applications of setting and solvent to get a really flat decal.
The kit looks good overall, I’m sure you can recover from this. Your dad’s bikes look pretty sharp as well.
When using a q-tip to remove excess liquid and smooth down the decal, should the q-tip be dry or wet? Any danger that the decal will adhere to the q-tip and come off with it? Thanks!
There is always a chance that the decal will stick to the Q-tip. I’ve used both wet and dry and the only time that I have seen a decal stick is when it’s lost its adhesive. Either too long soaking, old decals, etc., but always a small decal.
