Hi All:
This is my first post here, so bare with me 
I am in the process of building a Tamiya Subaru Impreza WRC 2001. While I was working on the seat belt decal, I accidentally broke. I tried to save it by reattaching the broken piece and thinking the decal softener might fix the mistake. However, during the process of applying the softener, the broken piece started moving around and eventually a good small chunk of the decal broke off. Since the decal is really soft, the newly broken off decal was impossible to be reattached. I now have a seat belt decal that has a nasty broken gap.
So for this kind of mistakes, are there any ways to fix them? If not, can I purchase another set of the decal from somewhere?
Thanks
Simon
First of all, welcome to the doghouse…
I avoid taking chances with decals in the first place, since many of the kits I buy are 20 or even 30 years old… I use a product called “Testor’s Decal Bonder”, which is a rattle-can of clear liquid decal film… It’s simply sprayed on, then you let the decal sheet dry, cutting out the decals very close to the art-work… If you just rough-cut the decals, you’ll have a large area of clear film, so trim it tight…
This will thicken them a bit, but it also keeps them breaking or shattering/crumbling…
Another method, and one I prefer for belts/harnesses, is to make them myself from aluminum duct-tape. The metal tape will hold any shape it’s given, and can also be left unpainted for the hardware.
As for your problem, once you add decal solvents to the mix, the problem is finished… Unfortunately, so’s the decal… Unless you can slide it over the remains, that gap is there forever… I’d just make a new set… Seatbelt/harness decals look like decals in larger scales anyway, rather than seatbelts…
It takes some practice getting more than one set right, but it’s still rather easily done… Using tape will also allow you to pull and tug a bit on it in order to get it in just the right place…
Tell it to get you a pair of Tiffany cuff links.
thx Hans. I’ll definitely try “Testor’s Decal Bonder” once it’s available at the local hobby shop.
Benn there, done that–paint it in. That’s about all you can really do once it’s funked.
I’m a World War One fanatic and I found a awesome zeppelin model after almost a year of searching everywhere. I put it together in a weekend, however; it wasn’t specificaly a German zeppelin, but I planned to use extra Iron Cross decals from my Fokker Dr.I model to put on either side of the zeppelin. I wet them and one of the two I had broke apart at the corner, but it didn’t look too bad so I applied it and a perfect sticker that didn’t break at all. This is going into a compitition and is going to be on display and be seen from all sides. I was just picking it up to look at it- not touching the decals at all, and the half of the perfect sticker just fell off. I picked it up gently and tried to see if it would stick back on, and it didn’t. When I touched it to the model, it shattered into a million little pieces like brittle paper and the slight amount it tapped the other part of the sticker caused the rest to complety shatter. Is there anyway I can fix this? I don’t have a whole lot of money, so I don’t want to waste it on another Fokker just for a decal that might not work.
A similar product is from Micro Scale if you do not find the Testors product at your hobby shop. I believe they call it liquid decal film. It does an excellent job of repairing old decals.
LOL!! Another old thread revived…