i recently bought a pretty old titanic model, and the decals are pretty aged, they look yellowed, i usually apply decals with humbrol’s decalfix, but im not sure how the old decals will act, any experience?
You can correct the yellowing somewhat by putting the sheet in a window that receives plenty of sunlight. That usually bleaches it out. Be careful that it doesn’t get wet from condensation from the window, and that the colors don’t start fading out. They sell decal sealers to help prevent the decals from shattering into pieces, which old decals are prone to do. As far as setting solution goes, experiment on a decal that you can do without to see what reaction you get, so you’re not surprised on a really necessary one. Hope to see some pics when you’re finished!
Put the sheet in a ziploc bag before putting it in the window. [;)]
Will do! ill put it afront of my window for a week or so, my room gets the most light in the house, its also good tempreture so it should be getting wet there, ill post if something happened.
I’ve used Microscale’s Liquid Decal Film. It’s a water-based product which you simply brush over the decal and allow to dry before cutting them out. It works well.
I always use decal film on decals from really old kits, but even before that, I scan the decals. That way, even if something bad happens to them, I may be able to make copies using inkjet decal paper.
Be aware that if you clear coat a decal before using it, you will need to cut it off of the paper close around the image, in other words slightly inside the original edge of the clear that was stencied on over the colors. Otherwise the decal sheet with it’s fix coat is one big decal.
Another suggestion. Decals of course are one of those necessary things, but to the extent you can learn to do graphics in other ways, you can get really good looking results. Things like no-step lines on an aircraft wing, or bands around the tail, or Japanese Hinomaru, look very nice done in paint.
I try to do the ship names under the stern with rub on letters, as the usual decal is often hard to get to sit on the compound curves.
Testors sells decal bonder that you spray over the old decals. I have had to use it on a fairly recent kit. You will need to cut out the decals individually after you spray over the whole sheet, though.
NICE AVATAR JMorgan!
model is done, turned out decently, also the decals seem to work fine, have some pictures of the model next to my airfix mauretania, which is almost the same scale https://imgur.com/a/7rcSh . Also what this model can do is sink, and in an accurate way too, also sinks pretty slowly, very glad how that turned out too, when the weather is a little better here, ill be sure to try to make a video