The wonders of decals!

 

The K5350 now has decals applied! Small steps but about 2 hours work for this job which seems a long time but sometimes you have to take your time. The areas where the decals were to be applied had been sprayed in a gloss varnish a few days earlier. The gloss varnish gives a smooth surface for the decal to sit on. Leave a matt paint finish and the decal, especially the carrier film around the edge of the decal, are likely to 'silver'. This is where air becomes trapped under the decal and shows it self as a silvery mark. Get a gloss varnish coat under the decal and you are well on your way to successful application! Famous last words! One of the other issues that can affect decals is where they have to conform to a raised or depressed surface. As the picture shows above the decals are not on a flat surface. Decals are not very good at doing much else than laying flat. If you want to get them to settle around the contours of the model you really need a decal softener. Apply this to the decal once in place and leave alone to do its work you will find that the decal almost magically molds itself to the surface contours. My softener of choice is Micro Sol but there are are others about which no doubt work equally well.

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Another thing that I have learnt over the years is to make sure you have a fresh blade in your modelling knife when you cut the decals from their sheet. Use a metal straight edge as well and keep fingers out of the way - I talk from the experience of not following this advice! 

There are many different thoughts on the best way to wet the decal to break the bond with the backing sheet. Some people leave the decal in a saucer of water and wait for the decal to almost float off. That is one method but if the decal does float off the backing sheet it becomes a job worthy of several swear jar contributions to then actually get it on the model in one piece and without it folding under itself. My preferred method is to just dip the decal and backing sheet nito some water for a few seconds and then just leave it on the workbench. The water will still do its job and after a few minutes the decal will be loose of the backing sheet and ready to apply.

I will let the decals fully set and then apply some matt varnish to give them some protection.