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Re: Saving old, dead, classic decals

Posted: November 23rd, 2017, 3:07 am
by Michael modeller 48
Well i guess Airfix in 1970 did not center them....I want to use these as Migrant gave me a vintage Short Sunderland 3 kit and Dazzled found an original decal sheet from the 1970's in his spare bins.

I keep the tip in mind for other builds...

Re: Saving old, dead, classic decals

Posted: November 23rd, 2017, 3:40 am
by fredk
An old tip for off-centre dots, as long as its white around them then the next colour; as seen above.
Is to cut out the red dot carefully, cut away the white. Paint some white on the model and apply the outer colour ring and then the centre dot over the white,
The white of the decal doesn't have to be cut away absolutely but about 99%

We used to do this before the sheets of decals were commonly available
It can still be done for badges and the like which have been printed out of register and no others are available

PS; MM48 - put those decals in bright sunshine or under a UV light for a week or so and that'll reduce that yellowing

Re: Saving old, dead, classic decals

Posted: December 23rd, 2017, 4:10 am
by Zee28
I agree with Fred, see tips No.1 and No.5 in the original post.

Zee28

Re: Saving old, dead, classic decals

Posted: December 23rd, 2017, 5:58 am
by Michael modeller 48
fredk wrote:An old tip for off-centre dots, as long as its white around them then the next colour; as seen above.
Is to cut out the red dot carefully, cut away the white. Paint some white on the model and apply the outer colour ring and then the centre dot over the white,
The white of the decal doesn't have to be cut away absolutely but about 99%

We used to do this before the sheets of decals were commonly available
It can still be done for badges and the like which have been printed out of register and no others are available

PS; MM48 - put those decals in bright sunshine or under a UV light for a week or so and that'll reduce that yellowing
Thanks Fred, I try to cut out white but cutting skills are not great...I may just have off set red dot. I will put decal under sunshine it will be hard Canada has gone DARK since the winter solstice....haha.
Zee28 wrote:I agree with Fred, see tips No.1 and No.5 in the original post.

Zee28


I will read these tips thanks for point out which...

Re: Saving old, dead, classic decals

Posted: December 23rd, 2017, 6:10 am
by Michael modeller 48
jRatz wrote:Only that the red center on the fuselage roundels is not on center.

A simple solution is to invest in some of the XtraDecal generic sheets - roundels, codes, and serials for example - then you can pretty much roll your own.
Thanks John, I have hard time seeing the off set red dot but OK. I might not try to correct by cut out and paint white on plane then red dot decal as skills to cut dot would be hard for me.

Will tape decal to my sliding glass door and wait for Canada sun shining 15 degrees low on the horizon....

I keep my eye out for XtraDecal sheets

Re: Saving old, dead, classic decals

Posted: December 26th, 2017, 2:14 pm
by Falcon
Michael modeller 48 wrote:
jRatz wrote:Only that the red center on the fuselage roundels is not on center.

A simple solution is to invest in some of the XtraDecal generic sheets - roundels, codes, and serials for example - then you can pretty much roll your own.
Thanks John, I have hard time seeing the off set red dot but OK. I might not try to correct by cut out and paint white on plane then red dot decal as skills to cut dot would be hard for me.

Will tape decal to my sliding glass door and wait for Canada sun shining 15 degrees low on the horizon....

I keep my eye out for XtraDecal sheets

Plenty of sheets to choose from.

RAF Post War D Type roundels - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72041;
WWII Type C - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72044;
WWII Type B - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72043;
Type A - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72045;
More WWII Type C - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72069;
WWII British Pacific Fleet National Insignia/Roundels - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72064;
RAF National Insignia/Roundels 1920 - 1939 - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72111;
RAF Post War Red/Blue Tactical Roundels - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72165;

These also come in handy.

Post War RAF Black Serial Letters and Numbers - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72157;
Post War RAF White Serial Letters and Numbers - https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72158;

Re: Saving old, dead, classic decals

Posted: August 12th, 2020, 3:39 pm
by Markh_75
I dont use old decals now; if i buy an older kit i just buy aftermarket decals for the model. I dont trust older decals because they are never any good, not fit for use, always fragment, are of poor quality to begin with, if they're too bad i normally just throw them away. It does me no good to faff about with them as it always goes wrong and looks rubbish.

Re: Saving old, dead, classic decals

Posted: August 12th, 2020, 5:41 pm
by iggie
There's plenty on here would suggest differently; there are many models built on here using original decals from decades ago that work perfectly and in fact better than some brand new ones I can think of (Roden :shock: for starters!)
My recent build of the Airfix Grumman A-6E Intruder (1976 boxing I think) used the original decals without a hitch and without the expense of after market decals.

Re: Saving old, dead, classic decals

Posted: August 12th, 2020, 6:28 pm
by Markh_75
And there is no wrong in that :) ; i have been stung too many times now, i just dont take the chance anymore.
I'm not trying to sway anyone with what i say, i respect that everyone has an opinion and does things their own way. Please dont see my post as an attack on anyone, its not meant to be and i wouldn't do that. ;-)

Today i was trying to fit the original decals for a series 4 Airfix B-26 and they started misbehaving after a minute or two started curling up, refused to go back down, and made the surrounding area look salty, the whole area that the decals were on went a patchy white colour. I was using Micro-set and sol but the decals didnt seem to like it, when i used the 'set' they started curling up and rolling over; i've had this before and i always narrow it down to the old decals, maybe the glue in them was off and reacted with something. They were quite yellow so i left them in a sealed bag in a sunny spot, that worked okay but they just were not going on the model, that was clear. I didnt even get a chance to varnish over them as they were already off the model by then. it only did it on the top of one wing and the underside of the other, after that i was not going to do the rest. The time and effort i put into a kit just to have it spoiled by rubbishy decals is then wasted unless i can rescue the job but it takes more out of me when it does that. Takes a long time for me to calm down after it.

Anyone who can make older and/or original decals work i applaud; i just dont take the risk that's all.

Re: Saving old, dead, classic decals

Posted: February 21st, 2023, 7:52 pm
by Uhrmacher
Thank You so much!
There was this Civil-Schmitt resting in my basement for 3 years now. It is ready and when I did put the first decal on it, the decal just turned to pieces in the water, another one broke on the plane. I was so frustrated and didn`t even paint the antenna. I looked for some numbers in red in my stash, but there are only red ones for tanks and that terrible, imaginary coat of arms I even have scanned to keep it if it breaks as a decal. Now I have airbrushed the whole sheet and - it worked!
Thank you for your advice, you made my day after struggeling with Eduard 1:32 Messerschmitt BF 108 where no plasic glue keeps this thing together, only superglue, and that works best at my hands.
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