It's been almost 3-4 years since I've built a car kit so a few months ago, I finally decided to pick up the hobby again since I had some free time.
I'm still a newb when it comes to model building and the part about model building that I totally freak out on is the application of decals. I'm a fan of Tamiya's 1/24 JGTC car kits and of course, they're full of decals. Before, what I used to do was your basic decal application: soak in warm water, apply, use wet q-tip to position, and dry off decal with q-tip. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn't. When a decal went over a panel line, I basically just used a hobby knife to slice the decal over the line but the decal wouldn't fully submerge into the panel line. Decals that had to go onto a bend or curve....those were BRUTAL. I couldn't bend them in anyway. So I've developed a fear of applying decals since then.
I felt that I'd work so hard on a kit, and when it comes to decal application, if you mess up the decals, no matter how well you finished your model, the decals can mess up the overall look of the car. So I finally decided to do some research as to how to apply decals over panel lines because after slicing the decal over the panel lines, I couldn't find ways to make the decal submerge into the line. After doing some research, a lot of you suggested to use Microsol.
So I went to the LHS, picked up a bottle of Microsol (thank gosh they carry them) and started using it as suggested by some of the users here and WOW, what a different it makes! To be honest, ever since I started using Microsol, I've gained more confidence in applying my decals. That stuff works wonders around bends and curved places. Sometimes, the decals would stick out of a particular place due to the decal being larger than the applied area but at least I know I can bend the decal with this stuff. But I'm still getting used to the product though since I've made some mistakes with it (my decals teared in a few places, and some were ruffled). Like all things, I guess it takes practice.
I just thought I'd share my experience with you all! Thanks guys!