old decals

[b-body fan]

I had some very old decals that were disintegrating when I tried to apply them. I decided to try something and it worked pretty good. I shot a coat of dulcote over them, Let it dry, and tried them again. No silvering and they laid down nicely. Hopefully this helps someone. Mike.

[JTalmage]

Dang.. wish I knew this a few weeks ago. I tried to put some decals on a car I was building and they just fell apart when I put them in the water.

[High octane]

I've sprayed Clear Glosscoat over decal sheets and it works great also.

[b-body fan]

I thought that would probably work too High octane. I used the dulcote because it's what I had handy. I should have mentioned. I just put a nice even coat on, not really "wet". Sorry I didn't post that sooner JTalmage. Mike.

[Drake69]

Don't forget Microscale's Liquid Decal Film. It works perfectly on preserving old decal sheets.

 

[Yenkocamaro]

Actually that trick has been around for a long time. Like Nick said, we would use clear glosscoat on decals from original 60's kits, or whenever we ran across decals that looked dried out.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Lance

[Harry Joy]

I have used 50 year old decals before, and gotten them to stick well and look new. First, I sprayed the decals with Future as a protective coat, and let them dry. Before I put them on the model, I flooded the area where I was putting them with Future, then over-sprayed once more with Future. At first, they look absolutely awful, wrinkled and ruined. But be patient. The next morning, all the Future beneath the decals had dried, and sucked the decals down like they were painted.

I did this on an ancient Monogram model with rivets and raised lines, but the decals came out perfect.

[b-body fan]

Cool,  I'll try Future next time. I didn't think I was onto anything really new. Just thought it was worth mentioning. All these methods can save somebody's hard work. It stinks to put so much effort into something to have it ruined on one of the last steps. Thanks for the tips all.