Decals on a non smooth surface.

[conchan]

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, your choice.

How do you apply decals on no smooth surfaces. I am building an old Tamiya motorcross rider and have to apply decals to his jersey which is molded to look like it has wrinkles. How do I do this? 

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and enjoy!

[Sandboarder]

With something like this. I would use YouTube to watch some examples as I tend to avoid decals, it’s a skill i am yet to master.

 

[Fat Brian]

Use the product above and also make the jersey gloss then apply a flat coat once the decals are dry. Decals put directly on a matte finish can "silver" around the edge.

[showrods]

  On 12/25/2021 at 3:00 PM, Fat Brian said:

Use the product above and also make the jersey gloss then apply a flat coat once the decals are dry. Decals put directly on a matte finish can "silver" around the edge.

Expand  

"...make the jersey gloss then apply a flat coat once the decals are dry."  

This means apply a coat of gloss varnish, apply the decals, let them dry, then apply a coat of flat varnish.

[jaymcminn]

To put it all together: 

1:  Gloss clear (brush-on acrylic works fine)

2: Wet your decal, apply Micro-Set (blue label above) to surface of part, slide decal onto part. Wick moisture away with a brush or tip of a paper towel. Add additional Micro-Set. 

3: Observe the decal... is it starting to conform to the surface? If so you can help it along with low heat from a blow dryer. 

4: If it's not settling down you can try Micro-Sol  (Red label above). Brush it on. It will start wrinkling the surface of the decal. DON'T TOUCH THE DECAL. The wrinkles will smooth out. Again, low heat from a blow dryer will help the surface settle down quicker. Micro-Sol can attack some decals, so I tend to use it more sparingly.

5: After decals are set, apply flat clear (again, I prefer acrylic) to blend the surface and get rid of the gloss.

[conchan]

Thanks for the advice all. And jaymcminn for the summary. 
appreciate it very much.

stay safe and enjoy!