Decal Adhesion Problem - Ever see this problem?

[Andrew McD]

In an effort to do something a little different with my Tamiya 1/12 scale Porsche 934 I ordered decals to replace the Jagermeister livery.  I found an interesting decal set by rejimodel.com available through Spot Model.com; the Meznarie Racing Team #54 as run at LeMans in 1976.  I ordered the decals months ago and they've been stored in a cool dry place until this morning when I began decal application.  Within a minute after being immersed in warm water the decal was curling off the backing, something I've never seen before.  I applied the decal to the body, adjusted position and then started smoothing the decal  applying some MicroSet decal solution.  The edges of the decal would smooth out for a short period of time but soon the edge curled back as depicted in the attached photos.  I applied some MicroSol decal solution thinking it may soften the decal and encourage it to lay down but to no avail.  I'll contact SpotModel to see if they can help me with the problem but thought I would also pose an inquiry here.

Has anybody ever had such a problem and/or have any thoughts on the cause and possible resolution?

 

A final note, the paint has had weeks to dry and while not terrible I did attempt to improve the finish with Tamiya polishing compounds prior to decal application.  The body was washed and dried after polishing so I don't think the surface is contaminated.

 

[Shark]

Sounds like you did everything right, at least all that I would have done. Sounds to me like the decals are bad, and that does happen.

Edited Friday at 06:40 PM by Shark

[stitchdup]

I've had the same thing happen with the tamiya toyoda trim decals. curled up as soon as they hit the water. How hot did you have the water? if its too hot it could theoretically make the glue go bad but it could also be the compounds you used for polishing as any residue could also cause the decals to not stick. If you get a response from spot please share it, as i've got a few reji sets from spot to use

[Roncla]

Some Tamiya Decal Adhesive may be worth a try.

https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/87176/index.html

[Andrew McD]

15 hours ago, Roncla said:

Some Tamiya Decal Adhesive may be worth a try.

https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/87176/index.html

Thanks!  I'll give this a try.  Have not heard anything from SpotModels regarding the decal failure.

[rattle can man]

Another thing you could try is some liquid decal film just use brush to put some on the curled edges and press them down and hold for a few minutes.

[peteski]

Those decals look relatively thick. One of the photos where light reflects of the decal surface seems to show a fine line pattern in it, like it was printed using one of the ink jet printers with UV-cured inks.  Those inks usually do not respond to any typical decal solutions.

I'll be curious what the SpotModel offers for a solution.

Edited Sunday at 12:35 AM by peteski

[Andrew McD]

On 11/28/2025 at 1:47 PM, stitchdup said:

I've had the same thing happen with the tamiya toyoda trim decals. curled up as soon as they hit the water. How hot did you have the water? if its too hot it could theoretically make the glue go bad but it could also be the compounds you used for polishing as any residue could also cause the decals to not stick. If you get a response from spot please share it, as i've got a few reji sets from spot to use

Les,

Here is the answer that SpotModels sent:

 

Hi Andrew! 🙂

Those particular decals are digitally printed, and the way to work with them is slightly different to the usual silk-screen decals and even the "in-house" printed laser decals.

 

First of all is that the usual decal softener products (like MicroSol and MicroSet) don't work with this type of decals. The only product which helps is the Decal Adhesive from Tamiya, which is not exactly a softener. Decal adhesive is the perfect solution to help the decals fix over the model. Use some drops of the Tamiya decal adhesive under the decal, leave it to act for some seconds, and extract the rest as you usually make with the water.

 

https://www.spotmodel.com/product_info.php?products_id=20600

 

If when dry the decal curls in some of the edges, simply apply a little more of Decal Adhesive to fix the decal completely.

 

Use cold water, put the decals in 2 mm of water for 2 or 3 seconds (this is to no give time the decal to curl, but enough to loose from the paper), and use the support paper as a base to pass the decal to the piece, where some drops of Tamiya decal adhesive are already applied. After that, as usual with any other decals, remove all the liquid from under the decal with a soft cloth, adding more decal adhesive if necessary. And a very important tip... never use an external heat source when applying the digitally printed decals. 

 

Take also into account that decals are very sensitive to the surface... the most glossy and flat the best adhesion for the decals. In the case of a satin or matt surface, the adhesion is really complicated. In case a matt or satin finish is necessary, it is better to apply a glossy clearcoat as a base, and after that apply another layer of mat or satin varnish. This technique, of course, can not be applied on rubber tires, so more reason to use the decal adhesive to help the decal to fit the rubber surface. 

 

A last comment is that although curl, the decal can be flattened simply with water and a smooth brush, as they need more time to adhere to the surface. If you put the curled decal over a drop of decal adhesive, you can flatten it little by little while the adhesive is making an effect. 

 

We hope this information helps you with your project.

 

Best regards!

SpotModel Customer Service

 

[Dave Van]

Looks like a glue failure. I do not allow decals to sit in water. Dip for 10 seconds and place on damp towel to 'cook'. 

Other than that not your failure....decals failure.

[Andrew McD]

6 minutes ago, Dave Van said:

Looks like a glue failure. I do not allow decals to sit in water. Dip for 10 seconds and place on damp towel to 'cook'. 

Other than that not your failure....decals failure.

Thanks for your comment.  It seems this style of decal is not the water slide decal we are accustomed to but requires an adhesive.  SpotModels recommends Tamiya Decal Adhesive which from my internet searches is not available in the USA and incurs prohibitively costly shipping and customs fees from overseas suppliers.

[peteski]

As I mentioned in my initial post these decals use different (and thicker) ink which does not respond to old-school decal softening solutions.  SpotModel's response seems to confirm that. I bet by "digitally printed" they likely mean those were printed on a special ink jet printer using UV-cured inks. I have seen similarly printed decals in the model railroad hobby.  Not a positive development.  The