Testors Decal Kit

[snack truck]

I have been having trouble with Testor’s Decal making kit. I have both clear and white paper. I also have the required bonding spray. I have printed good clean graphics on the decal sheet, sprayed a couple of times with the bonding spray. Done this several times. Varied the amount of spray each time on a cleanly printed paper, so as to make sure I got the spray down right. Every time I got to use these decals, they loosen up just fine, but as soon as I get the decal to start sliding on to the model, the leading edge curls up and I cannot get it to straighten out. To me I feel like there is not enough spray on it, but I have gone from moderate to heavily moderate. The instructions say not to use too much.

My question is there an alternative way of doing your own decals with some other paper and spray. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanx in advance.

[ismaelg]

I had the same problem. I found in my LHS some decal paper that comes in 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. I think it's made by Microscale but I'm not 100% sure. I used it with the Testor's decal bonder spray and had better results. The white however, is very translucent and it is almost transparent. I ended up cutting some white leftover kit's decals the same size and using them as a base.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

[935k3]

I have had this problem with the Tesor's decals using Tamiya TS-13 Clear airbrushed. Try pressing a hot damp tissue or cloth over the decal and it will lay down perfectly. You can also use a little white glue underneath. This technique works much better than solvents and you do not get any wrinkles.

Edited November 10, 2007 by 935k3

[MarkJ]

I had trouble with the testor decals until I read an article on how to decal. if you place the decal where you want it and slide the paper out from underneath it you wont have any problem with curling on the edges because this way the decal does not move the paper does.

[Aaronw]

I had trouble with the testor decals until I read an article on how to decal. if you place the decal where you want it and slide the paper out from underneath it you wont have any problem with curling on the edges because this way the decal does not move the paper does.

That should fix your problem. With most commercial decals you can get away with the slide the decal off the paper onto a finger or paint brush, but most of the do it yourself decal papers are really thin and the method described above works a lot better.

The translucent issue mentioned a few posts above is also common, on darker colored models I usually find I need to cut a piece of blank white decal film for a base or the decal will be too dark. Those printing with an Alps get around this problem by printing a white background under the decal.