Decals - breaking up - why? - Fantasy Printshop/Battlefront

[ChrisSteadman]

Hi All

Since I normally model armour in braille scale I don't often apply anything more than small decals. At the moment I am painting some 1/100th Huey Cobras from Battlefront. The decals that come with it are made by The Fantasy Print Shop. The decal was soaked in tepid water. As it started to come off the backing paper, it split, top to bottom, in several places. I eventually, managed to get each piece off and placed individually onto the model and roughly butt them up against each other.




Any advice please, as I am painting two of these and so have three more of these to apply? I am going to cut them up, probably into 3-4 parts, but is there anything else to try? The rest of the decals, all smaller, went on fine. Are FPS decals known for this? Is it something I am doing? Any help appreciated.

I couldn't find a 'help' area, so posted this here. Hope that is OK.

ATB

Chris

[Avgas]

Wouldn't worry too much, big decals nearly always split somewhere for me, in fact if it's a plain one colour big decal I nearly always paint it on as I know it's going to be quicker than faffing around with a broken decal. Some of my decals finish up like patchwork quilts, the art is in getting them to look like they haven't split which you seem to be achieving.

[Joe]

Hi Chris- I don't think 1/100 scale decals should be breaking up like that. Perhaps you didn't soak them long enough? I would think 10 seconds of soaking
time should be about right. If that's not the problem, it might be the manufacture isn't so good. I agree with Avgas; you did a great job of "quilting" that decal together. I bet it's not even noticeable with the naked eye.

[ChrisSteadman]

Thank you, both of you, for taking the time to post and to reassure.

The decal is about 2.5cm from front to back, and whilst large compared to the decals I normally apply, I didn't really expect it to split. It was in the water for c.30 secs. I then took it out and laid it on the cutting mat, only to watch the first crack form and show the blue backing paper. Two of the joins don't even show in the picture, but the others do show to the eye I'm afraid Joe. Still, some paint will help hide those.

I'll crack on with the other three this evening, after slicing the decal up. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again.