Decal woes.

[gpz900ra7]

I am at the end of my rope and no matter what I try I cannot get some "Scale Motorsport" carbon fibre decals to conform properly.

No matter how I try to apply them they will just not conform, and to make it even worse its only on a 1/12th scale bike exhaust silencer so not a complex shape at all.

When I place the decal onto the exhaust it seems to stretch like its made of rubber, it just expands like crazy. and that is without any decal solution used.

I have used Tamiya decal adhesive to see if that helps, nope, no go.

I have tried just about every manufacturers decals over the years and never had trouble like this, EVER!!!

This is the first time using this brand of decals and its certainly going to be the last, and the price was quite expensive for just the one sheet so any mistakes sharp mount up.

I have seen loads of folks using this brand and their results are amazing, but for me, they just hate me.

Is there some sort of JEDI mind trick to make these work or am I just making some basic error here?

Anyhoo, rant over, decided to just leave the silencer a basic chrome colour with a exhaust maker logo.

Ta for any suggestions, but to be honest I'm never going to use the rest of the sheet its going in the spares box never to see daylight ever again.

Cheers guys.


Shaun.

[cor]

Id contact Scale Motorsport, because that doesnt sound right for a premium product. Stretching like rubber and expanding - that's not
normal.

[digger303]

Almost sounds like it has been exposed to another chemical or the fumes from one over a extended time.

[gpz900ra7]

I had a look on their website for application instructions and there was a video on how to apply.

The video shows a guy applying some decal to a car bonnet, basically a flat surface, and it does seem to stretch quite a bit but the trouble I was experiencing seemed to be a whole lot worse.

To put it simply it looked as though there was a lot of air trapped underneath the decals as I was applying it, and no matter what I did it would not settle.

I'm going to put it down to a lot of factors that was out of my control and ability, even though I have been modelling for over 50 years.

Oh well, thanks for the replies guys..


Shaun.

[digger303]

I've been using VMS decal solution lately. It does make decals conform. Apply some solution to the surface , apply decal and then more solution over the top.
The decal does get a bit sticky and can fold under itself depending on decal thickness. I just checked the decals I applied to a rough surface last night and there is no silvering and all the detail is viewable....panels, bolts, panel lines, sharp edges.
If the decal becomes to hard to handle then I apply microsol ( blue bottle ) first to the surface, position decal then apply vms decal liquid over the top. I've been getting good results and better than the old Walthers. I've not used the ulitmate product so can't comment on that and I find the Mr hobby and Tamiya's solutions a bit weak.

[Johnj]

Just out of curiosity. What are you using to release the decal from the backing paper ?