Bloody Hasegawa Decals!

[Archibald]

Well I'm lucky not having used those decals for my Crusader mk.1 ! I painted my CF-105 yesterday, planning to use these decals to make a VF-312 bird.

when I put the decals in water this morning, they disintegrated  
And I have now a CF-105 with a nice paint sheme, but no decals.

Bloody Hasegawanker !!  I have to set up another plan for y Arrow    

[DropBear]

Crikey!!!

Must have been a dodgy run, or had you had them sitting around for a while suffering from the natural elements?

I reckon Hasey usually has the best quality decals generally.

 

[Archibald]

I don't understand, too... I know Hasegawa models are said to be the best... but these decals were a bit yellow and cracked even before starting the build... and I received the model recently! I have to ask the guy who send the model to me...    

[B777LR]

What?!? Ive never had this problem wih hasegawa  

However... academy kits

Someday this forum should feature a academy GB. The bloody academy decals peel off in 2 minutes, so you end up having to do it whiff  

[cthulhu77]

Yellowed = useless

  Once the carrier film turn yellow, pitch 'em.  Look online for some good aftermarket jobs...should be lots.

[B777LR]

Yellowed = useless

  Once the carrier film turn yellow, pitch 'em.  Look online for some good aftermarket jobs...should be lots.

Not true.  Used yellowed KP, Airfix and matchbox kits using the inbox yellowed decals working perfectly B)

   

[cthulhu77]

Yellowed = useless

   Once the carrier film turn yellow, pitch 'em.  Look online for some good aftermarket jobs...should be lots.

Not true.  Used yellowed KP, Airfix and matchbox kits using the inbox yellowed decals working perfectly B)

 

Wait for them to peel...sometimes in a year or two, but the binding agent has gone sour...  I suppose you could pile on a lot of future or clear sealant to keep them down, but it seems easier to just get new decals, doesn't it?

[frank2056]

Yellowed = useless

  Once the carrier film turn yellow, pitch 'em.  Look online for some good aftermarket jobs...should be lots.

You can bleach the carrier by placing the decal in a clear plastic bag and taping it to a window that gets some direct sunlight. The carrier will get bleached but the decal colors will not. How long you leave the decal in the sunlight depends on a lot of factors, like where you live and how badly yellowed the decals are.

I had one decal that only took 4-5 days to bleach and another that took the better part of two weeks.

As for disintegrating decals, there are commercial clear decal films that'll hold the decal together, but there's a cheaper alternative:

Future (or Kleer) floor polish. I test a decal sheet by cutting out a useless decal (like the Hasegawa name) and dunking it in water; if it falls apart, then the others will as well. I then apply some Future over the whole decal sheet and allow it to dry fully. Once dry, the Future will act as a carrier and will hold the decal together long enough to place on the model.

Frank

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

Future (or Kleer) floor polish. I test a decal sheet by cutting out a useless decal (like the Hasegawa name) and dunking it in water; if it falls apart, then the others will as well. I then apply some Future over the whole decal sheet and allow it to dry fully. Once dry, the Future will act as a carrier and will hold the decal together long enough to place on the model.

Future is the Klir in France, Archie
I didn't know this can work like this, but you can try!!

Franck, do you have to apply the Klir/Future on the decal-sheet with airbrush, or with a classic brush it works too??


PS: Sinon, tu peux acheter une bombe de vernis mat et en pulvériser une petite couche dessus.
Je dois essayer cette méthode pour fixer les couleurs des décals que je compte imprimer, mais le système doit être simliaire à celui décrit par Franck et doit fonctionner pour les craquelures.

[B777LR]

Yellowed = useless

   Once the carrier film turn yellow, pitch 'em.  Look online for some good aftermarket jobs...should be lots.

Not true.  Used yellowed KP, Airfix and matchbox kits using the inbox yellowed decals working perfectly B)

 

Wait for them to peel...sometimes in a year or two, but the binding agent has gone sour...  I suppose you could pile on a lot of future or clear sealant to keep them down, but it seems easier to just get new decals, doesn't it?

(runs off to check if decal are falling off)

Nope, still stuck firmly on all but 1 after 3 years  

[ysi_maniac]

I reckon Hasey usually has the best quality decals generally.

I had the same problem with very old Hasegawa decal.

My advice: use other decals. We are whiffers, no?

[matrixone]

NEVER trust any kit decals! I learned the hard way that decals that come with kits can ruin your project, after taking a long time to build and paint a model the last thing you want or expect is the markings to fall apart. That has happened to me two times in the past and now I use only aftermarket decal sheets. They might cost a little more but the results are very nice.
Hasegawa decals are the worst even though their kits are some of the best available, the decals are rather thick and the white areas are not really white, closer to an off-white even though they come from some new kits.
Amtech decals are almost as good as aftermarket products...but I think they were printed by Microscale.


Matrixone

[frank2056]

Future is the Klir in France, Archie
I didn't know this can work like this, but you can try!!

Franck, do you have to apply the Klir/Future on the decal-sheet with airbrush, or with a classic brush it works too??


PS: Sinon, tu peux acheter une bombe de vernis mat et en pulvériser une petite couche dessus.
Je dois essayer cette méthode pour fixer les couleurs des décals que je compte imprimer, mais le système doit être simliaire à celui décrit par Franck et doit fonctionner pour les craquelures.

I usually paint on the Future/Kleer/Klir/Clear acrylic paint with a brush. It always "flattens" out when it dries.

If you decide to go with a clear varnish spray, make sure that it doesn't have chemicals that'll eat or dissolve the decal! Try it on an old decal sheet that you don't mind sacrificing to the Modeling Gods.

I take it you mean the acrylic varnish used to seal inkjet decals? That'll work, but it's messy and you want a good coverage without runs or pooling. Maybe spray some into a paint cup and brush that onto the decal sheet?

Frank

[cthulhu77]

When I mist over custom decals, I usually put the fan on the spraybooth on high, and hold the rattlecan about 16" away, and apply several light coats...that'll keep it from sogging up on you.

[Archibald]

bump!

Even more weird...only a small part of the decals disintegrated in water. The rest came nicely!    

in the end I managed to save the project , using a mix of bits from others decals sets and the surviving Hasegawa decals...

Thanks for you tips, guys!  
I really have to buy some Klir ! Next lesson : how avoiding silvered decals!