Microscale decals falling apart

[craigolio1]

Hello all.

I have dozens of sets of Microscale decals, many of them bought in numbers due to limited availability, and are now unavailable. I used one the other day and found the stripes in the set to be very brittle. I was lucky I had another set from a different manufacturer, and newer, with the same size of stripe.

I've stored them in their envelopes in a big ziplock but I fear all of them will be like this.

Does that liquid decal film you can apply really work to repair these decals? Should that be my general practice before using these decals now or is this likely an anomaly with this one set?

Thanks

Craig.

[BobRunty]

It works fine. Used it many times on old Microscale and other brand decals. Just brush it on, looks kinda thick at first but levels out and dries fine. Have noticed no difference in film thickness after applying decal to the model.

Bob

[craigolio1]

Great! 

Thanks Bob.

I'm concerned that if I wait and see if the decals stay intact I'll lose one to the process. Do you think I should apply it to all of my decals before I use them, if they are old? 

How long does the film take to dry?  Should I apply this stuff a week in advance or is a short time before ok?

Craig

[BobRunty]

It dries fast, just a few minutes. I usually give it about a half hour or so. You can tell when it looks dry, it pretty much disappears.
If you don't have spares and the decals are more than a few years old, I would coat them. Another thing, I just load up small brush and make one brush stroke. I wouldn't try going back and forth with the brush, it dries too fast. Just a nice medium coat. Test it on a scrap decal first and you'll see what I'm trying to describe.

Bob

[craigolio1]

Do you try to coat each individual graphic that you would need, as Microscale has made them, or go over the whole sheet?

[BobRunty]

I do the graphics for the project at hand as I've needed them, never did an entire sheet at once. I've never needed to use an entire sheet. I see no reason why you couldn't though, if you're going to use them in the foreseeable future.

Bob

[craigolio1]

Thanks!