The Little World

And they called me mad! MAD, I tell you! Now let them see who’s mad…!

More soaking, more decaling. More thoughts on the process.

a. Revell.

45 seconds soak and slid off beautifully. A dip did no extra good.

b. Walthers. An old US model train firm.

Fragile, friable decals, but they could be soaked and floated off in 60 seconds. Not a pleasant experience.

c. Hasegawa.

60 seconds minimum before anything moved. No speeding up with dipping beforehand.

d. Xtradecal.

These went well at 45 seconds but if you were in a hurry you could dip them for 10 and they’d release in 30 seconds. Bit pointless to fight for five seconds.

e. PM. The Turkish model makers using old Hobbycraft moulds.

Again you got 45 seconds just soaking but could speed it up by five seconds with a dip and soak.

f. Academy.

Surprisingly long soaking time needed – 90 seconds

g. Mister Craft. The Polish firm using old FROG and Heller moulds.

At least 60 seconds before there was movement at the station – I would honestly let these delicate things sit for 90 seconds.

h. Special Hobby.

Again expect to use up 90 seconds per decal for certain lift-off. Good solid colours but there have been damaged sets in SH boxes in the past.

I’m going to make it a practice of floating the dry decal on the wet towel in the future – the thin decals are a lot easier to handle when the top part is not soaking. I’ll just have to make sure they get enough time to activate the sugar glue under the design itself. With careful timing I should not have the problem of losing this adhesive layer.

Of course the issues of trimming edges, laying on a gloss surface, and working out bubbles and silvering are always going to be there. And there are always going to be some designs that need Mr Mark Solver or Micro Sol in successive applications. These are an exercise in patience, and you don’t dispense that in 45-second doses…