Champ Decals

Yes, MicroScale conform very quickly and nicely. My work with Champ is

that they are thicker and more delicate. I put them on, let them dry, then

start using MicroSol and my X-Acto to finalize them.

 

ncng

My spin on decals.......

I design and print decals for prototype hobby products.

Owned a decal biz during the NASCAR craze.

I only use Walthers Solvaset decal setting.

Walthers was one of the very decal producers and I still like Solcaset the best.

Catch is you need to test on a decal you don't need. But once it's OK........

 

1. I cut the decal close to the image.

2. place decal in warm water that has one drop of dish soap. Hold with tweezers and only leave under water for 10-15 seconds.

3. Place decal on damp paper towel and allow to rest.

4. Leave decal on paper towel until image moves on paper.

5. Wet area on model with decal water and a little Solvaset.

6. Slide decal from paper onto model.

7.Blot water and glue off decal image.

8.Use a squeegee like action with a damp paper towel to remove more water and glue.

9. Apply Solvaset if needed, allow to soften and conform.

That gets it 95% of the time. You may need to reapply Solvaset a few times and BLOT with damp paper towel.

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the tips guys.  Solvaset should be here tomorrow if the bottle doesn't explode from the heat in transit(110F recently).  Once I get these decals squared away, it's time to fire up the airbrush for some dullcoat.  

It also goes without say that the surface needs to be glossy for the end results to look right. I use Micro-Set and Micro-Sol, and mostly Champ decals with predictable results...always on a glossy surface.

Along these lines I am looking for Z scale New York Central (steam tender) decals if anybody can help me out.

Champ decals are thicker than Microscale decals. In my opinion Solvaset works better than MicroSol for Champ decals. Solvaset is too strong for the thinner Microscale decals and will tend to melt or badly distort them. At one time Champ had its own decal setting solution which was too strong for their own decals. Seemed to work best on Walthers decals.

 

Ken

I use champ decals a lot and I use solvaset a lot.   A word of caution, do NOT touch the decals after you put solvaset on them!   they become very soft reasonably quickly and any touches tend to mess them up - - wrinkles, overlap, rips.    Once the solvaset dries, all is fine and you can do a second coat.

 

A second point, the old time experts always put a coat of "gloss-coat" over the paint before decaling.   then obviously put dull coat on after decaling.  

 

It seems to me that some of problem with decals setting tight is the paint.   I think some of the newer paints, especially water base, do not dry to a smooth surface.  Then when the decal goes on, there are tiny air bubbles underneath.    the gloss coat might help avoid this.   

Well the solvaset came in today, really tightened up the decals nice and they don't look like there is air under them anymore.  Sprayed on some dull coat and it looks pretty sharp!

 

Its been quite some time, but its all coming back to me now.  Dave's suggestions seemed somewhat like deja vu as I was pondering my situation.  Got to fire up the airbrush in the same day, practice on some card stock to shake the rust off.   Model turned out better than I expected.  Today was a good day.

Another tip re old decals.  (Champ closed shop several years ago so any of their decals found today will be "old.")  If there is any fear that the decal might come apart, spray it with varnish (dullcoat or glosscoat) & let the clearcoat dry BEFORE cutting the decal and soaking it in water.  The coating will hold the decal together so it can be applied to the workpiece in the usual manner.

I second the last comment made by jwmathews. Old decals can be very hard to work with if you aren't careful.

 

Dick

Now I can let the cat out of the bag.  Decals look much better on the paintjob with the solvaset and some dull coat.  Runs really nice too.  Cell phone camera leaves a lot to be desired.

  Happy Fathers day Dad!

I got back into town yesterday and got together with my son at my layout as he gave me this beautiful Williams model of a USRA loco that he painted adn decaled in a couple of weeks. he was under pressure to get it done before fathers day and he did a great job. And he is right that the Cell phone camera does it little  justice. It is a great gift  and I was so suprised that when he brought it over that he said it was for me. This Williams loco runs so smooth and looks so good.

He modeled it from an Oregon short line where the UP had 10 USRA 2-8-2 locos in UP paint. Thank you Shane, great job.