What am I to do with this kind of DECAL?

Who's kit? If it advertised "decals" then I would expect decals. The older kits did have just printed paper. You can lightly sand the back of the paper to make it thinner and then glue on.

I assumed the graphics were decals since I have never even heard of printed paper as a decal.  Technically they did not advertise it was a decal. Model Tech Studio's was the Manufacturer. Nice kit in general and I ordered two more. All "fronts. 

So what kind of glue would you use? I have already applied a couple of washes with ink and alcohol. I like the look and the graphics on the paper are quite nice. Thanks

Not the cheapest solution, but I might consider scanning the images and having them printed on decal paper.

"sand" the back so it's thinner, apply white glue. That should do it, but you may want to further weather it with A/O or tear or lightly char the edges before applying glue. Lightly spray w/ Dull-cote as a fixative. Dave G. 

Get rid of them. You don't need to screw up a nice model. What road name are you doing? I have lots of new/old real decals. Don

Thanks Don,  for your offer.  The Milwaukee Road is my railroad. They had a Minneapolis depot I visited frequently as a kid. And I like the midwest farm country and spent alot of time on farms in the summer as a kid. It just seemed to fit.  Anyway I used canopy glue and it went on wrinkle free. Actually looks good. Went alot easier than I thought it would. But now I have a heavily weathered industrial building with a nice relatively crisp signage. Should have thought of that before I put it on! It's my first serious attempt at weathering and age effects. Probably not up to the standards here but good enough for me. I don't know how I will be able to age the sign as it is just paper. I used ink and alcohol for the building

Not sure what the issue is. If they said decals that would be one thing. But since they did not...I'd say they gave as advertised. I have the full capacity to make any kind of waterslide decal or cut vinyl.  BUT....for my O scale structures I choose graphics printed on paper and applied to the model. All the signs on this one are paper glued on....even the hanging sign is done that way.

I feel they look fine and are more durable than true decals. But just IMHO. Your results may vary.

PS...the interior and floor are ink jet printed too. And the sign is dirty and rusted up a little.

Mike, it just so happens, Don is the king of Milwaukee Road anything!

Another cut and paste.  Copied from the internet.  The Red River Valley and Farmers Coop are decals.  There are some detail applications with diluted glue to wash-out and make look very old this type of signage.  You may want to try rubber cement for this type of application.  Contact cement may be a bit agressive for this ink-jet print copy. There is a trial and error to this application.   

Follow the procedure Dave G describes above and you will have it nailed.

Sanding is the key the thinner the better.

To get the sign to follow the surface contour like siding or brick, start at the top using the rounded end of a paper clip and run it along the mortar line or siding overlap to press the sign against the building.

This is one I did recently and it could have stood to have the edges sanded a little thinner.

If you look at some of Frank 53's work he is a master at this technique.

You may want to do a few practice pieces before using any one of a kind graphics you have.

Additional glue-it-on signage pictures.












Signs that need to be applied.

Is there a way to age the decal after it has been applied. Chalk maybe? 

yup! Just remember that your chalks will fade after using a fixative.