Decals on tissue?

[Slim]

Howdy. This is my first post. I just completed the Guillow's Cessna 170, kit no. 302, and all went well until I applied the decals. I used the kit supplied tissue and airbrushed several coats of Future and two good coats of Rustoleum paint for plastic before decaling. Everything looked good. But, when I applied the wet decals the tissue still sagged. And then, when the tissue dried, it tightened up again causing the decals to wrinkle.

Can someone tell me what I should have done to prevent this? I'm pretty dissapointed as it really messed up the look of the plane.

Thanks for your help.

Slim

[John G. Jedinak]

Hmmmmm Never heard of this problem...and I bow to the real pros on this site....but, I am speculating that you used WAY too much water in applying the decals. Good Luck JGJ

[supercruiser]

I'm no pro, but I have had this problem. Since you painted it with rustoleum, then you are going to make this a static display model??
That gives you more options on what to do.

First off, what you did-- should have worked. I've never used Future, but it should have sealed the tissue good enough to apply decals. I guess you
did use too much water. After you soak the decal in water, lay it on a paper towel and let it absorb the excess water. Usually, I spray clear acrlyic lacquer or artists' fixative on the tissue first. I still get wrinkles in the decal sometimes.

[supercruiser]

By the way, if you need an extra decal sheet, you can go to the Guillow parts list page and order more. See if this link works:
http://www.balsamodels.com/Parts/kitparts.htm

[SteveM]

I also have experiecned this kind of problem. I had my decals on all nice and smooth but did not realize that the tissue had sagged ever so slightly. After it had dried my perfect decals looked like corrugated roofing.

The first time this happened I moistened the decals with a damp finger and smoothed them down. On later planes I would make sure to shoot on a few light layers of Krylon Crystal Clear on the location to be decaled to seal the tissue. With small flying models this can be a weight issue though. This is why I have found peel and stick type decals from other manufacturers to be much easier to use (but possibly heavier and more costly to make).

I'll keep my eye out for solutions and see if maybe some master builder will post their methods here.

[Slim]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I was building the kit for display only, so weight was not a consideration. You're probably right that I got too much water on it. I'm used to plastic models where you want decals wet so you can re-postion them. I guess with tissue models you need to get them aligned right the first time, either that or apply enough coats of paint first so water won't cause the tissue to sag, if such a thing is possible.

I don't have the heart to get more decals and re-do it. I'd rather start on a new kit and chalk it up to experience.

Thanks again,

Slim

[StukaDave]

when I applied the wet decals the tissue still sagged. ..tell me what I should have done to prevent this?

A dirty trick:

1. Scan the decals into your computer
2. Using gift-wrapping-type white tissue, print the decals on your ink-jet. (Tape the tissue to a piece of paper first)
3. Cut out the decals and apply using gluestick.

The insignia will look airbrushed, flat finish and all. Be cautious with overcoats, some sprays will upset the ink. The domestic heavy tissue gives you a white background that is opaque enough to cover your wing colors.

-Dave

.

[Slim]

A dirty trick:

1. Scan the decals into your computer
2. Using gift-wrapping-type white tissue, print the decals on your ink-jet. (Tape the tissue to a piece of paper first)
3. Cut out the decals and apply using gluestick.

The insignia will look airbrushed, flat finish and all. Be cautious with overcoats, some sprays will upset the ink. The domestic heavy tissue gives you a white background that is opaque enough to cover your wing colors.

-Dave

.

Thanks for the tip. I will have to give this a try.

Slim