Academy decals and Solvaset

[peter havriluk]

Just decorated an Academy 1/72 ambulance, which has large areas covered by red crosses on white backgrounds.   The decals seem impervious to Solvaset, which I thought was the gold standard of decal-snuggling solutions.  Three questions, 1, are Academy decals known for being impervious to decal-setting solutions,  and 2, anything 'better' than  Solvaset available, and 3, suggestions on how to encourage Academy decals to settle onto a surface?

 

Thanks!

[Napalmakita]

Mr. Mark Softer (I think)  seems to be popular although I've not used it.  I do use Tamiya decal setter which does the job.  Decals are just voodoo man...it's the one step in modeling that I've found is kinda out of my control.  Sometimes they look brilliant, other times they just refuse to play no matter what I do.  

[peter havriluk]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I suspect some softeners work better than others on some decal chemistry, and the opposite, too.

[Napalmakita]

Yeah,  for me it's trial and error.  👍

[echolmberg]

Sorry for being a little late to the party, but a few years ago I built an Academy F-86.  The kit was an absolute gem.  Pure joy!  The decals, however, were horrible.  They did not react at all to Solvaset/Microsol.  I tried to remove the decals using the masking tape method but they wouldn't come off.  It was then that I learned that their older kits contained crummy decals while their newer kits contained good decals made by Cartograf.  If your kit is on the "older" side, you probably fell victim to the bad Academy decals.

 

Eric

[JackMan]

 

Academy decals, especially from the older kits, do have a reputation for being difficult to settle onto the kit.  In fact, as Eric posted above, they can be horrible.  Oh, they look great alright. But once they come off the backing sheet, it's hit or miss. Almost always miss. The best bet is to trash them and get aftermarket ones.  Alternatively, the red crosses and white backgrounds on your ambulance could be masked and painted. 

[peter havriluk]

I think I'm done for the moment, the ambulance decals settled down enough to be usable, after multiple applications of softener.   These decals were from a recent kit, so I'm surprised to hear that this problem was more historical than current.  Couldn't prove it by me.  

 

Thanks, folks. 

[Mfezi]

Just to add, since Mr Mark Softer was mentioned further up: I recently built the Academy 1/72nd P-47D: Actually a very nice kit and the decals look very good on the sheet. However, as others mentioned, the decals appear impervious to setting solutions. I tried Microset/Microsol and Mr Mark Setter/Softer with very disappointing results in both cases. I eventually got sort-of an acceptable result on relatively flat surfaces, but I ended up masking and painting the invasion stripes, nose chequer pattern, etc. I remember having similar troubles on older Academy kits, but since this kit was newer (in the relative sense - it was released in 2001) I expected better results - nope.

 

Some newer Academy kits come with Cartograf decals (it is usually indicated on the box). These are excellent and react well with most setting solutions. For older kits I will definitely use after market decals in future.