Curt B Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 Hi All, I'm sure this must have been mentioned by someone previously (I didn't search), but in case not, I wanted to let folks know about a great little device. I'm sure most of you know the advantage of using warm water to enhance the ease of separating decals from their backing. I've tried using an insulated mug to keep the decal water warm, but it always seems to cool off too quickly. I've seen other folks recommend some makeshift methods to keep decal water warm, like a food warmer that uses Sterno (flame). My wife came up with the idea of using a Coffee Mug Warmer. I just got a Mr. Coffee Mug Warmer, $10.99 on Amazon, including delivery. It works great for this purpose. Just passing on a helpful hint 😊 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RichardL Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 Great idea 👍 Looks like I will be ordering one. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 Hey, that's an idea. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 Been using a cup warmer for decal water for years. It works well for most decals (not for large decals) Use a metal cup or bowl for better heat transfer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ARCAccount#1 Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 I just use cold water. I couldn't find any benefit to using warm water or keeping the water warm. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RichardL Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 20 minutes ago, ARCAccount#1 said: I just use cold water. I couldn't find any benefit to using warm water or keeping the water warm. We all know the benefit of using a heat gun or a hair dryer to soften the adhesive on shipping labels, stickers, vinyl decals, and window tint films to facilitate their removal from a surface. It's the same concept. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ARCAccount#1 Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 14 minutes ago, RichardL said: We all know the benefit of using a heat gun or a hair dryer to soften the adhesive on shipping labels, stickers, vinyl decals, and window tint films to facilitate their removal from a surface. It's the same concept. Pointless in a world where Micro Sol and Micro Set exists. Moreover, decals do not use the same adhesive as shipping labels or 0.5mm thick window tint for removal. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RichardL Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 13 minutes ago, ARCAccount#1 said: Pointless in a world where Micro Sol and Micro Set exists. Micro Sol and Micro Set do not help to remove the decals from their backing paper. Do you even know what Micro Sol and Micro Set do? Completely different purpose. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RichardL Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 22 minutes ago, ARCAccount#1 said: Moreover, decals do not use the same adhesive as shipping labels or 0.5mm thick window tint for removal. I didn't say the adhesive is the same. I said the concept is the same. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 49 minutes ago, RichardL said: We all know the benefit of using a heat gun or a hair dryer to soften the adhesive on shipping labels, stickers, vinyl decals, and window tint films to facilitate their removal from a surface. It's the same concept. The idea of using warm (not HOT) water is to soften the carrier film and make the decal more flexible and conform to surface details & curves on the model. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ARCAccount#1 Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 52 minutes ago, RichardL said: Do you even know what Micro Sol and Micro Set do? Completely different purpose. The only difference in removing the carrier between cold and hot water is literally a matter of a few seconds. But if you need some help or assistance using the Micro set/sol products, let me know. Happy to help. And if you haven't tried those products yourself, they're well worth your time to try Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Curt B Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 My purpose in posting this wasn’t to discuss the merits, if any, of warmer water and decals, it was merely to point out a nice little method for keeping said water warm. If one thinks that warm water for decals is valueless, then please feel free to ignore my post/thread. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
is it windy yet? Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 On 12/13/2020 at 10:22 AM, Curt B said: Hi All, I'm sure this must have been mentioned by someone previously (I didn't search), but in case not, I wanted to let folks know about a great little device. I'm sure most of you know the advantage of using warm water to enhance the ease of separating decals from their backing. I've tried using an insulated mug to keep the decal water warm, but it always seems to cool off too quickly. I've seen other folks recommend some makeshift methods to keep decal water warm, like a food warmer that uses Sterno (flame). My wife came up with the idea of using a Coffee Mug Warmer. I just got a Mr. Coffee Mug Warmer, $10.99 on Amazon, including delivery. It works great for this purpose. Just passing on a helpful hint 😊 I use an old coffee cup warmer, have been using it for close to 30 years works great to soften and help decals release from the paper. Only drawbacks are my water gets too hot, just remove the bowl from the heat. Plus sometimes the decal comes off too quickly, as in less than 2 seconds. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RichardL Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 6 hours ago, ARCAccount#1 said: The only difference in removing the carrier between cold and hot water is literally a matter of a few seconds. But if you need some help or assistance using the Micro set/sol products, let me know. Happy to help. And if you haven't tried those products yourself, they're well worth your time to try Micro Set and Micro Sol are irrelevant to the discussion at hand. Go back and read the second sentence from the original post. Nobody dips the decals in a bowl of Micro set/sol to separate them from their backing. I do know how to use Micro set/sol properly "after" the decals have been removed from their backing paper, thank you very much. But since you mentioned them, they do not work as well as Mr. Mark Setter/Softer on Tamiya and Hasegawa decals, FYI. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joe Hegedus Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 On 12/14/2020 at 2:00 PM, habu2 said: The idea of using warm (not HOT) water is to soften the carrier film and make the decal more flexible and conform to surface details & curves on the model. I always thought that the idea of using warm water was to make the decal come off the backing paper more easily, as warm water works better to release the glue. Making the decal more flexible is a side benefit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alternative 4 Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 7 hours ago, Joe Hegedus said: I always thought that the idea of using warm water was to make the decal come off the backing paper more easily, as warm water works better to release the glue. Making the decal more flexible is a side benefit. Correct. I even found some decals, such as those from the Tamiya 1/32 F-16, need hot water to soften the glue. Those decals were thick and stiff with warm water, but hot water worked like a treat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kozlok Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 Tamiya stock decals don't seem to work at all unless the water is quite warm. My wife also bought me a mug warmer, and I use it with a small metal bowl. Works very well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted May 20, 2021 Share Posted May 20, 2021 Great idea using a warmer, thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Been doing this for years and, it really does help. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Night Owl Models Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 Sometimes the most obvious ideas escape us. I tried the warm water for those afterburner decals I just did on the F-18 repainting project and they went on much better. Why have I always been using cold water? Thanks for the tip I have a mug warmer I use to keep resin warm when doing acrylic pours but now I have another use for it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alternative 4 Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 On 5/15/2021 at 3:41 PM, kozlok said: Tamiya stock decals don't seem to work at all unless the water is quite warm. My wife also bought me a mug warmer, and I use it with a small metal bowl. Works very well. Hasegawa decals prefer hot water too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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