Decals

[mactire]

Hi all, I've a lot of tanks that I'm planning on applying transfers to, to break up the flat surfaces. Not a big fan of transfers and don't use often, so was wondering what are the steps that I've seen mentioned regarding medium and ardcoat. Basically which goes first, tanks in advance (see what I did there).

[Imren]

Materials:

• Soft brush
• Micro sol (softens the decal so that it follows curved surfaces and prevents wrinkling)
• Micro set (dissolves/affects the decal plastic as if it melted away to give it a painted on look, and reduces visibility of the decal plastic)
• A small tray
• Gloss varnish
• Hobby knife with fresh blade
• Final varnish coat of your choice (gloss, satin, matt or a mix of them depending on how you varnsh the rest of the model)
• (Your standard materials for painting the model, I mention it here because the decal job is weaved into the paint job)

 

The procedure I advocate yields a result that is as much like a painted on "realistic" effect as possible. However, it is not a standalone "decal-job" procedure, it is somewhat integrated into the overall paint job of the model.

 

 

Procedure:

 

1. Finish off your base coats and highlight painting onto the areas where the decals go.
2. Gloss varnish those surfaces (I usually gloss varnish the whole model because i shade and pin wash with oil paints) and wait to dry completely (I strongly suggest to wait 24h to allow the varnish to cure)
3. Plan the decal placement; decide on what decals shall be placed were, take into account edges and ridges etc
4. Cut out the decals and soak them in the tray until the loosen from the sheet.
5. Paint the area to be covered with Micro set (blue labelled bottle).
6. Place the decal onto the surface and adjust the position, if the surface is curved (i.e. like a spacemarine shoulder pad) them run the knife edge gently (no need to press) across the curved surface.
7. Give the decal another pass with Micro set (blue labelled bottle)
8. Let it dry and once dry cut with the knife along any protruding or depressed ridges.
9. Apply Micro sol (red labelled bottle), Note that after applying this you cannot remove or change the position of the decal without ruining it. Let it dry for 3-4 hours.
10. Alpply a second coat of Micro sol (red labelled bottle) this increases the "melting" effect of the decal plastic and improve the "painted on" effect.
11. Varnish the decal surface as following:
    • Gloss varnish if you will pin wash with oil paints
    • Varnish with same type of varnish as the rest of the model if you do not plan to pin wash with oil paints.
12. Paint on the weathering on the decal:
    • Do small streaks of scrathes (light stripes with a darker and lighter shade of base colours)
    • Using a sponge stipple on the base colour (colour underneath the decal) to give the decal a weather and battle worn effect.

 

Happy decalling! :)

[Gederas]

Imren summed it up perfectly, including how to blend the decal into the model's paint job :yes: