Decal Problem w/ 1/1000 Polar Lights TOS Enterprise

AZRhino · Post by **AZRhino** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:31 pm

I have finally gotten around to building the 1/1000 PL TOS Enterprise kit and I am having a bad problem with the decals silvering.

They went down on top of a pretty good gloss coat of paint and I used Micro Set, Micro Sol and Mr. Mark Softener, and none of them seem to affect the clear carrier film.

Has anyone found anything that can soften these decals?

Thanks
Mike

shotgunlebowski · Post by **shotgunlebowski** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:44 pm

Your best bet is to use future floor wax and not a gloss coat product. The decals on this kit were a problem for sure. On mine I put several coats light of Future on and then decals, then another coat of Future. Finally a dull coat.

John

robiwon · Post by **robiwon** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 8:28 am

Try mixing a drop or two of regualr 'ol Elmers white glue in your water bowl. I have found this helps to creat a better "stick" to the models surface. It does not soften decals and may not work well over sharp surafce edges. But it has helped me in the past with silvering over a flat surface.

shotgunlebowski · Post by **shotgunlebowski** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 1:28 pm

Hmm that's interesting with the glue. I thought it wasn't that they don't stick it's that they weren't soft enough to lay down on a rough paint job. Hence you get air trapped which causes the silver effect.

Banshee1000 · Post by **Banshee1000** » Mon Mar 07, 2011 8:35 pm

I had the same problem, they laugh at Micro set and scoff at Solvaset.

I went with PNT decals for the first Enterprise. I used the kit decals with my Scout conversion, and used thinned watery glue, then carefully cut the large decals up with a sharp blade and then lots of Micro set applications.

I use Testors Gloss Coat because of my difficult problems with Future (I don't have the muse everyone else seems to have) applied over a really smooth surface (down to 1500 grit). But I'm on the Klingon D-7 now, and I'm going to give the Future a go.

Good luck.

Alan

AZRhino · Post by **AZRhino** » Tue Mar 08, 2011 10:01 pm

Thanks for all the replies. I had assumed (my bad...) that putting the decals down on gloss paint without a gloss clear coat would have been sufficient.
Live and learn. It was a good thing this was mostly a test build anyway. It makes a nice 6 foot model, but taught me a lot of the issues involved with building this kit.

Next go-round gets several gloss coats polished to a high shine before putting on the decals.

Romulan Spy · Post by **Romulan Spy** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 5:56 pm

Polar Lights decals have been hit or miss for me. Some work great, some silver badly, some shatter completely. PNT decals work great; if it's an important build I'd definitely recommend them.

crowe-t · Post by **crowe-t** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:21 am

Are these the decals from the Round 2 re-issue kit that are giving the problems?

Styrofoam_Guy · Post by **Styrofoam_Guy** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 9:41 am

My decals also didn't seem to react to Solvaset but if I put some down before putting the decal on it eventually softened the decal enough to make it conform to curves. It was a long process for each decal.

I put my decals over a white semi-gloss paint and they actually didn't silver. I was surprised as I was thinking the silvering would add to the overall effect but nothing happened.

Yes the R2 decals seem to the hit or miss. My 1:1000 Ent-C decals cracked like crazy while the 1:1000 Ent-E decals were fine. Ent-E decals also seemed to laugh at the Solvaset