Microsol/Microset - A few questions

[Guest]

Hi,

Normally when I've applied decals, a few years ago now, I would have just used warm water, positioned in place and dabbed with a soft cloth. Now I see things have changed since then with products like Microsol and Microset. Just how easy are they to use?

I did see a picture that Stona posted where the decal had nicely absorbed into the rivets and looked almost painted on. Am I right with thinking you soak the decal in warm water still, then use a squirt of Microsol where your positioning the decal and dab the decal dry with a cloth?

When the decals dry (how long, 10mins or next day?) you then put on Microset to soften. Do you dab it into the decal with a brush to push it into the contours and rivets or will the solution do this for you. Do you wipe it off or let it dry? Can it effect the paint if left on too long?

Also with the kit I'm building, the Tamiya Spitfire MkVb, it comes with white backing decals to place behind the RAF roundels. Where and when would you use Microsol/Microset with this decal set up?

Thanks,

Colin.

[Guest]

Hi Colin. i use micro set/sol with my builds, and you are correct in the order of usage. i don't know the recommended time between the solutions, but i'll tell you what i do when i use them.

first you'll need a good gloss coat down on the model to avoid silvering

soak the decal in warm water

while the decal is loosening, i apply micro set to the area the decal is going to go (the blue bottle)

after it's in a position i want, i'll press down with a dampened paper towel to get rid of excess water/solution

take a wet q-tip and roll it around the decal to press it down into the recessed areas and get rid of any air bubbles that might have occurred

wait about 10 minutes then apply micro sol (the red bottle)

every 3-4 hours i go back and re-apply micro sol over the decals

keep applying micro sol until the decals have sufficiently sunken into the details

Once you use the Micro sol, the decal basically melts onto the model. it will be susceptible to smudges and ripping/tearing/indents from fingers, so be careful.

once i'm done with the microsol, i wipe the model with a damp paper towel or q=tip just to clean up the decal areas. then apply another clear coat to seal them in.

good luck.

[Guest]

another thing is that after you've applied some micro sol, and the decals are dry, i sometimes take a sharpened toothpick and drag it through panel lines to "enhance" the sinking effect. then apply more micro sol. it kind of just speeds the process up a little.

but if you do that, make sure the decals are sufficiently dry because dragging the toothpick through the decals while they're damp with solution could cause unwanted effects.

[Guest]

Thanks Jim,

Really helpful information there.

How long does it take for the Micro sol to dry sufficently so your safe enough to apply another coat or clean off the model? I'd hate to smudge the decal.

Do you think it would work putting Micro sol on the white backing decals first then applying the RAF roundels over the top and then applying Micro sol to them too?

[stona]

Hi Colin,I follow almost exactly the same routine as Jim above. He makes an important point about repeat applications. Depending on the decals I will do as many as four or five applications! Be very careful working on a decal once it has been Microsoled as they can become very fragile. If you see any wrinkling LEAVE IT ALONE. It should settle down as it dries and any attempt to work on it will end in disaster.

I agree with Jim as well that about three hours between applications of Microsol is about right.Once I'm happy with the way the decals look I leave them over night to thoroughly dry before applying a varnish.

In your last question I think you are referring to the central red disc of an RAF roundel which often comes as a seperate decal. I usually apply these onto the rest of the roundel as soon as I can,just a couple of minutes, and then hit the whole shebang with Microsol.

Cheers

Steve

[Ian M]

Hi, I treat the white decals as all the other ones. The idea is they stop paint colour showing through. So just put them down as a normal recall and microset/microsol as normal. When dry put the coloured decals on top.Ian M

[Guest]

Thanks Jim for such a simply put but very precise explanation. Wish some instruction books would take a similar approach life would be so much easier.

Laurie

[Guest]

no problem, glad it helped. just one note though, i've only had to do decals on top of decals (of a significant size anyway) once when i did a zero. it had a large white circle and separate smaller red circle that went on top of it.

i did the white circles first, and applied my normal routine above to them. Once they were all sunken into the grooves and details of the plane, i did the red ones on top of them. again repeating the above process. If steve is saying that you can do them basically at the same time, i believe him.

i just wanted to throw out that you have a bit of a choice there with these types in case you get a little nervous putting 1 decal on top of another like that.

[Guest]

Thanks for all your help everyone, I'm going to try it out on an old scrap wing first.

Atb, Colin.