Eduard removable cover film decals

[Tim Marlow]

Hi all. I’m sure some of you have used these, they’ve been in Eduard kits since 2020 after all, but have any of you taken off the removable cover film? If so, what were your experiences?

The decals on my Zero have gone down very well, but I’m curious, especially as I have to decal the prop which is going to be bright silver. If I could get the cover film off there they should look like painted in markings and obviate the need for a final varnish coat….

[langy71]

From what I've seen of these Tim, they look very realistic when done, but I've never really looked into how you remove the carrier film afterwards,

[Jim R]

I've not come across these, Tim, so any information about them would be interesting and welcome.

[Tim Marlow]

From what I've seen of these Tim, they look very realistic when done, but I've never really looked into how you remove the carrier film afterwards,

Cheers Chris. There are various vids out there, but I was wondering about first hand experience from one of the guys on here….
To be honest, they look pretty darn good anyway…..

[Tim Marlow]

I've not come across these, Tim, so any information about them would be interesting and welcome.

If I don’t get any info from elsewhere on here Jim, I’ll post my own experiences…..I’ll probably practice on the small ones on the underside….
To be honest, up to now, my experience has been very positive. They handles easily and went down with no hint of silvering at all.

[Guest]

Aren’t these simply a modeller’s version of the good old temporary children’s tattoos? Wet the backing paper, press onto your skin (or the model, I suppose) and peel off the paper?

[Tim Marlow]

Aren’t these simply a modeller’s version of the good old temporary children’s tattoos? Wet the backing paper, press onto your skin (or the model, I suppose) and peel off the paper?

Not quite. As I understand it, it’s a by product of digital printing. In effect, you put them on, leave them 24 hours, and then you can peel off the dry carrier film by lifting it with a scalpel. Only the printing ink gets left behind…..looks easy on YouTube vids, but you don’t know how many goes they have had when they film it…
The temporary tattoo version was very close to the old railway modellers methfix transfers…..stick ‘em on with meths, then soak off the paper when they were dry…..always surprised they weren’t more widely available. They were far superior to water slide, especially back in the eighties.

[Scratchbuilder]

I am sure Archer brought out something similar I remember using their M113 instrument/placard decals.
Then again I can remember 'rub down decals' which were a bit like Letraset lettering. but you had to have a glossy surface otherwise they would not adhere to the surface.

[Guest]

Not quite. As I understand it, it’s a by product of digital printing. In effect, you put them on, leave them 24 hours, and then you can peel off the dry carrier film by lifting it with a scalpel. Only the printing ink gets left behind…..

Some years ago, I bought a tin of some solvent-type stuff sold for basically that purpose: laserprint something (it won’t work with an inkjet printer), soak the paper in the solvent, apply to the model and peel off the paper so the print-out sticks to your model. I think I did a little trial and it didn’t work, but that was almost certainly due to my inexperience with the method. However, I’ve never gotten back to trying it again … Maybe I should

The temporary tattoo version was very close to the old railway modellers methfix transfers…..stick ‘em on with meths, then soak off the paper when they were dry…..always surprised they weren’t more widely available. They were far superior to water slide, especially back in the eighties.

Never used those. In fact, I think you’re the only person I’ve ever heard (read) talk about them

[Tim Marlow]

Never used those. In fact, I think you’re the only person I’ve ever heard (read) talk about them :smiling3:

These are the little beasties Jakko….

https://hmrs.org.uk/transfers.html?transfer_type=11885

As you can see, very specialised for railway modellers.

[Tim Marlow]

Well, as no one seems to have used them…..here are my impressions…..

The film peels easily…just gently lift the edge with a scalpel and then pull it off at a shallow angle with tweezers.


Leaving a decal that literally looks sprayed on…..sorry about the blurry shot though…..


This will be especially useful on bigger decals like those with RAF letters on fuselage sides, or on bare metal finishes. Silvering seems to be most noticeable on the clear parts of decals, so removing that part is especially useful. Small stencils look much better as well because they usually have an inordinate amount of carrier film, and that gets removed. Lastly, any decals you need to put on clear parts will be vastly improved. Not sure hoe they would hold up under weather so in those instances I would varnish over them.

Me, so far I like them a lot :thumb2:

[Guest]

Seeing that first photo, I thought you were going to say, “They went horribly wrong” It does seem like these would be very useful, especially for stencils like you say.

[Tim Marlow]

After stripping them all, I had a couple of minor failures.
One stencil came off completely, so obviously hadn’t been put on properly. The other issue was an overlap on the tail transfers and was my fault. Like a numpty I didn’t take into account that overlapping decals won’t strip cleanly….the overlying decal gets damaged in the process. It’s nothing too extreme, just looks like a little chipping of the paint…..

Over all, I’d say that even without stripping they are as good as any decals I’ve ever used. The carrier film is very thin so could be left alone with no real issues, but in certain circumstances , such as bare metal finishes, I would say they are difficult to beat.

[Jim R]

Thanks Tim. Look very effective.

[colin m]

My dull brain cells seem to remember Eduard claimed this wasn't actually a feature of their decals. Maybe just a happy accident.