Sealing decals doubt

[stubeck]

I have used both Future floor wax and Tamiya acrylic clear as top coat over decals and find no ill effect. Both are water base acrylic paints and are gentle on decals.

I use Future to adhere decals to models rather than relying on the glue from the sheets. This makes decals conform to curve surface better when they are warmed by either a towel or hairdryer.

I had decals pulled away by masking tapes after clear coating when I have to do touch ups when they were only relying on the decal glue. With Future as glue, the decals are almost like a layer of paint to the surface.

Can you expand on using Future to make decals adhere? Do you dip the decals in future? Also, isn't Future called Pledge floor gloss now? I know there are a couple of different Pledge products and not all of them are the same.

[SteveNoble]

Can you expand on using Future to make decals adhere? Do you dip the decals in future? Also, isn't Future called Pledge floor gloss now? I know there are a couple of different Pledge products and not all of them are the same.

You place the decal into a pool of Future and as it dries it sticks the decal to the surface of your model...

[stubeck]

Without placing in water or after placing it in water?...

[CK]

Hi,

I place the decal in water as usual. When decal can be pealed off from the backing sheet, I take the decal out with a tweezers. I wash the decal in water a little bit to wash off some glue.

I put drop of 60% Future on the body and than place the decal on top. The rest will be the same as normal decal work. I thin the Future to about 60% for easier positioning and longer work time. If it is a compound curve surface, I may use full strength Future which give me more adhesion.

Make sure to wash the area around the decal with water once the decal is pressed down before the Future solution dries. Otherwise it may leave some marks on the body.

I have not checked what Future is called now. I bought my bottle 20 years ago and still have 1/3 of it

[SteveNoble]

Without placing in water or after placing it in water?...

After placing it in water. To be honest it's not something I do a lot, maybe on older decals that are past their best. I generally try to replace them first. Good decals work well on their own. If they're not sticking the glue has either gone off, or they're just poor decals in the first place..

[stubeck]

Makes sense, thanks! I try to do teh same, my trip to Japan over the summer got me a lot of great decals which my wife was a bit surprised with. Can get kits anywhere, but some of these replacement decals are simply impossible to find over here!