maxidad66

So what's all this about Tamiya being the pinnacle of the modelling experience?

I am coming to the end of a thus-far enjoyable, pain-free build of Tamiya's 1/48 P51b Mustang. Now to one my favourite bits - applying decals. I thought Tamiya were meant to be top notch! The decals are really poor. By dint of treating them with extreme caution, I have managed to apply most of them with reasonable success. But they're VERY delicate: difficult to get off the backing paper and extremely fragile round the edges. As it happens, the slightly rough edge gives it an appealing worn look, but I am about to apply wide, white (theatre?) stripes around the wings, and I just know they're gonna disintegrate.

Am I only the only one to encounter problems with Tamiya decals?

wonwinglo

Coat the decal with Future/Johnsons first,that should do the trick.
Experiment with an small piece before you apply the main decals.

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rjwood_uk

the older tamiya decals were too thick. now they are too thin. i now tend to go with afte-market decals if i can find some nice ones or can afford it. revell of germany are the best kit decals IMO.

do you mean the d-day landing stripes or is it just white?

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maxidad66

Yes, I had heard about coating with clear acrylic first - and I did this with the white bands. It worked reasonably well, though positioning them was not easy, despite copious dabs of Micrsol and water, to keep 'em sliding.

Yes, I shall be wary of Tamiya decals in future. On my last build (an ICM Spit) the decals disintegrated completely - the aftermarket decals, cost nearly as much as the kit.

wonwinglo

If there is one area that the kit manufacturers skimp on then it is the decals,I think the time has come where they should consider 'reverse decalling' this is much more reliable than ordinary waterslide transfers/decals,the system has been around for many years and still used in the advertising world or to do a complete full sized London bus with wrap around insignia,basically the decal is printed onto the obverse side of the carrier paper,to apply you just hold the complete decal in place against the surface,flood with warm water and peel off the carrier backing paper leaving the decal perfectly in position,the advantages are easier application,no background clear film to contend with and the decals can be thin and yet manageable.
Some cottage industry kits use this type of decalling system and once you have used it then you realise that it is a far more advanced system.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

maxidad66

Presumably it's more expensive, otherwise they would already use this system, wouldn't they?