Waterslide decal question

I'm building the Bandai 1/72 X-wing, and am doing a combination of painting and using some waterslides. This is the Rogue One Special set, and I'm considering using the yellow waterslides on the inside of the S-foil wings. After looking at multiple pics online, I have noticed that on virtually every finished kit I have seen the decal covers the panel line that runs from the cannon to the fuselage.

I use Micro-set & Micro-sol when applying decals. My question is, would I run into problems if I applied the decal then took an exacto and "scribed" the panel line. If anyone has used this technique (with success) would it be better to scribe through the decal into the panel line before or after applying Micro-sol?

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks.

You got a pic of how it should/shouldn't look...

I am personally no big fan of decals...well if I can mask and paint the graphics that is.
I would probably use "The Hairspray Technique" on markings like that, and then use a toothpick or something sharpish to simply scrape the paint away.

Quick explanation of The Hairspray Technique" : Paint the base color, in this case a sort a white, then mask of the the model only leaving the area that will have the graphics. Now you can use Hairspray or "Chipping fluid". If you use Hairspray, simply spray Hairspray in a cup and use that fluid in an Airbrush and spray the area NOT MASKED lightly (if you over do it the next layer of paint will start to lift and wrinkle).
DONT OVER DO IT what ever you use. Let dry for like 10-20 min, now paint the color of the Graphics (classic X-Wing), Caboose Red, let dry, then wet the surface with a brush light soaked in water LIGHTLY! and use a Toothpick or other semi sharp tool to scrape away the Paint...leaving something like this...


When done SEAL IT WITH A CLEAR COAT!

But a pic would still help I think.

Jimmer said:

I'm building the Bandai 1/72 X-wing, and am doing a combination of painting and using some waterslides. This is the Rogue One Special set, and I'm considering using the yellow waterslides on the inside of the S-foil wings. After looking at multiple pics online, I have noticed that on virtually every finished kit I have seen the decal covers the panel line that runs from the cannon to the fuselage.

I use Micro-set & Micro-sol when applying decals. My question is, would I run into problems if I applied the decal then took an exacto and "scribed" the panel line. If anyone has used this technique (with success) would it be better to scribe through the decal into the panel line before or after applying Micro-sol?

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I have done it.

Usually after I use the Micro Sol I will take a tooth pick or something and try pushing it to go down into the panel lines. You have to be careful though not to mess up the decal. For X-wings it probably doesn't matter as much since it can simulate scratched off paint if you break the decal in places.

I also find sometimes, if you apply micro sol and let it dry, it can actually conform on it's own.

The other approach I have done is to let the whole thing dry, then cut it with a razor and then apply some more Micro Sol to get it to conform

An example is here in my Fine Molds 1/72 (on the right). I used decals for it, and did the panels lines as described
You can see it on the panel line running along the front of the win through the red stripe for example
(the markings on the Bandai on the left is painted. I didn't have a good pic of just the Fine Molds)

Also note, the panel line weathering was done after adding decals. Just make sure to seal them first

blakeh1 said:

The other approach I have done is to let the whole thing dry, then cut it with a razor and then apply some more Micro Sol to get it to conform

Click to expand...

I've also done this before and it worked out great.

Thanks for the info, guys. I thought that a razor (exactor in my case) would do the trick. And, like was mentioned, the great things about X-wings/rebel ships is that mistakes/mishaps can usually be altered to "battle damage".

CAPTAINCOX, I've never used the hairspray technique but I'll give it a shot also.

Thanks again.

You can also lay the decal down, slather micro-sol all over it, and then hit it with a hair dryer. That tends to suck the decal down into the panel lines and other recessed areas.

SB

StevenBills said:

You can also lay the decal down, slather micro-sol all over it, and then hit it with a hair dryer. That tends to suck the decal down into the panel lines and other recessed areas.

SB

Click to expand...

Good point. I should have stated that my plan is to go with micro-sol first, the exacto/razor will be Plan B. Micro-set & sol were certainly a great investment (IMO), I've been very impressed with both. I've just never applied a waterslide that actually covers a panel line so wanted to do a bit of research before I set it to the model.

I have applied waterslides over "rivets" and raised areas on models before and micro-sol has yet to let me down. Only issue I ever had was once I didn't pay attention and over-applied it a bit. I laid down a red waterslide to the back of a Bandai R5-d4 (one of the red panels) and accidentally left a "drop" on the decal. In other words, I brushed it on but a drop must have fallen onto the decal without me noticing - came back a couple hours later and where the drop was it discolored the decal a bit (it was a little darker red where the drop had fallen). Luckily it was on the back of R5 and after weathering it really wasn't an issue - lesson learned though.