I am about to start decaling my first Westerfield model. What decal
setting solution do you guys recommend for their decals. I have
Solvaset, Champ setting solution, and Microscale,both Micro sol and
Micro Set, setting solutions.

Thanks in advance
Brian carlson

I am about to start decaling my first Westerfield model. What decal
setting solution do you guys recommend for their decals. I have
Solvaset, Champ setting solution, and Microscale,both Micro sol and
Micro Set, setting solutions.

Thanks in advance
Brian carlson

Brian, the Rail Graphics decals included in Westerfield kits aren't
especially fragile (unlike older Microscale decals, which tend to
disintegrate if you even look cross-eyed at them), though all decals need
to be handled carefully, of course. In my experience, all of the setting
fluids you identify will work, but you want to be careful with full
strength Champ decal set, as it's the most potent of the lot. I usually
use the Champ setting fluid mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with water first, which
should get everything settled in place, and then go back with full strength
Champ used sparingly to get rid of bumps and bubbles. But I've also used
Solvaset and Micro-Sol/Micro-Set in the past with good results.

Richard H. Hendrickson
Ashland, Oregon 97520

On Dec 19, 2004, at 4:53 PM, Richard Hendrickson wrote:

I am about to start decaling my first Westerfield model.  What decal

>setting solution do you guys recommend for their decals.  I have
>Solvaset, Champ setting solution, and Microscale,both  Micro sol and
>Micro Set, setting solutions.
>
>Thanks in advance
>Brian carlson
>
Brian, the Rail Graphics decals included in Westerfield kits aren't
especially fragile (unlike older Microscale decals, which tend to
disintegrate if you even look cross-eyed at them), though all decals
need
to be handled carefully, of course.  In my experience, all of the
setting
fluids you identify will work, but you want to be careful with full
strength Champ decal set, as it's the most potent of the lot.  I
usually
use the Champ setting fluid mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with water first, which
should get everything settled in place, and then go back with full
strength
Champ used sparingly to get rid of bumps and bubbles.  But I've also
used
Solvaset and Micro-Sol/Micro-Set in the past with good results.

Brian:

In addition to Richard's comments. one thing I do that eliminates any
marring of the decals is to not add setting solution until after the
decals have dried completely. Then, I just touch the edges of the
decals with a brush with the solution. The solution runs under the
decals. Once this application has dried completely, I then go back and
really bathe them in solution. At that point, they are affixed pretty
well except for bubbles that need to be pierced or cut. I use full
strength Champ with this approach and have not had issues.

Regards,
Ted Culotta

Speedwitch Media
100 14th Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94402
info@...
www.speedwitch.com
(650) 787-1912

From Schuyler Larrabee:

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Hendrickson [mailto:rhendrickson@...]

I am about to start decaling my first Westerfield model . . . .

Brian carlson

Brian . . . . I usually use the Champ setting fluid mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with
water first,

I bet Richard left out the word "distilled," as in "distilled water" because
regular tap water has lots of salts and other crud in it which will show up on
your model as water spots. So, to a degree, will the glue on the decal, but
nowhere as much. Distilled water is available at the grocery store and at
stores like CVS. Cheap too.

Schuyler's point is well taken, though I don't personally bother with
distilled water. I use tap water with no problem because Ashland city
water is very good to start with and we have a whole-house filter that
removes what few impurities there might be in it. However, tap water in
many locations might cause problems and distilled water is, as Schuyler
says, inexpensive and readily available.

Richard H. Hendrickson
Ashland, Oregon 97520

Obviously you're not using water from Lithia Park!

Richard Hendrickson <rhendrickson@...> wrote:

--
Richard Townsend
Lincoln City, Oregon


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Thanks all. Since the first model I plan to decal is a carload of PRR HB-1 containers for the G22B gondola. I may try Champ on one side and Mircoscale on the other since I plan to weather the crap out of the containers like Elden Gatwood's model in a issue of TKM.

Brian Carlson

Schuyler Larrabee <schuyler.larrabee@...> wrote:

Rich Townsend, who's obviously been here, writes:

Obviously you're not using water from Lithia Park!

No, Lithia water is strictly a curiosity for the tourists (for the
uninitiated, Ashland was at one time promoted as a spa community owing to
the water - full of bad tasting minerals - that flows out of natural hot
springs). At one time it was piped to the railroad station, when there was
a railroad station, but AFAIK it was never shipped out in rail cars like
Shasta water, Arrowhead water, etc. (obligatory FC content).

Our city water is snow melt from the Siskiyou Mountains - pure as the
driven snow, or pretty close to it.

Richard H. Hendrickson
Ashland, Oregon 97520

On Monday, December 20, 2004, at 12:12 AM, Richard Hendrickson wrote:

Rich Townsend, who's obviously been here, writes:

Obviously you're not using water from Lithia Park!

No, Lithia water is strictly a curiosity for the tourists (for the
uninitiated, Ashland was at one time promoted as a spa community owing to
the water - full of bad tasting minerals - that flows out of natural hot
springs). At one time it was piped to the railroad station, when there was
a railroad station, but AFAIK it was never shipped out in rail cars like
Shasta water, Arrowhead water, etc. (obligatory FC content).

Our city water is snow melt from the Siskiyou Mountains - pure as the
driven snow, or pretty close to it.

Richard H. Hendrickson
Ashland, Oregon 97520

I read some where (do not remember where) but there is no pure water left on the surface of the earth. You may find some from under ground springs or from wells around Abilene Ks where it passes through 50 feet of sand. Even the snow and water on mountain tops are now polluted. The garbage comes out of the polluted air. When they say pure water today they mean it has less than what the government says is allowed.
Even the bottled water you buy in the stores is not pure. Out of all the bottled water they tested over 60% of the companies were using straight tap water. This report was not from before the 50s but I read it in the last 15 years.
Thank you
Larry Jackman
ljack70117@...
I do not care who you are fat man. Get that sleigh and reindeer off my roof.

In a message dated 12/20/04 6:05:59 AM, ljack70117@... writes:

When they say pure water today
they mean it has less than what the government says is allowed.

the electronic industry uses PURE water in the manufacture of chips here in
San jose.

eric

Mr. Hendrickson,

In reference to the Microscale decals disintigrating: Do you
mean "older" in the sense of "any MS decals which have been sitting
around a while", or are you referring to some older "formulation" of
their decal film?
I've had Microscale decals fall apart on me, and so now clip one
of them (which I won't be using on the model)off of the sheet and
test it to see if it will fall apart. If it does, i'll smear on a
coat of their decal saver. It would be nice to not be so paranoid
about their shelf life. I usually buy a decal set when a particular
project strikes me as interesting, but then it gets put back in
behind many other projects, so the decals could sit in the cupboard
for a couple of years before I use them.
Finally, the Microscale decal saver is too thick to airbrush.
Can it be thinned with something? Or could a coat of clear acrylic
paint do the same thing, and also be flexible enough to stand up to
being applied to the model?

Thanks!

Phil Buchwald

--- In STMFC@..., Richard Hendrickson
<rhendrickson@o...> wrote:

I am about to start decaling my first Westerfield model. What

decal

setting solution do you guys recommend for their decals. I have
Solvaset, Champ setting solution, and Microscale,both Micro sol

and

Micro Set, setting solutions.

Thanks in advance
Brian carlson

Brian, the Rail Graphics decals included in Westerfield kits aren't
especially fragile (unlike older Microscale decals, which tend to
disintegrate if you even look cross-eyed at them), though all

decals need

to be handled carefully, of course.

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 17:48:33 -0000
From: "buchwaldfam" <duff@...>
Subject: Re: decaling Westerfield models
Mr. Hendrickson,

Finally, the Microscale decal saver is too thick to airbrush. Can it be thinned with something? Or could a coat of clear acrylic paint do the same thing, and also be flexible enough to stand up to being applied to the model? Thanks!
Phil Buchwald

Use a coat of Future Acrylic floor finish.

Many of use making decals with the ALPS printers use that as a top coat.

Howard Garner
modeling 1905

From Phil Buchwald:

In reference to the Microscale decals disintigrating: Do you
mean "older" in the sense of "any MS decals which have been sitting
around a while", or are you referring to some older "formulation" of
their decal film?

Both, actually. I have a bunch of them which have been around for years
(and it's also possible that the MS film is better now than it used to be).

Finally, the Microscale decal saver is too thick to airbrush.
Can it be thinned with something? Or could a coat of clear acrylic
paint do the same thing, and also be flexible enough to stand up to
being applied to the model?

The instructions on the MS film bottle say not to thin or dilute it, so I
guess there's no way it can be airbrushed. Whether clear acrylic would
work as well I can't say, as I've never tried it.

Richard H. Hendrickson
Ashland, Oregon 97520

Brian,

I have used all, but my experience with Walther's Solvaset was to dilute
it with a little water as I have had decals shrivel up when using it
straight from a new bottle. It can be quite strong, but loses some of
it's potency after the bottle has been around for a while.

A friend of mine was working on an Precision Scale Borden's milk car
that had decals that were a series of overlays for the four milk bottles
that were two to each side. He had all but the last one done finished
when he ran out of Solvaset. All that was left to do was add the
overlay with the black bottle outline and bottle labeling decal to it.
When he added the overlay, he forgot and opened and used a brand-new
bottle of Solvaset without diluting a little of it with water.
Bye-Bye-Bye overlay! It shriveled right up! He is still looking for a
set of those decals ten years later as they were made for those cars only.

I have not had any difficulty with the other solutions, although the
MicroScale and ThinFilm decals do need a little more care in the
application as they do have a tendency to disintegrate. If you have
decals that have surface cracks, are very old, or are very thin, you can
either airbrush them with a clear lacquer or use MicroScale's Liquid
Decal Film which can be brushed over the decal in question. This will
seal any surface breaks and/or give added strength to the really thin
decals so that they will hold up to the setting solution better.

Tom Olsen
Newark, Delaware

Brian Carlson wrote:

Oh, yeah! I saw that web site a month ago. I'm going to try to spray
it through my old badger brush.

Thanks!

Phil Buchwald

--- In STMFC@..., Howard R Garner <cascaderail@b...>
wrote:

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 17:48:33 -0000
From: "buchwaldfam" <duff@g...>
Subject: Re: decaling Westerfield models


Mr. Hendrickson,

Finally, the Microscale decal saver is too thick to

airbrush.

Can it be thinned with something? Or could a coat of clear

acrylic

paint do the same thing, and also be flexible enough to stand up

to

being applied to the model?

Thanks!

Phil Buchwald

Use a coat of Future Acrylic floor finish.

Many of use making decals with the ALPS printers use that as a top

coat.

Howard Garner
modeling 1905