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Peel and Stick "Decals" Grrrr....

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  • Member since
    November 2005
Peel and Stick "Decals" Grrrr....
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 10:13 AM

HELP!

Ok, I purchased a Perfect Grade Gundam just about a year ago and I have nothing but great things to say about it! (except one, which is why I'm gonna rant)

Fit is amazing, the ability to super detail it is great, the instructions (although in Japanese) are very easy to follow, just the legs alone have about 300 parts so its super articulated, the hands have fully jointed fingers, the head lights up...I could go on and on...

Anyway, this thing is HUGE!!! (gotta post some pics on here or Starship Modeler once its done....IF it ever gets done... LOL!)

My only gripe with this LARGE, EXTENSIVE, DETAILED, FUN-TO-PUT-TOGETHER kit is this....

It has....gasp/sob/loud groan....PEEL AND STICK DECALS!!!!

No waterslide, no dry transfer....peel and stick.

For as expensive as this kit was and considering my Alphonse Master Grade kit had better decals makes it, to me, a bit of a let down from Ban Dai.

So here is what I have tried so far:

I have experimented with a few of these decals on some scrap plastic and no matter what I do, they always look raised, and very toy-like, very similar if not the same as on my son's Zoids toys. Are there any techniques that I can do to keep these things from showing the air bubbles underneath them? I have tried rubbing them, but that doesn't seem to help. I have also tried several layers of glosscoat, but that makes the part look extremely clunky and difficult to detail. Are there any aftermarket water-slide or dry transfer decals in 1/60th scale for the Strike Gundam GAT-X105? Anybody ever experience this before? If so, how did you fix it?

Just to share what it is that I am talking about I am attaching the following link:

http://www.1999.co.jp/asp/GoodsDetails_e.asp?It_c=10039685

If you click on number 2 on the color option there are some good photos of the finished product. Again, those types of photos is what I am trying to replicate.

Any input would be appreciated!

-Carlos

 

P.S. I am not bashing this kit in any way at all, if you click the link you will see the detail that I am talking about, it truly is an amazing amount of engineering that was put forth by Ban Dai...its just the decals that have me in a quandry. (I could just leave them off...) Laugh [(-D]

 

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: United States
Posted by kylwell on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 10:21 AM
Welcome to the hell that is Bandai. They have started releasing waterslide decals for some kits but not many. SSM has some generic Gundam decals and Models4U usually has a nice selection of them. I actually went through the trouble of having custom ones printed for my MG Sazabi.

Bandai, best fitting kits in the frakkin' universe, but you got to put up with stickers.
  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Massachusetts
Posted by ajlafleche on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 10:24 AM
Why not pick up some aftermarket dry transfers, such as Archers or Andrea or waterslides from Superscale, Two Bob's or other sources? If you have an airbrush, ciould you make your own stencils for markings? Create your own story line, or is that anathema with this style of kit?

Remember, if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Kincheloe Michigan
Posted by Mikeym_us on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 11:02 AM
what I suggest is to take those peel and stick decals and scan them onto your computer and print them onto decal paper.

On the workbench: Dragon 1/350 scale Ticonderoga class USS BunkerHill 1/720 scale Italeri USS Harry S. Truman 1/72 scale Encore Yak-6

The 71st Tactical Fighter Squadron the only Squadron to get an Air to Air kill and an Air to Ground kill in the same week with only a F-15   http://photobucket.com/albums/v332/Mikeym_us/

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 12:22 PM

Actually thats what I will try doing....I started thinking about it after my post and that seems to be the easiest solution....now I just gotta get the stupid printer up and runnung! LOL!

I was kind of hoping to us the existing ones, but your suggestion will probably be the quickest and easiest.

Thanks!

 

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 2:38 PM

13,300 yen...what is that, like seven bucks? Just kidding!   Anyways, you could just leave the decals off and paint some details...if you've got a steady hand Blindfold [X-)]

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 3:44 PM

Believe it or not I got it for a steal!

E-Bay (EvilBay by some on here) had one just sitting there and I won it for seventy bucks!! Even with the shipping and handling it was still under one hundred.

Not too shabby...But then again, I normally like to keep the prices of my kits around forty bucks or lower....so this was a once in a decade type of purchase!

I think that my best bet is to go the scan and print route... It has suddenly become so clear to me now! LOL!

If I can get that to work i will definetly post some photos!

Thanks for the help, guys!

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 10:39 AM
Thats really a shame Carlos for such a great kit.  I agree with Mikeym.  Also you could take the stickers to Office depot or Kinkos for better quality.  Bring some white and clear decal paper.  Tell them what you want and they'll probably help you.  Sometimes they give you  a hassle about putting decal paper in thier copiers but it really depends on how knowlegable or un-knowlegeable  the person is.  You need the white paper for the ones that have white in them.  After your done you need to cut them out with a new sharp xacto right up to the edges, thats the hard part.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 3:06 PM

I-Beam,

I had no idea that Kinkos could do that. I was going to just peel them off onto a clear transparency and then scan them and print them onto decal paper. I wanted to use the transparency because the backing paper for the stickers is like a light green. You brought up a good point though for the white stickers...will they even show up on a transparency? I mean a photocopy of white on white usually yields either very poor or no results, wouldn't it? The folks at Kinkos over here in Melbourne (Florida) are pretty knowledgeable but I think that I can get them to help out.....hopefully....

Either way it is worth a shot.

I really appreciate the info!

Thanks,

Carlos

 

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