How do I trim decal around car wheel opening?

Mako72

Jimbo,  I see what a polishing stick is now.

Gerald is using a polishing stick to "sand' away the excess decal material extending past the wheelwell. I'll have to find me one of  those.

Thanks.

Polishing sticks can be found in nail care section of most stores carrying such items.

POLISHING STICKS

I've used a very sharp xacto to trim away excess decal after it has set. As long as the knife is sharp it leaves a smooth edge. I've done this a few times on aircraft that had more decal than wing as with lozenge decals on WW1 german aircraft.

The thing you really have to watch is that the decal is sitting right where it will stay, sometimes the excess decal will cause part of the decal to lift where you want it to lay snug.

Jimbo,  I see what a polishing stick is now.

Gerald is using a polishing stick to "sand' away the excess decal material extending past the wheelwell. I'll have to find me one of  those.

Thanks.

A polishing stick is a sanding stick that has three different grits on it. You usually have two grits, both fine, on one side and then you turn it over and there is a gray polishing surface on the other. You can actually use it to remove scratches from clear parts. The ones I have have a dark gray fine grit, a white super fine, and then the light gray I mentioned above.

Gerald, thanks for replying. All input is appreciated as I am at a standstill until I figure out how to do this. As you can tell, I am new to doing finishing these new models. These decals are a far cry from the decals when I was a kid. These decals today are so thin and delicate, it's not funny. I've torn a few already but fortunately, I was able to piece them together on the car and they are not noticible. Now adays you have products like Micro Set/Sol, stuff we never had in the old days. After all the decals are on, I will be clear coating it.

Anyway, I am unfamiliar with a polishing stick. I'm thinking it is a wooden or plastic round stick that you use to rub the decal along an edge to get it to form/adhere to an edge? I don't have one but maybe I can use one of my paint brush handles?

I see what you are saying about making some relief cuts so the decal wraps around the edge of the wheelwell opening. I may end up doing it that way.

I thought about making a template like you said but I think it would be hard to do because the decal has reference points on the body that it has to sit on. So I would be estimating as to where the template would be sitting on the decal. Also I have been having trouble with trimming the decals without making the cut line sloppy with my sissors, I'm not very steady. I do think Slixx made the decals for this exact model, it's just funny they left the excess material on the wheelwells. All the other decals were spot on. It's almost like they did it on purpose and I'm supposed to know how to finish it around the wheelwells, LOL.

Anyway, thanks for your input and any other input would also be appreciated.

Charles

We find similar situations when doing aircraft with complex graphics. The way I do it is to apply the decal as I always would. As the decal begins to cure, I use my polishing stick to carefully rub the access decal away from the edge where it protrudes past.

Since it is a car you might need to make a series of relief slices into the decal to get it to lay and contour around the wheel well. Once you get the decal to do that, all of the trimming can be done on the inside where it won't be seen.

Your other option is to make a paper template of the shape of the side of the car and use it to trim the decal before you begin. Take a look at reference photos to see how the scheme was laid out on the real deal. Was this sheet designed for this kit? Sometimes decal mfrs will use one kit as their bases which doesn't exactly match the same subject made by someone else.