Something wrong with Academy decals?

Pretty much the worst decals known to man. Sorry to say. I avoid Academy kits for that reason alone, because I know I need to buy AM ones to replace the dreck that came in the box.

Try cutting along the panel lines with an x-acto. Then another application of microsol. I have never had any problems of this sort myself with any Academy kit decals.

Bgrigg wrote:

Pretty much the worst decals known to man. Sorry to say. I avoid Academy kits for that reason alone, because I know I need to buy AM ones to replace the dreck that came in the box.

 

It's a darn shame that they have such problems with the decals as the kits are really good.  Great detail and no fit issues.  Pretty much falls together with very little sanding or filling required.

 

Stik, I tried that as well with no luck.  It's like the decals are so thick that they just won't conform.  I tried putting a little bit of mineral spirits on the decals before I went to bed last night, so i'll check tonight to see if it did anything for it.

 

It really is too bad as this build was coming along quite nicely until I got to the decals

-Fred

Yeah.

Everything.

toss them and start over with aftermarket . Even Solvaset wont pull down the decals on the Acadamy helicopters!  I wound up poking holes and backfilling with Future!

 

David

 This may sound suicidal. But if you very carefully brush on some of that very thin liquid plastic welding cement. Just enough to wet the surface and not run all over your model it will disolve just about any decal into a paint like goo. It is an act of desperation and tricky. Easy to mess up. It also has to be done with one single stroke then wait until completely dry before retouching or reappling more. Any impatience and it will destroy the decal. I don't recommend it unless you have nothing to lose. Practice on some old extra decals and you will see what it can do. Good luck.

Thanks for all the tips, guys.

The only reason I'm reluctant to pull the decals off is because I've yet to find any AM decals for the plane I'm building.  I'm building an F8F-1 Bearcat circa VietNam VNAF-1.  It's a BMF with these odd looking orange, white and blue stars and bars.  All the AM decals I've found are for WWII era birds.

-Fred

 

Gunze market their own brand of softening and setting solutions, imaginitively entitled Mr Mak Softer, and Mr Mark Setter.

I have found these better able to deal with Japanese and Korean decals, as they are supposedly formulated for that very purpose. 

They pull Tamiya decals down perfectly, though you have to be sparing with Hasa decals, which have a tendency to melt if you're not careful.

Karl

I use the Mr. Mark Softer as well, really pulls them down into the panel lines.  Like Karl said, be careful as use it sparingly- it really wreak havoc is applied indulgingly.  I've even had a few Tamiya decals react poorly to it when doused, so be warned!

Gigatron wrote:

Thanks for all the tips, guys. The only reason I'm reluctant to pull the decals off is because I've yet to find any AM decals for the plane I'm building.  I'm building an F8F-1 Bearcat circa VietNam VNAF-1.  It's a BMF with these odd looking orange, white and blue stars and bars.  All the AM decals I've found are for WWII era birds. -Fred

VNAF decals can be sourced from several places. You can find them on A-1, A-37 and F-5 sheets.

I had read all the warnings about Academy decals prior to starting my P-51 kit, but my budget is extremely tight so I figured what the heck ... I didn't have problem one with putting down any of the decals, and they all seemed to snuggle down on the panel lines and whatnot. I let them dry as usual, gave an overcoat of Future as usual, then a final flat coat over everything as usual.

A few weeks later I noticed that several decals has zigzag cracks running through them, so they had somehow started to self destruct under all those coats of Future and paint. Weird.