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I've got my generic decal technique down... gloss, decal, micro sol and the other, gloss then matte when done...

However - I want to try to put a big FW decal on the top of a rhino. So it would go across that tophatch door line with handles and over the sides of the hatch. Over the sides I will obviously just cut but what about that middle seam? Has anyone done this and have it look nice?

You need to cut the decal along the middle seam, then touch up with paint afterwards.

isnt the fw one in two parts already with the zig zags ?

No its not. Yeah the zigzags are the issue, if at least it was just a straight line... hmm

Decal solvents really shine after multiple applications, it seems. I've seen model railroaders snug them up to impossibly ridged areas, so I'm sure it's possible. I'd give the offending area multiple rounds of MicroSol to snug it up as best you can, let the groove guide a fresh blade to split the decal, then reapply solvent to get the now free edges down nice and tight.

oadie wrote:Decal solvents really shine after multiple applications, it seems. I've seen model railroaders snug them up to impossibly ridged areas, so I'm sure it's possible. I'd give the offending area multiple rounds of MicroSol to snug it up as best you can, let the groove guide a fresh blade to split the decal, then reapply solvent to get the now free edges down nice and tight.

This is what I am going to try. In the GW rhino pictures it looks like they are using a decal but it also appears to be seamless.

Well for transfers I am having nice success with the new GW style of doing it.

First they say 'Ardcoat which is basically just gloss. Then decal. And they they actually use Lahmian Medium, which is sorta like antigloss in that it dries matte not shiny. It really hides the edges.


When you get transfer on, take a knife blade, an exacto knife or sone, and just trace the zizag line cutting into the transfer.

Deadshot wrote:Well for transfers I am having nice success with the new GW style of doing it.

First they say 'Ardcoat which is basically just gloss. Then decal. And they they actually use Lahmian Medium, which is sorta like antigloss in that it dries matte not shiny. It really hides the edges.


When you get transfer on, take a knife blade, an exacto knife or sone, and just trace the zizag line cutting into the transfer.

I've heard good things about lahmian medium as well for this exactly purpose. Personally I think they have a template that goes over the rhino and they use white spray paint. I don't know why they don't do brass etc markings for rhinos for tac, dev etc. easier than transfers and you can paint them

Yep, I am using a lot of Medium now myself. Because it dries matt it can dull out glazes that dry shiny, while still retaining the tint. And it is good for thinning paint as it spreads the.pigment out rather unlike water which seperates it.

your order of products isnt right.

it should be;

1) gloss coat
2) apply micro set
3) apply decal
4) apply micro sol (it will wrinkle, dont be alarmed)
4a) if result isnt good enough, apply an other coat of micro sol)
5) when dry, mat varnish

Tutorial here:
http://blog.winterdyne.co.uk/search/label/Tutorial

winterdyne wrote:Tutorial here:
Shameless self promotion .com

no worries WD, its a good tut and a valid reply

winterdyne wrote:Tutorial here:
http://blog.winterdyne.co.uk/search/label/Tutorial

thanks for the good tutorial. I appreciate it.

That is a nice tutorial Winterdyne thanks...

This project has turned into a disaster though hah. I've been doing shoulder-decals since 1st edition without issue but ack this thing man.

I'm using the extra-large forgeworld decals for the top of 3 rhinos. First even just lifting large sized decals out of the water is tricky business. I ruined several at this point. Second, you need to place them almost perfectly on the first drop because it is sooo difficult to move such a huge decal. Finally yeah the rough edges... despite lots of Micro-Sol and some delicate slicing it's still not perfect. Anyway, I will post my results here. Thanks everyone for your input.

DijnsK wrote:your order of products isnt right.

it should be;

1) gloss coat
2) apply micro set
3) apply decal
4) apply micro sol (it will wrinkle, dont be alarmed)
4a) if result isnt good enough, apply an other coat of micro sol)
5) when dry, mat varnish

Thanks, I'lll give that decal method a try :3

Gunzhard wrote:That is a nice tutorial Winterdyne thanks...

This project has turned into a disaster though hah. I've been doing shoulder-decals since 1st edition without issue but ack this thing man.

I'm using the extra-large forgeworld decals for the top of 3 rhinos. First even just lifting large sized decals out of the water is tricky business. I ruined several at this point. Second, you need to place them almost perfectly on the first drop because it is sooo difficult to move such a huge decal. Finally yeah the rough edges... despite lots of Micro-Sol and some delicate slicing it's still not perfect. Anyway, I will post my results here. Thanks everyone for your input.

Uh yeah, sorry about the 'it's just a link' post, but hey, at least it's relevant. The tutorial's also a pdf, so whatever I did would be a link anyway.

The answer to that is simple. Cut them up and apply a piece at a time. I tend to do this with long, thin decals. You may need to to some marking out to help align them.

@winterdyne, i was just kidding about the selfpromotion...

if you use the micro sol, you can make it movable again as long as you didnt paint/varnish over it!

as for the lifting out of the water without messing up;
1) cut out the piece of paper with your decal on it
2) place it in warm water (not hot!!)
3) dont wait for the decal to float to the surface but test with a brush under water if the decal is movable
4) lift the paper with the decal on it out of the water and place the decal just over the edge of the paper (so it wont fold over but)
5) kind of dryfit the decal with the paper under it to the place where you wanna place it
6) hold it down with a damp brush on the overhanging piece of decal and pull the paper away

if you keep the surface where you wanna place your decal wet it should stay movable for a while

Well they are on and looking ehh OK. I wish I tried HOT water though to see if that makes a difference.

I glossed then used microset and then microsol (many times) and eventually I even tried putting the GW LLamian? medium on it... finally Dullcoat.

Result is - the decals are seated nicely over all of the cracks and bumps, but the decals clear halos are still showing unfortunately. On the smaller decals the standard method continued to work great but on these huge ones, not so well.