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Hi people, I need some help.

Can someone tell me the secret to using decals on marine shoulder pads.

Ive just started a space wolves army and this army I wanted to use decals as my free handing isnt brilliant but it would get by, its just a lot of wolf symbols are very detailed.

I've tried about five now and still cant get good results that im happy with, ive tried to cut the decal to help wrap around the curve but i still get wrinkles or a bit sticking up in thin air. I've followed a few tutorials on here too.

Its killing me as im really pleased with the models so far.

they are a pain in the ass most of the time.

i use microset/microsol

dip decal in microset

slide it on shoulderpad, move it around with a brush until its where it needs to be

let it dry/speed it along with hairdryer

once dry push down on decal with finger, preferably with latex glove on, you are trying to get it flat. ( make sure its dry first or it might lift it up onto your finger)

hit it with microsol, let dry, push down on it some more.

hit it with brush on gloss varnish. if you have a rough/uneven surface, a few layers of this will help smooth it out.

airbrush testors dullcoat onto them

sometimes at this stage you might see little air bubbles or other imperfections. touch it up with some paint if needed.

Many applications of decal solvent may be needed. Decalling is not necessarily faster than freehand if you want to get it right.

What kb305 said.
Decal solvent and setting solutions.

Also applying GLOSS varnish to the surface that you are planning to put the decal on (reduces 'silvering' which comes from trapped air as well) also helps.

Applying gloss over it once done - and then matt to take the shine down and blend it into the area better.

Such is how the model makers I know do it (they've been using this technique for decades).

winterdyne wrote:
Many applications of decal solvent may be needed. Decalling is not necessarily faster than freehand if you want to get it right.

it's alot more consistent atleast.

Decals on shoulder pads are such a pain in the a§§ that it conviced me to start painting freehands. >_<

I'm trying to look into decals as well. Thanks for the post mate!

Now I'm gettiing some idea of what I should be doing!

I'd always struggled with this, and was about to go down the Microsol/set route. Then I got the How to Paint Citadel Miniatures book and saw the section in there on doing it using Lahmian Medium and 'Ardcoat.

I doubted it'd work, but I tried it. Worked a treat. Paint the area with 'Ardcoat (gloss varnish) and let it dry. Dampen the transfer and let it soak through, then get it in position with a brush. Press down on it gently with some paper towel to flatten it down and remove excess moisture, and leave it to dry for a while. Then go over the area with a coat of Lahmian Medium to kick back the gloss and seal it all in.

Used this a few times now and had good results every time.

what i do is i put the decal (on paper) in warm water and soak off the the decal.

use a brush to put some micro set on the (in this case) shoulderpad.

apply the decal and get it in place with your (still damp) brush

let the micro set dry... (or you can use the hairdryer mentioned earlier)

then get a sharp Xacto knife and tap the edges of the decal. the reason why you do this is because your decal is "flat" and the surface you want to apply it on is not

then get a brush and apply some micro sol... this will make it wrinkle at first but that will straighten out later...

Apparently doing a coat of gloss varnish on the shouldr ad first can help.

I used to find it helpful to cut tiny slots in the transfers so they would curl round nicer.

Slitting the wrinkles to allow them to overlap and conform to the curve of the pad is the fastest way, but it can distort your image. Multiple applications of decal solvent (like MicroSol) is a slower method, but it yields superior results if you have the patience, as many here can attest (and have). It doesn't help that GW decals are a bit on the thick and stiff side, from what I've been told by those with broader modeling experience, but it's still surmountable.

I have tried cutting the decal, i might try microslo and microset as suggested, Im working on a freehand design as i will be quicker and will not ruin the model, they wont all look as uniform as a decal or as detailled but it will save a lot of time and effort.

I will get the hang of decal one day. Aaaahhhh!

kb305 wrote:

winterdyne wrote:
Many applications of decal solvent may be needed. Decalling is not necessarily faster than freehand if you want to get it right.

it's alot more consistent atleast.

Yes. If precision and consistency are needed, then decals are what I use. Depends on the design, and requirements of the piece. Both are essentially two sides of the same coin.

Incidentally it once took me SIX HOURS to decal FIVE shoulder pads. Crazy. Took me 15 minutes to freehand 5 (shaded) skulls on the kneepads / greaves.

I would love to free hand a design but on my previous custom chapter, looking back the designs were not very consistant, they all look good individually, but together very vary over the whole army.

I did use green stuff the sculpt a simple design on a trial army, i could do this then free hand a simple design.

Its ashame as some of the wolves design are really cool.

Wish me look.

I was having a lot of decal problems lately, these suggestions helped immensely. Thanks to everyone for this.