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Quick one, know these products are long runners and mine from 20 years! have finally dried up owing to the plastic lids warping!

just wondering in 2018/9 before i buy two new pots for the next 20 years if there are any better alternatives that you guys use for decals?

I've got the Vallejo Decal Medium and Decal Fix.

That worked for a while, but it's nothing on MicroSol/Set.

In 20 years time decals will still be a P.I.T.A. to apply and you'll still need microsol/set. Although there will probably be a third solution called microtherm to protect your decals from the damaging effects of global warming.

I highly recommend GW Lahmian Medium, you need to shake before use, it's a brush on matte clear varnish type, use after micro sol decal softner on decals, you must let the decal softner to dry about 30 min before applying lahmian medium, otherwise you get cloudy effect and must start all over. If there are trapped bubble from decal, simply poke a hole and apply the lahmian medium and it will soak into the hole and dry flat, one of the few excellent paint pots from GW aside from the washes.

sweet thanks for the tip

set and sol still the wd40 of decals then, cheers guys

I've yet to find a better product than microsol/set in the last 20 years, so you'll still be safe with both of them.

When it comes to liquid masking, Maskol still can't be beaten, either.

If you have access to an airbrush, buy pledge floor wax and store it in a dropper bottle. GW lahmian medium is very similar, but it's 60x as expensive and doesn't dry as smooth. I haven't had a lot of luck applying pledge with a brush, hut airbrushing it in very thin layers it's amazing.

Humbrol Decalfix is great stuff too. Use it the same as both microsol and microset - soak off the decal with it, use it as lubricant to position the decal, and paint further coats on top as needed to soften the decal into shape.

Can't find the picture I took of my one, but my son and I built the Airfix tank linked below and the decal on the turret hatch has conformed perfectly to the surface of the hatch using this method. It's amazing.

https://goo.gl/images/QbNiop

I second Indrageerts's recommendation; either the Pledge floor wax or acrylic gloss varnish will do the job equally well.

The decals on this model were applied by airbrushing on a thin layer of gloss varnish, soaking the decals in water, applying the decals to the model and allowing to dry, sealing with another layer of varnish, and then just finishing my paintwork (including a black wash, hence the minor discoloration) and varnishing the whole model as normal. No visible seams, no contrasting finish- honestly, I'm not sure what the purpose of decal-specific products is.