Applying decals

[swee'pea99]

Is there anything I should know before I do it? Do you have to varnish over them? Any tips appreciated...

 

[gbb]

Having done my old Raleigh there are a couple of things...

Reynolds 531 decal went on and stayed on no problem, very good adhesive, never needed to lacquer over it.

I got some Raleigh decals and they were crud...possibly because i made the mistake of getting my fingerprints on the adhesive and being a bit ham fisted. Somehow you've got to avoid touching the adhesive and dont stress or deform the transfer.
I pulled them off shortly after, they just looked a mess. Ideally i suppose a quick spray of lacquer over the top would really fix them and help stop them from getting scratched.

 

[Gareth]

Part of my job when I worked for Aveling Barford 18 years ago was to fix the decals on to the new forklifts, Telescopic handlers and dumper trucks. A couple of the tricks to perfect decal application that picked up include: wipe down the area for the decal with a wet wipe or sticky dust wipe, and then to coat the decals adhesive with a weak soap and water solution. This allows you to slip the decal into the perfect position, I then smoothed any wrinkles and air bubbles out with a rubber edged grout scraper.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Main thing is not to get fingerprints on the adhesive.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks all - appreciated.