Waterslide Decals

Posting here because this should be really basic. . . yet I'm befuddled.

Putting together an older kit, a Quest Nike-K, with one of my daughters.

We're to the point of applying the decals and I can't for the life of me get the decals to separate from the sheet.

It's not like I haven't done water slide decals before.

Could it have something to do with the kit being older? It's probably been sitting around in it's bag in the basement since around 2003.

Any ideas?

Warm water?

Just checking.

I have never heard of this. I recommend you try a plastic modeling forum as they deal with decals far more than most rocketeers and are likely to have more ideas than we do.

Are you sure they are water slide? I just read a review of the kit and contrary to the instructions, they are stickers....

Yeah, Quest is bad about that.

Cosermann said:

Posting here because this should be really basic. . . yet I'm befuddled.

Putting together an older kit, a Quest Nike-K, with one of my daughters.

We're to the point of applying the decals and I can't for the life of me get the decals to separate from the sheet.

It's not like I haven't done water slide decals before.

Could it have something to do with the kit being older? It's probably been sitting around in it's bag in the basement since around 2003.

Any ideas?

Click to expand...

JeromeK99 has the first Idea: Try warm water, soaking each decal for a minimum of 20sec. then let the decal rest for 1 minute. if still stuck re-soak another 10sec. and re-rest. If that fails to separate the decal they have been exposed to high humidity moisture and are permanently fixed to the backing sheet. This doesn't happen very often but it DOES happen.

Another thing I do any time I'm about to use old to very Old waterslide decals is to give the sheet a fresh coat of Krylon UV Clear Gloss #1305 the day before attempting to use them "sometimes" this helps hold decades old decals together while sliding around on the model.

The "decals" that came with a Quest Courier that I built last year turned out to be peel-n-stick stickers. The kit had sat in someone's rocket stash for a few years, maybe as long as yours so I cannot speak to what Quest ships today.

Thanks for the replies folks. Just to answer a few of the follow-up questions.

The printed assembly instructions do indicate water-slide although with an "odd" procedure (to my way of thinking anway).
Did the proper soak on the one I tried.
Tried to peel another one like a peel and stick sticker (which the instructions said to then dip). No luck with that either.
Just can't seem to get the printed layer to separate from the backing.

Hmm. Guess I'll cogitate on it a bit more.

Plan B (if you have the capability) - DIY

scan the kit decals
print them on decal paper

I've had success using the Testors paper and decal bonder (spray). This item used to be available at Hobby Lobby.

There are other decal papers that others have used along with Krylon clear spray. A forum search should yield these options.


FWIW my guess is you have stickers that have "fused" to the backing due to age.

samb said:

Plan B (if you have the capability) - DIY

scan the kit decals
print them on decal paper...

Click to expand...

It may come to this.

To paraphrase Gollum, "We hates decals Foorrrrreeevvverrrrrrrr!!!!".

Last ones I tried were Peter Alloways ARCUS. The little hatch decal just disintegrated into little silver bits and the rest not much better. I have a Quest Force Five that's heavily decaled...but not mine, haven't had the guts to try. I just put all my decals in the same bag for some future day...

Think some comments from a review on this kit help shed light on the decal issue:

"The only issue, if that, is that the instructions lead you to think that the decals are the waterslide type, which they are not. You have to peel the paper backing off of the decal and then apply it to the rocket. However, the soapy water is still needed to apply these. The decal is very sticky and once it is on, you will ruin it if you try to take it back up to reposition it. They are also very difficult to separate from the backing once you have cut them to size." - https://www.rocketreviews.com/quest-aerospace-nike-k-geoffrey-kerbel-7354.html

I'll give it another go with this info in hand and see if I have better luck.