water decals w/ enamel clear?

We have some water transfer decals that we want to put on some new paint, but want to protect them with clear. Will this work? They are pretty rare.....
Thanks

 

Shoot a test panel and try it with a not so rare decal. BTW which decals are you planning on using?

 

Really old decals, or those that have been stored poorly or that have curled up are likely to shatter when you wet them. Study them real close, any sign of crazing or cracking and they will fall apart.

You can get round this by lightly spraybombing some clear over the decal to build up a new carrier film. Don't go crazy here, a couple of light coats will do the trick. Heavy coats might attack the decal itself.

Trim round the decal with scissors, trying to cut just inside the clear part of the decal. This stops the new coating bonding to the backing paper and preventing the decal releasing.

Use slightly warm water to soak the decal, and don't leave old decals in the water too long, they sometimes curl right up. Then you have a huge problem!

Likewise, don't hold the decal out straight in the water, to try to prevent curling. That will almost certainly lead to some cracking and foul language.

I wont say this is foolproof, but if it doesn't work and the decal explodes into a million bits, it would have happened anyway.

If the decals are really rare, I would give consideration to having them copied.

Good luck.

 

If they are flat enough, you could scan them, then print them on new decal paper.

As stated above, old decals tend to shatter,disinitgrate, etc.

 

Right now, I haven't seen his decals, so I don't know what they are or how bad they are. They are supposed to be limited runs of some old missal/aviation thing. I try not to get into his head and don't ask.......
I would personally have wanted to scan and print them on vinyl.

Muttley, I may do this with some of the ones I got from you. So this is really good for me to understand and the ones I got from you are all nice. They stay about 3' away from me sitting here at the computer......

 

As most water slide decals are printed with lacquer, enamel won't hurt 'em. As far as spray bombing, use a lacquer clear. You will have to trim the decal with scissors, as you'll have laid clear over the entire backing. Trim it back to the original clear coat, which usually has yellowed some over time. Stay away from square corners, inside or out, as that'll increase the chance of the decal tearing.

Oof! Should paid more attention to Tony from the UK's post...what he said. Although, real waterslide decals show commitment, while vinyl's for the hard of thinking...

How do I know, I print the things. Just check the last HAMB decals you bought! LOL!

 

With the model cars, it's pretty common to clear over them to help blend them into the paint finish - I can't imagine yours are much different other than being a lot larger.

 

Unless you want the aged look why not just have new ones made? I haven't checked on here to see who does it but I know there are vendors who will copy them to new water slides. That's what I'm doing, I have an original unused 1955 Wheel Tax decal from my hometown that was my Grandfather's, I'm going to have it copied and put it in the windshield of my '55.