Yesterday I sprayed the plane with Tamiya Clear Gloss, and then let it dry overnight. I have never used Valom decals before, so I wanted to try them in an inconspicuous place before I committed to placing all of them. The underside of the wing has a total of 4 large decals, as well as several small stencils.
I placed the 4 large decals today. I plan to let the dry completely and then see how they do. The first thing you notice is that they don't want to leave the paper backing. I left the first one in the water for about 30 seconds, and then placed it on a paper towel to finish the releasing process. It took another 3 minutes before it would very reluctantly slide off the paper. The decal was a little thick. I used Tamiya MarkFit on the decal, which didn't really seem to do anything. I waited for about 15 minutes to see if the decals were slow to react with the MarkFit, but they didn't seem to want to snug down. I then tried some Tamiya MarkFit Strong, which finally pulled the decal down onto the detail.
For the second decal, I left it in the water for 2 minutes, then 2 more minutes on the paper towel. It would then reluctantly leave the paper. For this decal, I pressed the decal into place using a paper towel, then hit it with MarkFit Strong. This seemed to work better.
I added the two under-wing roundels, again using the MarkFit Strong. I plan to let the decals dry overnight and see what they look like. The colors on this plane will be unforgiving of a decal that won't snuggle down, so I want to be sure I can control any silvering before I start adding decals to the top of the plane. More tomorrow.
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
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![](https://imodeler.com/uploads/2025/01/g/gblair_250113_6784586a4489d-200x200.jpg?v=1736726634)
1. Glossed, and ready for decals.
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![](https://imodeler.com/uploads/2025/01/g/gblair_250113_6784586b27af6-200x200.jpg?v=1736726635)
1. We will see how they dry. The black will be an unforgiving surface for decals that want to silver.