For those who don't know what water slide decal is, for simple: its some kind of sticker for Model kits that you have to soaked it with water first to peel it from the paper and stick it to the models. for more information, you can google it or search it on Youtube with key word "Water Slide Decals".
I've used slide decals quite a while since i'm back building kits again two years ago by watching many youtube tutorials. I wont call myself an expert too since i just use it casually on my kits. But this time, after a 4 days straight decal-ing about half dozen Mobile suits, i've found a number of "do" and "don't" in the world of decals that i didn't find in those videos. and i learns this the hard way...
1. The bigger the decals, the easier they teared when transferred. Yes, they do. when decals absorbing water, they start dissolving so that they can peeled from the paper. But in doing so, they became fragile. When you move them around, their weight can ripped the decal itself. The bigger the decals, the heavier they get when soaked.
2. The smaller the decals, the easier they are to get lost. When you putting the decal, sometimes it slip behind the paper, but when you flip the paper you cant find it there. you look around on your fingers, on the desk but you cant find it anywhere. Is this ever happened to you? I believe there is a phantom zone for decals, and the smaller those decals are, the easier they slip into that zone.
3.Too much water will kill you, too little water will kill you either. When you transfer the decal to the models, a little water will help you to move it around, without it the decal will stuck and could ripped if you force it. But if the water is too much, it'll slip from the place.
4. Art knife is your moving partner. Some tutorial use cotton bud to move around the decals. However I find it hard to use cotton bud for moving decals, since a dry cotton bud will absorb the water so the decal stuck and couldn't be moved while wet cotton bud sometimes add water or even makes the decal stuck to the cotton bud instead of the models. Also for small decal, art knife tip wouldn't hide the decals from your view.
5. Little holes that helps. In big decals, sometimes water trapped behind it. When you pushed it with cotton bud to get the water out, it's moves the decal from their position. To avoid this, makes some little holes by puncturing the decals with needle or art knife.
6. Put it from right to left. Since I'm a right handed, I hold the decal paper with tweezers on the left hand and move the decal to the model using art knife with my right hand. Therefore' with some decals that lies together, decals on the left could ruined by the wet paper of the new decal. To avoid it, I put the decals from right to left. For example for number "31" I put "1" first then "3".
7. Always change the water. I know this is a common sense, but I learned it the hard way. After a long decals session on the night, I stopped and go to sleep. When I continue the next day, without checking first i put the decal on the water from last night, apparently the water already infested with oil and bug. This is how i lost a precious decal.
8. Trust in tools. When it comes to see if the decals aligned or are they on the same length, don't rely on your eyes or your feelings. Use tools such as rules, pencil tips or whatever. Eyes can be deceiving but tools won't lies.
Number 9 and down is based on my taste, everybody could have their own preference but this is what I do with my models.
9. Symmetrical rules. Except for numbers, logo or insignia. On symmetrical parts I usually put the same decals to balancing it.
10. Not too crowded. I know how much you love Katoki, but please, also consider your models feelings. In 1:144 scale, I usually avoiding put more than 2 decals in one plates unless in special cases.
So far this is what i remembered, maybe i'll update it some more when something cross my mind.
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