The magic of Micro-sol...

Adding transfers or decals to your models can be one of those 'aaarrrgghhh' moments, especially if after all your hard work you end up with an ugly visible carrier film surrounding the markings...

I've been adding some transfers to a Kadee undecorated 40' box car for the Prince Edward Island cameo layout project. These are from a Canadian supplier 'Black Cat Publishing' and I think they might rack up the accolade of being the best I've ever worked with - a thin and delicate, close fitting carrier film, crisp robust markings, a pleasure to remove from their backing paper with a short soak time and no problems with tearing or settling around detail. The pre-cut carrier film certainly makes cutting them out easier than some of the decals I have produced for custom projects! 

The transfers need a smooth and gloss surface, although the Kadee model wasn't high gloss I figured it was good enough, and this thought was won out by results. If you're not sure, then do add a clear coat to the model before applying transfers, as in my experience it's almost impossible to hide the carrier film when applied to a matt or satin model. Use Micro-set during application, this aids adhesion. Once in place and tamped down let them dry a little, and you will see the carrier film begin to 'silver' where air is trapped between the transfer and the model. At this stage apply some Micro-sol to the transfer, don't shy, get it reasonably wet in this application and leave it to dry. If a repeated application is necessary, you can be a bit more specific in application. Don't touch it whilst it's drying, and leave it flat so it doesn't pool as the solution is softening and dissolving the carrier film.

The result is a seamless transfer - and once given a protective spray of satin varnish or dull-cote it will be invisible giving the impression of factory applied markings or dry rub transfers, without the added cost. These two bottles of solution should be in every modellers arsenal. The only transfers I've ever had problems with these with are those by Rail-tec, indeed I believe they suggest a different setting solution, but they work well with Fox, Micro-scale (obviously) and our own Planet Industrials range. More soon...