Sticky decals

[Jefuemon]

Hey all, having a little bit of a problem here, hope I can get some advice.

I'm working on the Hasegawa 1/72 scale YF-19 now. I bought it when it first came out, only got around to building it now (no, my back-log of kits isn't quite that bad!). Anyways, the water-slide decals are giving me a devil of a time. I'm needing to let them stay in the water for at least two minutes, and they still don't want to come off easily. Is it the age of the decals that causing this? Anybody have any thoughts or suggestions? Or am I better off buying a new sheet from Hasegawa? Thanks!

[cool8or]

Hello. You should use tepid water. If you use cold water, it happens what you describe. Let me know if you understand me, I don't know if the term "tepid" is well used here (I speak spanish)

Good Look.

By the way, how we can get an original Hasegawa decal sheet? It would be great if I could get a couple, it would be very useful for some resin kits that it don't comes with decals.

[David Hingtgen]

Actually, Hasegawa decals usually like HOT water, not merely warm/tepid.

[Jefuemon]

Thanks guys. I'll give that a try. I have been using warm water, guess I'll crank up the heat a little bit.

Yes, you can order replacement parts for Hasegawa kits, one runner at a time or a replacement decal sheet. The hitch is that it's only in Japan you can do this.

[Ranka-Killer]

You can get kit parts or decals trough HLJ.com, just contact them ans specify the kit and what parts (in fact you need to order the whole panel) or decal sheet you need. I ordered Zoids parts-panels from them in the past.

I finished that Hasegawa YF-19 kit last year, i had no trouble with the decals, i used cold water.

[Jasonc]

Yeah, usually it's the warmer water for the Hase kits. For some reason, the decals are on very thick covered paper, and when put in cold water, the solution to take the decals off of has a hard time dissolving. Warm water, slightly on the hotter side, does the trick perfectly.

[big F]

Warm water is the only way to go, I use a saucer and one of those USB powered cup warmers,slightly modded to keep it that way. Works for me.

[Jefuemon]

I'd just like to say "Thanks!" for the advice. Hotter water than I've used in the past, and a little patience did wonders. Please check out the Gallery section for the finished product.