HGW stencil advice please

[ophthoidoug]

I have 2 projects on the bench close to completion - a 190 & a corsair in 1/32.

I've just ordered the HGW "wet transfer" stencil sets for both but have never used these products before.

A quick troll around the net reveals a mixture of "they're the bees knees - check out my amazing model" & "they suck - check out my crumpled, non-detached decals with carrier film" ...

Seems to be quite a bit of advice about their use, much of it conflicting. The upshot (as best as I can determine) seems to be;

*gloss surface

*light application of microsol

*wet transfer application & (warm) water removal with paper towel

*carrier film "peeling" after 3-4 hrs

 

Can anyone who has successfully used these things please provide comments, experience or advice before I tackle them ...

All feedback greatly appreciated

Doug

[Iceman]

I have used the HGW rivet sets which are wet transfers and had good success with them.  While I have not used this particular product on a painted surface, rather these sets are applied to the bare plastic then painted surface applied over top. However end results should not matter if you have a smooth paint finish whether using gloss products or simply polishing the surface with superfine grade sanding film.

 

(1) Smooth Surface.

(2) Apply Gunze Sangyo Mr. Mark Softer (Green label) generously to surface where transfer will be, and I mean generously, not a wimpy coating.

(3) Soak transfer for a few seconds in clean warm water.  (untreated pure or distilled water works best)

(4) Apply transfer to surface.

(5) Once in place and settled in, carefully push down transfer and smooth it out with cotton bud or similar without removing to much of the softer.

(6) LEAVE IT ALONE for 3-4 hours or even longer, then carefully pickup up a end of the outer transfer film with fine tipped tweezers and gently remove the carrier film by       pulling it back over itself. 

(7) Lastly using clean water with a small drop of dishwashing detergent, gently clean the surface on and around the transfer with just a damp cotton bud.  What you 

      should now have is a perfect transfer onto the surface.

 

One last tip, seal transfers with a good quality clear gloss and you should not see any clear carrier film, air bubbles, etc.,  if you do, let the clear gloss completely dry then using a super fine sanding sponge or film (2000-3000), lightly polish the surface of the transfer area then hit it again with clear gloss.  That should take care of it.

 

Hope this helps

 

Kirk

[rieser]

Hello Doug.  I've used their sets on cover camo's and NMF paint.  In all cases the model was glossed with Tamiya's X-22 acrylic clear.  The wet transfers were applied as per HGW's instructions - warm water for location; soft tissue to squeeze out/remove excess water; allow to dry.  Moistened cotton bud to remove any adhesive residue after removing the carrier film.  Not tried decal solution.  On a very few occasions some of the stencilling lifted away.  These occasions were limited to where the stencils crossed deepish panel lines/recessed detail - perhaps decal solution would have helped.  I try to avoid deepish detail if I can now.

 

Agree with Kirk's recommendation above - regloss after the transfers have been cleaned to protect them from handling/weathering layers.

 

I did try applying the stencils to matt and satin surfaces as an experiment.  The stencils did not adhere to those surfaces for me.

 

All the best.  Ralph.

[ophthoidoug]

Appreciate the various responses I've received. Seems others have had similar questions so I'll post my work-in-progress update & a few pics

The Corsair is ahead of the Dora so its what I've played with most recently. Although its a beautiful kit I've struggled a bit with it - mostly I'm sure because of my own limited skillset. Nevertheless, my thoughts might be useful to others tacking the same issues?

 

1) wrt to wing-walkway-lines I initially tried to mask them after laying down the main color but found it more challenging to mask perfect "tram-lines" than I would have expected. Maketars pre-cut walkway masks come in segments which I didn't like. Ultimately I was unhappy enough with the result of my own masking that I stripped the (acrylic) paintjob with Mr thinner (dropped a couple of f-bombs along the way) & did what I probably should have done in the first place - lay down the black along with pre-shading then mask the walkways with ultra-thin strips of tape, then spray the main color (custom Tamiya mix), then pull the masking strips. I think the result is superior.

 

Pre-shading, initial masking, beginning the painstaking stripping & the result:

 

 

 

 

[ophthoidoug]

2) wrt to national insignia, I considered using masks but the vinyl masks were a little warped against their backing sheets & I'm not sure if that would have translated to the model (?) so I went with decals (in this case Eaglecals which performed very well indeed). My word of caution is the potential difficulty of setting these down in pieces (the white bars are separate decals) which can leave the finished overall marking subtly out of position - so I'd advise wetting and placing all 3 components simultaneously so that the components can be adjusted together...

 

Maketar masks, Eaglecal stars'n'bars, overall marking placement

 

 

 

[ophthoidoug]

 

3) wrt stencils (which was the point of the original thread!), I played around a little and overall I'm luke-warm about them - I don't love them & I don't hate them.

Laying down "Mr Softer" (yes that's how its spelled on my bottle) is a little risky. Its seems that my Tamiya acrylic/future floor-polish surface will tolerate just a very faint layer without reacting badly and any excess of spills result in white blotches which are not easily washed off or "glossed out" - a perfect example being the drop I spilled on the bottom of the cowl and which I had to lightly sand & re-spray.

Careful removal of the carrier film worked in most cases but sometimes left a glossy patch where it had been in contact with the paint which didn't easily wash off or buff out. Work with a q-tip & a light coat of future helped in these areas.

Overall I prefer working with dry-rub transfers (when I can source them) & I'm limiting the stencil data on this build because of my constant fear of screwing up the paintjob.

I'm just about ready to start the long but hopefully rewarding process of paneling & weathering & planning to try out some of the techniques others have shared ...

 

 

 

 

[Mark 'ozzy' Ostler]

Truely astonishing paint work, after wrecking 2 F4U1's, I am happy with my third attempt! I've got a cage that I plan to build next ( mossie half completed now) I must say this is one of the striking pirates I've cast an orbit on yet, absolutely amazing work. May I ask what paints you utilised in this build. Thank you for kick starting my imagination for my next project. Freakin awesome mate! Oz

[Mark 'ozzy' Ostler]

Hello Doug.  I've used their sets on cover camo's and NMF paint.  In all cases the model was glossed with Tamiya's X-22 acrylic clear.  The wet transfers were applied as per HGW's instructions - warm water for location; soft tissue to squeeze out/remove excess water; allow to dry.  Moistened cotton bud to remove any adhesive residue after removing the carrier film.  Not tried decal solution.  On a very few occasions some of the stencilling lifted away.  These occasions were limited to where the stencils crossed deepish panel lines/recessed detail - perhaps decal solution would have helped.  I try to avoid deepish detail if I can now.

 

Agree with Kirk's recommendation above - regloss after the transfers have been cleaned to protect them from handling/weathering layers.

 

I did try applying the stencils to matt and satin surfaces as an experiment.  The stencils did not adhere to those surfaces for me.

 

All the best.  Ralph.

[Mark 'ozzy' Ostler]

Hi doug , I wrecked my first corsair with the top left insignia and after all attempts to remove decal, paint and repair and the the end result was a sticky gloss surface that appeared not to cure , it was packed back into the box and neatly placed into the Kent fire and up the chimney it went! A very expensive heartbreak ( I should of kept the motor & pilot, wheels etc). I've used Montex masks on the second kit and they did work with a with a bit of trepidation on my behalf but I got them to conform to contours of the folds on the wing surfaces. However I've tried barracuda's Decals on a P47 recently and they worked a treat on the flat surfaces of the crap kit wings ( u know the kits ). Unfortunately after spending 4 months of wasted time & stalling the P47 C did not survive its maiden flight. But I highly recommend trying the ' cuda decals, worked well with micro sol. They are a bit hard to obtain though. Hope this might be of some help. Oz

[ophthoidoug]

Thanks Mark

The paints are all Tamiya acrylics. I'd love to have more of the Gunze acrylic range but they seem v hard to source here in the US (?)I mixed & matched until I was happy with the blue/grey color. I've learned to use a new bottle(s) of paint for each build which I think helps keep the "paint-to-oily carrier ratio" constant. In the past, when using older bottles from the paint drawer, I feel like the paint atomizes and becomes dryer & "grittier" if it comes out of an older "half-empty" bottle (?)

I use future to seal everything but during the course of this build have become leery of the effect which "Mr Mark Softer" has on that surface...

Microsol always seems to settle my decals nicely.

I've just finished laying down some dilute grey mixes & a flat coat to blend the decals in and with the canopy masks off I'm starting pastel-weathering as well as "chipping" using a silver pencil.

I've also started the fuel stains using a mixture of "underlying airbrushed streaks" & "overlying hand-brushed streaks".

I've definitely changed my preference from the dark bubble-tops to the light, weathered birdcages with their wings unfolded along the way... I think when its finished it'll look good alongside Tamiya's big Mustang.