Do you care about body Decals?

[Wooders28]

Some more than others.

For some reason,  I decided to do my 'Novafox' box art, then wished I hadn't, once I got into the decals....😳

Whatever you do, don't do what I did with my Re re Ultima build, and once I'd layed the decals on, realised I'd not removed the over spray film.....😭🤬🤬🤦‍♂️🤣

 

 

[ADRay1000]

always been one of (if not) my favorite part of a build. my favorite was the Rover Mini Cooper Monte Carlo. Albeit lots of decals but not a lot of “wrapping”; it’s a pretty boxy body. 

best advice, make sure the surface and your fingers are degreased, and still, don’t touch the adhesive side. I trim them and lift them off the sheet with an xacto, and “hold” it with the tip of the blade. Them I eyeball where to put it, tack down one end and flatten from one side to the other. 
 

like anything else, takes practice. 
 

I’m also now reminded of my first lexan touring car body I did in ‘98… Audi A4. I had it all painted and stickered, and then discovered the overlay mask 🤦‍♂️

 

 

[alvinlwh]

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[BuggyDad]

I'm torn too. The Martini Lancia is a big sticker job but I took my time, did a decent job of it and like the result. I run it but on road, so it's still in good condition. When the car was set up for rally I ran a different basher shell. I'll probably do another just the same box art, so my existing one can be a rally runner but I'll still be careful with it. 

But, I've got bodies to do and am not that motivated to do them because it's the mechanical tickering that I really enjoy and spend time on again and again. When I get started on a body, I tend to find myself rushing the steps and making mistakes when I should take my time. I painted my Falcon badly, I cut out my BBX badly, although decals on both are OK. 

I think one answer for me is to avoid the situation where the body is a job that needs to be done to run the car. Better to have a runner body already so that a nice body job can be done with nothing else depending on it. My Mid has a repro runner shell I did first with minimal decals, and a full box art white one I did at my leisure - as a result that's the best quality body job I've ever done, and it's never been run in anger. 

That all said, I think I've just persuaded myself that it's not the decals I have a problem with at all - I'm capable of taking my time and getting those right. Rather it's the painting I mess up. 

[cstorckiii]

On 3/18/2024 at 12:12 PM, skom25 said:

 Decals are one of those things and I started to think, that maybe it is not worth to stress about this.

It's not. It's really, really not. But we just can't help ourselves.

[skom25]

On 3/20/2024 at 2:27 PM, Wooders28 said:

Some more than others.

For some reason,  I decided to do my 'Novafox' box art, then wished I hadn't, once I got into the decals....😳

Whatever you do, don't do what I did with my Re re Ultima build, and once I'd layed the decals on, realised I'd not removed the over spray film.....😭🤬🤬🤦‍♂️🤣

 

 

When I bought my first RC, DT-03...

I did not know that there is protective film outside. I was 100% sure that I should paint outside surface.

Imagine what could happen

[Andreas W]

A tip I forgot to mention: HPI bodies come with precut stickers. You still have to paint it, though. But it's rather nice that they also come with precut window masks. 

 

The only thing I cut on the stickers for my HPI Porsche was the side windows (they come with the surroundings, windows and B-pillar as one).

[Elbowloh]

3 hours ago, Andreas W said:

A tip I forgot to mention: HPI bodies come with precut stickers. You still have to paint it, though. But it's rather nice that they also come with precut window masks. 

 

The only thing I cut on the stickers for my HPI Porsche was the side windows (they come with the surroundings, windows and B-pillar as one).

My Tamiya TA05 V2 corolla and the GT3 Cup both came with precut stickers too.

[markbt73]

I actively despise most decals. Even after dozens of attempts, I still haven't gotten the hang of applying Tamiya window frame and wrap-around light decals. I always get one junction between pieces mis-aligned, and no matter how careful I am on prep and cleanliness, they always lift at the edges after a while. Nowadays, when I bother at all, I mask and paint the window trim from the outside. It ends up being just black, but it's better than nothing, and it doesn't make me grumpy when I see it on the shelf.

Livery and stripe decals I have better luck with, but I still don't actually enjoy them. Quite often I don't bother, or I mask and paint my own stripes, unless it's a specific livery I'm going for. Which is why my Lancia 037 has a completed chassis and an untouched body; I need to be in the right frame of mind, because I don't want to mess that one up.

And the quality of the decals matters a lot as well; Tamiya's decals are worlds better than the Rally Legends bodies I bought, which are wretched quality. Far too thick, printed on cheap material with weak adhesive. But then again, they were half the price of Tamiya bodies...

[skom25]

After few TT-02 runs, I am glad that I did not spend long hours applying decals.

I hit curb two or three times, scrapped front bumper on uneven surface and had to wash body three times already, because it was so dirty.

Without too much details, I can clean it really fast.