Here's my dumb question of the day.

I mistakenly applied a waterslide decal before laying down an initial layer of finish for it to sit on. I have not put any finish on top of the decal so it is completely exposed but has been dry for several weeks.

Now that I am ready to finish the butt section of this rod, I want to remove the decal so I can put a basecoat on first and then apply a new decal.

It may just scrape off with a thumbnail but I haven't tried. Should I hit it with denatured alcohol first?

I'm sure this is simple, just thought I'd ask first.

Thanks

The alcohol and thumbnail should work! Is the blank a gloss finish? If so and the decal is where you want it and looks good, I wouldn't take it off. Finish is not needed underneath it because you already have a gloss finish under it (the purpse of putting a layer of finish under the decal is because if you put a decal over a matte/dull finish and then put a layer of finish over the area, it will all be gloss except the area under the decal.

Mike

Thanks Mike,

It is a gloss finished rainShadow blank but the decal is of a pretty poor quality and I'd rather use on of the 'new" waterslide decals I got from jimi at D.C.

I had always applied them directly to gloss blanks before reading about the "floating" appearance of having a layer underneath it. I tried that on my last rod and it really came out clean.

Thanks for your help.

If you have some of the Micro Sol from Decal Connection, apply a couple of coats to soften the decal and then wipe off with a soft cloth. If you end up having trouble removing the decal without scratching the blank there is an easy out. Wrap the decal area with thread with a couple of trim bands for highlights and save yourself a lot of work. I am hoping the decal is metallic gold or silver - if not and the decal has other colors use tightly packed white NCP thread.

Gon Fishn