I've used water slide decals a long time and haven't had problems until recently, when I noticed under a certain angle and lighting that the decal appeared cloudy. It's subtle, but there, and I don't know what caused it? I looked at some rods I built over a year ago and didn't see this cloudy appearance. This has now happened on several rods and I'm wondering if others have seen this? Is it the decal that's defective, or is it something I'm doing? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

John,
Check with Jimi at Decal Connection on the left. He's closed until Monday but I'm sure he would help you. He's really a nice guy and very helpful.
Ron

John , it may be the difference of paper from the new to old water slide paper . I have also noticed this a couple of times , specialy on gloss blanks where I didn't put down a coat of finish . Now even gloss blanks get a coat , then the decal . Like Ron said though , Jimi should be able to steer you in the right direction. Have fun , John

Got Fish ?

John, I find this occurs with me on humid days down here in Brisbane Australia, I now let the decal dry a good 24 hours before top coating with finish. I do use Micro Sol and Set. A moisture problem in the decal can be easily found if you put the rod out in the sun and the cloudiness disappears it may reappear if then placed in a cool area, if this is the cause it will eventually disappear from my experience. (what not great)

The dissolved oxygen in the water you use may cause a cloudy decal surface. If you look very carefully before applying finish you may see this appearance. I notice this happening about 50 percent of the time when applying decals and really am not sure what causes it to happen. I do not know if the cloud is on top or bottom surface of the film. During the decal drying and setting period the cloud may appear. If you wait for at least 18 hours before applying finish and apply single brush strokes of the Micro Sol from Decal Connection the cloud will disappear and will not show up later after the rod is finished. I do know that if you use Flex Coat CP you can not clean this brush well enough to keep the white solids from doing the same thing to the decal. Use a devoted brush for Micro Sol and Micro Set. Let the decal dry completely before applying finish and use the Micro Sol to make the cloud go away.

Gon Fishn

Bill's point about using "dedicated" brushes for both the MicroSet & MicrlSol is worth paying attention to. It helps eliminate cloudiness problems.

Stan

Another tip would be to use distilled water only, eliminates any chemicals in tap water that could add to the situation, never had cloudiness for decals for the 20 yrs I built model railroads and the same is now true for decals on my rods.

Thank you all for the help. I think I'm going to experiment on a scrap blank and apply some decals using tap water, some with distilled water, and then apply the epoxy top coat at different times to what happens. I'll try to keep my shop at the same temperature and humidity level too. I'm beginning to suspect moisture as the culprit, and think maybe I haven't allowed enough time for drying in some cases. I don't use CP so I can rule out cross contamination there. I've never used the Micro Sol or Micro Set products and might give them a try if the problem persists. Thanks again.

This will also happen if I use the water for too many decals. I find that if I do 3 decals out of the same water, I need to change it. The adhesives from the decals get in there along with other things and causes cloudiness. That and use distilled water all of the time as Ray mentioned.