Waterslide decals, MOTHER F-CKING waterslide decals!
This is good because this is as close as it gets to total failure. I used to blame myself for waterslide decal installs that went south, no more. Many times the job turns into a rescue mission because the damn decals want to lift or "silver". Sorry but this is an adhesion problem WITH the decal, not my technique. I take all precautions as you will see. So got off to a good start, got both decals on the down tube nice and straight, left mirrored the right in location, perfect. About an hour into it I see the first side I did start to silver, this can be caused by two things, one my painted finish is orange peeled so the decal lifts as it dries and shrinks or the glue on the decal is sh-t. My paint finishes are near perfect, block sanded with 2000 and buffed to high gloss, it's the glue. Once I saw the problem I knew it was a matter of minutes before the other side would do the same, I quickly brushed on Micro Sol, not Micro Set, on the good side and saved it. This stuff softens the decal to the point were you think you're ruining it, edges wrinkle up and so forth. Let it dry, do not touch it with your fingers, it will tear. You can brush it but be careful, better to let dry and hit it again with more Micro Sol need be. I had to go over these several times with the MS.
I have lost count how many waterslides I have put on but I have been at it more than long enough to encounter all the problems associated with them. You can get good decals or bad decals from the same source. Nothing more frustrating than laying down perfectly located and sometimes expensive decals and watch them ruin themselves right before your eyes. I have more anxiety doing this part of bicycle restoration than any other. I have to believe lots of guys doing this have silvered reproduction decals on their bikes, maybe they don't know what they are looking at or have low standards, probably both. I always buy extra top tube and down tube decals for almost every waterslide decal job. Vinyls are way easier and usually much more expensive. The Raleigh Pro was about $80 and the Superior was about $70.
I use distilled water for the installation. Submerge the decal for 15 seconds. Lay the wet decal on the glass table for a minimum of 5 minutes but not more then ten. You can see I have the decal laying on the glass surrounded by water to absorb into the decal backing paper. You should see the decal break loose from the backing paper by gently touching it. If it does not do this trouble ahead is almost certain. Longer soaking time required tells me there is problems with the glue layer. I have seen videos of guys leaving decals completely submerged for several minutes and what looks like washing off much of the decal glue, makes no sense to me. You see I use locating tape lines for the decals. Doing it this way I can usually get the decals on with little to know adjustment required. Sliding the decal around after it's on cannot be helpful to the glue. I brush on Micro set just before a put on the decal, only enough that it separates like water and a waxed painted surface. Too wet I've noticed and it seems to effect adhesion in a negative way. Place the decal and then brush the top surface of the decal with the same micro set soaked brush to work out any bubbles and excessive water. After it becomes more attached I very gently wipe them down with paper towels. Always keep your finger tips wet touching the decal surface.
My opinion on micro set helping make the decals stick better is like having a rabbits foot in your pocket, not sure if it helps a damn thing, I'm sure the rabbits foot is useless. I keep using it for almost the same reasons.
All that is pretty much old hat, now for the trouble shooting. This is where Micro Sol comes in. I put these Paramount decals on almost perfectly right off the bat. Things could not have looked better, no bubbles, wrinkles or bad edges. It takes between 30 minutes to an hour to find out if your good feelings were justified. I suspect most just leave it be if there is lifting. This is also about the time to start using Micro Sol, letting the decal sit for at least 15 minutes after install I would say is minimum. Put this stuff on a fresh wet decal and the whole thing can get way out of hand fast and ruin the decal. If I see a few tiny air pockets form, or slight edge lifting, i'll poke them with a fresh exacto blade and lay a tiny drop of Micro Sol on the offending spot after a wait time. You can repeat this over and over with wait times in between. In this case I had major areas of silvering, i.e. lifting. One side got so bad it was a lost cause. The other side being about 30 minutes fresher just started. Taking a wet brush of micro Sol I covered the whole decal with a wet coat. Thankfully it saved the day. You might ask why don't you just do this step anyway. The answer is you have a good chance of causing permanent wrinkles in the decal. I replaced the other side installing it without micro set and headed off the problem at the pass with the Micro Sol. I really wonder how well these decals are stuck on, this is probably the last bike I do without a urethane clear coat over the decals. I'm not going to give them the finger nail test to find out. This is also why I used Microscale Liquid Decal Film over the cured finished exposed decal. I don't use this for clear coated decals.
more interesting decal info here
http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/sc...removal-installation-and-reproductions.85248/
http://waterfordbikes.com/w/culture/paramount/classic-era/
