Peter's Model Railroading | Articles | Techniques | Applying Decals
Steps

Since I am right-handed, I tend to work from the left to the right and from the top to the bottom of the model, to avoid touching decals already placed.

1) The first step is to cut the decal out from the larger sheet, after you have identified which one you want to apply. When I cut it out, I angle the blade toward the decal, so as to produce a very slight chamfer at the edge of the decal. Try to cut out only the one decal, as the rest of the sheet is necessary to stay intact for you to hold on to something when cutting out another decals. If you cut the sheet up into smaller piece, you will have a hard time holding on to them when cutting them out, which may cause you to damage the lettering.

2) Place a shallow pool of water in a shallow container. You don't want the water surface to be too large, otherwise you will wind up chasing the decal all over the water trying to catch it, which may cause the decal to separate from the backing paper while in the water, and you'll have a mess on your hands.

3) Mentally prepare for all the steps it will take to get the decal onto your model, and make sure you have all the tools logically and readily laid out.

4) Place the decal on the water. For most decal brands, you don't want or need to push it down. The backing paper will absorb the water and that is what will cause the decal to start to be separated from the paper. You usually only have a matter of 10 to 20 second before the decal will self-separate, which is why you want everything ready.

5) While the decal is soaking, I take the small paint brush and dip the end of it into the Walthers Solvaset. I then brush general area of where the decal is to go. The Solvaset will evaporate somewhat, but that's OK.

6) Carefully grab the decal on one edge with the tweezers, making sure that it stays on the backing paper.

7) With your other hand, grab the paint brush, and hold the decal to one side of the wet area on the model. Using the paint brush, gently slide the decal off of the paper and onto the model. If the decal doesn't want to come off, make sure the pair of tweezers isn't hold on to it. Alternatively the decal may not have soaked long enough to be ready to separate from the paper.

8) Use the paint brush to maneuver the decal into its position. There is a lot of surface tension in the liquid, so it will likely move around on you quite a bit, which can be frustrating. If the decal stops moving and it is not in position yet, dip the paint brush in the water (not more Solvaset!) and add more liquid to the region. Some parts of the decal may have already adhered to the model, but most of the time you can use the paint brush's bristles to get under the decal to loosen it up again, and continue to move it.

9) When you have finally maneuvered the decal into position, check it from all angles, without moving the model, to see if it is straight. Then, tear off a small corner of the paper towel sheet and touch the edge of that small piece of sheet to the liquid area away from the decal. Do not touch the decal, otherwise it will move. Capillary action will soak the excess liquid into the piece of paper towel, and it will set the decal into position. If the decal moved on you, apply more water to the area and try again. Try not to use Solvaset again, because that is strong stuff, and it will likely damage the delicate lettering on the decal itself.

10) By all means, do not touch the decal. You can apply more decals if they aren't too close the first one, but if they, I like to come back the next day and do another session. It is just too easy for a wet decal to move again.

11) After the decal has set for 24 hours, I like to come back the next day and quickly and lightly apply a small amount of Solvaset on the dry decal. Don't linger and definitely don't rub. Just a quick, light swipe with the paint brush dipped in a little bit of Solvaset. What does is it "melts" the decal even move and that's when it will set into dips or around rivets. Also the "empty" space of the decal will then disappear, whereas that will be visible after step #10. After that, the decal should be finished.