# How to fade decals?



## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

I'm currently working on a Phil's Narrow Gauge drop bottom gondola. The photos show the current state, I still have a heap of work to do, but soon I will be putting on the decals (Microscale water slides).

As I have been building I have been distressing the wood to give an aged look. Once I have all the metal parts on I'll weather it some more with chalks.

One thing I would like to do it to fade the decals, what methods have you used? Rub them with fine paper? Rub them with a fibre glass brush??

For the record I don't paint my nails! Its just over spray from the previous nights painting of metal castings


 From D&RGW Fn3 Drop bottom gon
 From D&RGW Fn3 Drop bottom gon


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## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey 5,
Not going to answer your question here but rather ask one.
I assume that you know that you need a gloss or at least
a semi-gloss surface for water slide decals to properly adhere.
Rick


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## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

Rick, yeap I'm good with the process. Just want to learn if someone has come up with a good method to make them look faded


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

I've used extra fine(1,200) wet or dry sand paper to thin the decals. They are not thick, so you don't remove a layer as much as remove thin slivers of color. 

I don't know what effect trying for natural fade (sun), would have on the rest of the decal, but I'd apply first and leave exposed before sealing with a clear UV coat. 

Why not have Stan make 'em that way? Gray for black and off yellow for white, etc...









Real nice looking car.









John


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

You may try drybrushing the paint used to paint the car on top of the decals once they're applied, then weather that in with washes or chalks. I've done that on a few cars with halfway decent results. Usually things that I'm putting decals on (passenger cars and locos) arent' very heavily weathered, so I've not had to do that too often on my rolling stock. I've had mixed results trying to "weather" decals by sanding them with various abrasives. Sometimes it works great, sometimes you peel the *%$!# decal off the model. Paint, on the other hand, doesn't remove, but just covers up. That's one reason I much prefer dry transfers. IMO, they're worth the expense. 

Later, 

K


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## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

John, I'm trying to go for a faded look with some paint rub away. It will look odd if the red paint is rubbed away but not the lettering. 

I'm 90% HO modelling. As HO is much smaller this detail isn't really needed. 

I think an experiment is required of the above suggestions. Honestly it won't happen until Christmas time.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Light overspray of the body color after application....works wonders. 

EDIT: Here is one of the few examples of this from my HO prototype modelling days... http://tcry.org/cd/prr_g22.htm


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## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

Posted By Spule 4 on 10 Nov 2010 07:24 PM 
Light overspray of the body color after application....works wonders. 

I was going to suggest the same thing. Done carefully, you can make the lettering look anywhere between new and non-existent. I've even taken it a step further and dry brushed white streaks below the lettering, to simulate the pigment streaking, then covered everything with a body color overspray to tone it down and tie it all together.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Unfortunaely, some of my more "faded" examples are long off the internets or on private (membership) web pages. 

Even for something that is "new" a VERY light coat makes it look a lot better and less model-like.


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## RimfireJim (Mar 25, 2009)

Light overspray of the body color after application....works wonders. 
Yup, that's the one that gets my vote, too. It makes perfect sense, because fading of lettering is really just the lettering paint getting thin and letting the body color behind it show through.


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